Director of Applied AI
South Pole is an energetic, global company offering comprehensive sustainability solutions and services. With offices spanning all continents across the globe, we strive to create a sustainable society and economy that positively impacts our climate, ecosystems and developing communities. With our solutions, we inspire and enable our customers to create value from sustainability-related activities.
Job summary:
We’re looking for a technical enterprise operator who can improve how work gets done and translate that into measurable business results.
This person will lead two initiatives:
AI transformation of key workflows
Identify high-value internal workflows, understand how the work actually gets done, redesign what is broken, and embed AI where it improves speed, quality, and cost.AI capability diffusion across the business
Help teams build with AI in their day-to-day work through training, practical guidance, shared patterns, and responsible-use guardrails.
What this role is accountable for:
Prioritize workflows based on business value, feasibility, and adoption potential
Work with business stakeholders to map priority workflows end-to-end, diagnose where performance breaks down, identify what needs to improve, and determine where AI can add value
Make build, buy, or partner decisions based on strong knowledge of the AI tool landscape
Lead the development and deployment of solutions into real workflows and systems
Define baselines, targets, and metrics tied to business outcomes
Build internal capability so teams can work with AI effectively and responsibly through hackathons, training, and practical guidance.
Ideal profile
A technical enterprise operator who can translate AI capability into measurable business results
Combines strategic thinking with strong program leadership and execution
Experienced in redesigning end-to-end workflows and embedding AI
Strong judgment on where AI can improve workflow performance and business outcomes
Fluent in the current AI tooling landscape and able to guide build vs buy decisions
Understands enterprise architecture and application stacks well enough to design and deploy workflow solutions
Track record of deploying production solutions in enterprise environments
Strong understanding of tooling, integration, governance, and adoption
Can teach, influence, and build capability across teams
Communicates clearly with senior leadership and works effectively across functions
What success looks like
Key workflows are redesigned and measurably better (improvements in speed, quality, margin)
AI is embedded where it improves business performance
Teams across functions are increasingly able to build with AI directly in their own work
Clear adoption, governance, and impact metrics are in place
What we offer:
At South Pole, we care about our employees as much as we care about the planet. South Pole is not just an employer, we are a Team. South Pole does not just offer people a job, we offer you a career. By joining our team, you will find strong purpose and deep meaning in everything you do. You will have the chance to make a real difference for our clients and for the planet, working alongside a passionate team of like-minded colleagues, while building your knowledge/skills and developing your career in a fun, dynamic, international and fast-growing organisation.
We’re a planet of 7.5 billion unique and different people. We all have a contribution to make and South Pole is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, marital status or disability. Our recruitment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need.
- Department
- Corporate Services
- Locations
- Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Florence, Milan
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Work-life balance
From flexible working hours to flexible workplace (home office), with above-average vacation allowances, we strive to make the work and family life puzzle an easy one for our employees.
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Flexible Vacation Benefits
Options to buy up to 5 extra days of time off.
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Life Insurance
Available to all employees across the world.
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Care for your Wellbeing
Access to mental, physical and financial wellbeing support through our Employee Assistance Program (TELUS Health).
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Parental leave
Should any of our employees need to take time off the Iceberg as a result of a new addition to their household, we are happy to be able to offer competitive Paid Parental leave to support them during this time.
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Compassionate Leave
Sometimes life is unpredictable, and when unfortunate events occur, we want to give you peace of mind so you feel fully supported during this time.
What makes us unique
At South Pole, we are first and foremost a purpose-driven Company. People join us because they believe in our mission and want to be part of a community that fights together for our shared values and beliefs. But that is not the only reason why working at South Pole is such a rewarding experience.
- We know that our vision to help create a greener world is both bold and challenging. To achieve it, we settle for nothing less than the absolute best. We form a Community that is stronger than the sum of its parts.
- Entrepreneurial at heart. It’s not just our founders who are entrepreneurs. We actively promote an innovative mindset at all levels of the organisation, where each and every employee is encouraged to challenge the status quo and empowered to make decisions.
- Growing employees in a growing company. With a team of smart, passionate and engaged colleagues, as well as increasing demand from our clients, opportunities to learn, develop our skills and grow our careers are endless.
- All for one, and one for all! Above all other things, what truly drives our dedication and commitment to our purpose is our colleagues. We learn from each other and grow together. Because that is who Penguins are.
About South Pole
Our story began in Zurich, with 5 friends* in 2002. They had a belief and a vision to shape and change the future of the world through climate empowerment, education and projects with their non-profit organisation; MyClimate. These ‘social entrepreneurs’ went on to pioneer climate change with the introduction of South Pole in 2006*. More than 20 years on, with the support of some of the most passionate and talented entrepreneurs around them, who are empowered to all play their part and with their founding belief in aligning purpose with passion, people and profit, they have created South Pole, an organisation that has gone onto positively impact the lives of over 20 million people across the world through its projects, saving over 20,000 km2 of forests from deforestation.
*Patrick Bürgi, Thomas Camerata, Renat Heuberger, Ingo Puhl, and Christoph Sutter
*2006 Joined by Marco Hirsbrunner and Christoph Grobel