Ferguson · 12 hours ago
Senior Manager - Artificial Intelligence COE
United States
Full-time
Remote
Senior Level, Lead/Staff, Director/Executive
10+ years expFerguson is a Fortune 500 company that provides quality supplies across various industries. The AI COE Senior Manager will architect the AI Center of Excellence, establishing governance structures and operational frameworks to facilitate responsible AI adoption at enterprise scale.
Wholesale
Responsibilities
Design and facilitate AI Council meetings, ensuring productive dialogue between functional leaders and executive business customers
Develop and maintain AI Enablement operational framework including project intake, prioritization criteria, and decision-making processes
Track and report on portfolio-wide AI initiatives, identifying dependencies, risks, and resource conflicts
Create transparency mechanisms (dashboards, status reports, customer updates) that build confidence in AI program execution
Manage escalations and remove organizational blockers that impede AI adoption
Establish program management standards, templates, and operating rhythms that scale across the AI Enablement organization
Manage budget tracking and resource allocation across initiatives
Build case frameworks that quantify AI value in terms meaningful to Ferguson's leadership
Standardize playbooks and templates for AI initiative charters, risk assessments, and value tracking
Create knowledge management systems that capture lessons and standard processes
Coordinate vendor relationships and contract management as the AI program scales
Design and maintain agent registry tracking all AI agents (owner, purpose, data sources, risk level, approval status, performance)
Establish agent lifecycle management from ideation through approval, deployment, monitoring, retirement
Create agent review workflows that apply appropriate rigor based on risk level
Establish agent performance monitoring standards through usage analytics, error rates, user feedback, business impact
Coordinate agent quality reviews and retirement decisions with partners
Ensure consistency across agent portfolio, ensuring a best-in-class user experience and no contradictory or confusing experiences
Own relationships with enterprise AI platform vendors (Microsoft/Google/Databricks) including critical issues, roadmap influence, utilization
Evaluate and onboard additional enterprise standard AI tools and services as organizational needs evolve
Assess build-vs-buy-vs-partner decisions for AI capabilities based on strategic value and organizational capacity
Maintain relationships with AI-focused professional services firms or implementation partners
Lead cross-functional AI Governance, Risk & Compliance committee including representatives from Legal, Information Security, Privacy, Risk Management, Compliance, and HR
Develop and maintain AI governance policies in partnership with Legal, Information Security, Privacy, and Risk Management
Translate enterprise policies (data security, privacy, acceptable use, ethical standards) into practical AI-specific guidance
Establish proactive monitoring processes for AI safety issues and develop escalation and incidence response protocols
Monitor for emerging risks: shadow AI usage, unapproved tools, policy circumvention
Track regulatory landscape and prepare Ferguson for compliance with emerging AI regulations
Qualification
Required
10+ years designing enterprise governance frameworks in complex organizations, ideally in technology transformation or AI/ML adoption contexts
Proven track record establishing operating models and decision frameworks that balanced innovation velocity with risk management
Experience leading cross-functional councils and partnering with Legal, InfoSec, Privacy, and Compliance to operationalize regulatory requirements
Understanding of AI/ML technologies, capabilities, and governance considerations; direct AI adoption experience preferred
Exceptional systems designer who thinks in scalable frameworks and distributed accountability rather than one-off solutions
Translates complex requirements into clear, actionable policies; designs 'just enough' governance that enables rather than constrains
Creates frameworks that work at pilot stage and remain effective at enterprise scale
Executive presence with ability to build consensus across functions with competing priorities
Exceptional facilitation skills; earns trust from both business leaders and compliance stakeholders
High integrity; navigates organizational politics effectively in cultures that emphasize collaboration
Benefits
Health
Dental
Vision
Paid time off
Life insurance
401(k) with a company match
Mental health coverage
Gender affirming and family building benefits
Paid parental leave
Associate discounts
Community involvement opportunities
Company
Ferguson
Since 1953, Ferguson has been a leading source of quality supplies for a variety of industries.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
Ferguson has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (10)
2024 (4)
2023 (6)
2022 (5)
2021 (11)
2020 (4)
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$1.5B2025-09-18Post Ipo Debt· $750M
2024-10-01Post Ipo Debt· $750M
2008-11-12IPO
Leadership Team
Kevin Murphy
President & Chief Executive Officer
Blake Luse
Senior Director, Enterprise Strategy & Planning
Recent News
The Virginian-Pilot
2025-12-27
2025-12-15
2025-12-10
Company data provided by crunchbase