The posting
Associate Director, AI Service Desk
Job Overview
An operational leadership role accountable for building and running ECI's AI Service Desk capability under the direction of the Microsoft Modern Work & AI Solutions organization.
Position Summary
ECI is seeking a Associate Director, AI Service Desk to lead the growth, delivery, and evolution of its AI Operations organization. This leader will build the operational foundation that helps clients adopt, operate, govern, and expand their use of Microsoft 365 Copilot, Anthropic Claude Enterprise, OpenAI ChatGPT Enterprise, Copilot Studio, and future approved AI technologies.
The Associate Director owns day-to-day managed AI service execution, including service performance, team leadership, escalation management, governance coordination, client value realization, service reporting, workforce planning, and continuous improvement.
This is not a traditional Service Desk Manager role. The position combines service delivery leadership, customer success, AI operations, managed services, governance coordination, and team development. The Associate Director works alongside AI engineers, governance specialists, adoption resources, the Business Development Representative, Client Service, and senior AI leadership to translate client demand into reliable operational outcomes and appropriate service paths. Overall AI strategy, portfolio direction, pricing authority, and executive commercial ownership remain with the Director of Microsoft Modern Work & AI Solutions and designated leadership teams. Missio
Build and operate a scalable AI managed services function where every client request, platform need, governance concern, and business objective has a clear owner, defined process, and measurable outcome, while executing the strategy established by ECI's AI leadership. Core Focus Areas
01 Service Leadership Run quality, performance, escalations, and outcomes.
02 Team & Capability Build the team, operating discipline, and career paths.
03 Portfolio Growth Recommend service improvements using demand and operational data.
04 Client Value Coordinate operations, governance, adoption, and opportunity handoffs.
Key Responsibilities
AI Operations & Service Delivery Leadership
Lead daily AI Operations execution and advance operational maturity under the direction of senior AI leadership.
Establish service standards, operating procedures, escalation frameworks, service levels, and quality controls.
Own day-to-day service performance, client experience, and operational accountability across supported AI platforms.
Serve as the leadership escalation point for material client, service, vendor, or cross-functional issues.
Ensure requests are classified, routed, coordinated, communicated, and closed with a confirmed outcome.
Implement and continuously improve an operating model that keeps support inside a broader operations discipline rather than allowing the function to become a traditional help desk.
Team Leadership & Capability Development
Recruit, onboard, coach, and retain AI Support Specialists, AI Operations Analysts, and future specialist roles.
Define role expectations, coverage models, career paths, competency frameworks, training plans, and certification goals.
Perform workforce planning, capacity forecasting, scheduling, and succession planning.
Create a culture of ownership, client empathy, technical curiosity, disciplined escalation, and strong documentation.
Develop team leads and senior individual contributors who can operate independently and scale the function.
Managed Service & Client Success Ownership
Own the delivery model for managed AI services and ensure contracted commitments are executed consistently.
Oversee service review cadence, client action tracking, service roadmaps, operational backlogs, and value-realization discussions.
Coordinate priorities across AI Operations, AI Engineering, AI Deployment, AI Adoption, AI Governance, Security Operations, and Client Service.
Use operational demand, adoption patterns, governance needs, and platform changes to recommend improvements to client service plans.
Ensure the technical team recognizes when a support request represents a larger use case or service need and hands it off with useful context.
Portfolio Strategy & Opportunity Enablement
Manage the AI Operations service catalog, delivery standards, and operational boundaries, and recommend portfolio changes to senior AI leadership.
Analyze recurring client demand to identify opportunities for new managed services, projects, adoption programs, governance engagements, platform deployments, agents, integrations, or automation.
Build a repeatable opportunity-identification and handoff process with the BDR, Client Service, Sales, and delivery leaders.
Participate in strategic discovery conversations and provide operational and technical context without turning the service team into a direct sales organization.
Develop recommendations for pricing, packaging, staffing, and investment based on delivery complexity, capacity, demand, and client value; final approval remains with designated leadership.
Governance, Risk & Escalation Coordination
Ensure AI governance, privacy, compliance, responsible AI, and security concerns are recognized and routed to the correct owner.
Coordinate governance escalation paths and recurring governance operating activities with the appropriate specialists.
Ensure suspected security events move immediately through established Security Operations processes.
Maintain clear boundaries between operational guidance, formal governance advice, risk acceptance, legal interpretation, and security authority.
Use trend reporting to identify emerging risk patterns and gaps in controls, documentation, ownership, or client communications.
Financial, Vendor & Operational Management
Manage approved operating budgets, staffing plans, capacity assumptions, and service performance reporting for the function.
Monitor utilization, delivery cost, vendor dependency, service economics, and automation opportunities, and provide recommendations to senior AI leadership.
Manage operational vendor relationships and escalation paths for supported AI platforms, engaging senior leadership when executive sponsorship is required.
Use service data to guide hiring, automation, training, coverage, and portfolio decisions.
Drive continuous improvement across knowledge management, self-service, reporting, standardization, and release readiness.
Required Qualifications
Experience
Eight or more years of experience across managed services, service delivery, customer success, technical account management, professional services, Microsoft 365 operations, SaaS operations, or a comparable enterprise technology discipline.
Three or more years of people leadership, team management, service ownership, or practice leadership experience.
Demonstrated experience leading client-facing technical services and managing material escalations across multiple teams.
Leadership & Business Management
Experience building operating processes, service metrics, staffing models, and continuous improvement programs.
Ability to manage budgets, capacity, service performance, and financial tradeoffs.
Ability to influence across technical, commercial, governance, security, and executive stakeholders.
Technical & Governance Knowledge
Strong understanding of Microsoft 365, identity and access management, enterprise SaaS operations, and AI platform support models.
Working knowledge of Microsoft 365 Copilot and familiarity with enterprise AI platforms such as Claude Enterprise and ChatGPT Enterprise.
Foundational understanding of Microsoft Purview, data protection, security, compliance, AI governance, and responsible AI concepts.
Communication & Client Leadership
Executive-level communication, facilitation, and presentation skills.
Ability to translate business objectives into service priorities, operating requirements, and measurable outcomes.
Ability to lead difficult client conversations, restore confidence during escalations, and align stakeholders around decisions.
Preferred Qualifications
Leadership experience in an MSP, managed services, financial services technology, or another regulated-industry environment.
Experience launching or scaling a new managed service, operations center, customer success program, or technical practice.
Experience with Copilot Studio, Microsoft Purview, Defender for Cloud Apps, Power Platform, enterprise connectors, agents, or AI governance programs.
Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert, ITIL 4 certification, AI fundamentals certification, or comparable credentials.
Experience partnering with business development and client relationship teams to convert operational demand into qualified service opportunities.
Success Metrics
Service Performance
• Client satisfaction and retention
• SLA and quality performance
• Escalation effectiveness
• Operational consistency
Team & Capability
• Hiring and retention
• Career development
• Certification readiness
• Capacity and coverage
Portfolio & Financial
• Service profitability
• Forecast accuracy
• Automation and efficiency
• Portfolio evolution
Client Value & Risk
• Value realization
• Qualified opportunity handoffs
• Governance alignment
• Security escalation quality
Career Path
Potential progression as the team and managed service portfolio scale includes:
Senior Associate Director, AI Operations & Managed Services
Senior Director, AI Operations & Managed Services
Vice President, AI Services
AI Practice Leader / General Manager
Vice President, Managed Services
Role Boundaries
These boundaries keep the Associate Director accountable for operations without duplicating the strategic, commercial, governance, or executive authority retained by other leaders.
THIS ROLE DOES NOT OWN
LEADERSHIP EXPECTATION / ENGAGEMENT PATH
Individual sales quota or sole ownership of the commercial process
Partner with the BDR, Client Service, and Sales; own operational qualification and technical context.
Legal, regulatory, or risk-acceptance decisions
Engage AI Governance, Security, Legal, or the designated advisory owner.
Routine execution of all project delivery
Assign work to the team holding the expertise, tools, and change authority.
Unapproved pricing or contractual commitments
Develop recommendations and business cases; route approval through the Director of Microsoft Modern Work & AI Solutions and designated commercial leadership.
Permanent dependence on the Associate Director for routine delivery
Build a team and operating model that scales without the Associate Director becoming the default technician.
Why Join ECI?
ECI is building a specialized AI Operations capability for regulated organizations adopting enterprise AI. This role provides the opportunity to shape day-to-day operations, team development, client experience, service quality, and commercial handoffs while working directly with ECI's AI leadership.
The Associate Director will run a multidisciplinary function spanning technical operations, governance awareness, adoption coordination, use-case discovery, managed services, and service improvement. The role is designed for a leader who wants to build the operating system, develop the team, and create a scalable client outcome model rather than simply manage a ticket queue.
ECI’s culture is all about connection - connection with our clients, our technology and most importantly with each other. In addition to working with an amazing team around the world, ECI also offers a competitive compensation package and the base salary for this role is $155.000, plus flexible PTO, health benefit eligibility the first of the month, life insurance, pet insurance, 401K and so much more! If you believe you’d be a great fit and are ready for your best job ever, we’d like to hear from you!! Love Your Job, Share Your Technology Passion, Create Your Future Here! ECI is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration consistent with applicable law.
