AI Engineer

FIT Solutions is seeking an AI Engineer to lead Fresh Origins’ AI program from the business side, combining AI program ownership with business analytics, ERP understanding, and governed data practices. The role is based in San Marcos, CA and drives end-to-end delivery of AI and automation initiatives, reporting outcomes to leadership.

What You Will Own

• AI roadmap and project portfolio: prioritize initiatives by business value, feasibility, cost, and timeline; sequence work and manage delivery from discovery through adoption.
• AI and automation delivery: run initiatives as project manager of record, including scope, timeline, resourcing, risk management, testing, rollout, and status reporting.
• Partner management: manage outside AI consultants and implementation partners day to day by setting deliverables, reviewing work, testing outputs, and holding partners to scope, budget, and timeline.
• Trusted data and governance: maintain the AI governance framework with the IT Director, covering responsible use, data privacy, vendor risk, and change management.

Key Responsibilities

• Educate leaders and key stakeholders on AI principles, capabilities, risks, and practical business applications, translating technical concepts into business recommendations.
• Lead business analysis for AI use cases: interview stakeholders, map current processes, quantify manual effort and data breaks, and define requirements and success metrics before tool selection.
• Lead AI-driven demand planning from the business side by defining planning questions, coordinating data readiness (planting, harvest, yield, weather, holidays, sales), and validating model outputs with Production and Sales.
• Support rollout of AI-assisted order intake and customer service automation, including process design, user acceptance testing, and clean handoff into ERP and customer-facing workflows in coordination with the EDI & Production Systems Coordinator.
• Drive adoption of enterprise AI tools by identifying use cases by department, delivering training and office hours, managing licenses, and tracking utilization and outcomes.
• Pilot and evaluate AI capabilities for forecasting, anomaly detection, document processing, and workflow automation; recommend build, buy, or partner decisions.
• Prepare AI program updates for company leadership and corporate stakeholders, including portfolio-level AI reporting and best-practice sharing.
• Own business continuity for AI tools, automations, and integrations once live, including documentation, monitoring, fallback procedures, and clear ownership when systems fail.
• Define and maintain KPI definitions with Finance, Operations, and Sales to support leadership reporting from a single source of truth.
• Partner with the analytics team and outside partners on the data lake and Power BI by prioritizing dashboards, validating data, and driving adoption of governed reporting over manually built spreadsheets.
• Analyze structured and unstructured data (transactions, customer service notes, emails, call records) to identify trends, exceptions, and opportunities that inform the AI roadmap and leadership decisions.
• Identify manual data assembly work that can be replaced by data lake outputs and migrate teams to governed reporting.
• Use knowledge of ERP data models and core processes (order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, inventory, financial close) to design AI and analytics solutions aligned with how the business runs.
• Translate business requirements into configuration and integration requests, working with the ERP administrator and implementation partner to deliver changes.
• Improve data connectivity across NetSuite, Salesforce, Power BI, ADP, VIDA18, and EDI middleware so AI and analytics initiatives run on connected, trusted data.
• Champion master data quality across items, customers, vendors, and GL structure, leading cleanup and reclassification efforts that unblock reporting and AI.
• Review ERP release notes and platform AI features, recommending adoption to leadership.
• Document processes, data standards, and standard operating procedures for AI-supported workflows.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Information Systems, Data Analytics, Industrial Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years as a business analyst, systems analyst, or project manager in an ERP-driven environment (NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics, Oracle, or similar).
• Proven record leading cross-functional projects end to end and managing vendors, consultants, or implementation partners.
• Hands-on experience gathering requirements, mapping processes, and defining KPIs for operations, finance, or sales teams.
• 1+ years leading or contributing to AI, machine learning, or intelligent automation initiatives in a business setting; enterprise generative AI rollout experience is strongly preferred.
• Experience working with a BI platform (Power BI preferred) and a data warehouse or data lake.
• SQL for data validation and analysis; comfort with a cloud data warehouse (BigQuery or similar).
• Power BI (or equivalent) with dashboard design and KPI definition experience.
• Project management tools and methods (Agile or hybrid), including requirements and process documentation.
• Familiarity with generative AI platforms, AI-powered analytics, and automation tools, including ability to evaluate vendors and pilot solutions.
• Advanced Excel (pivot tables, Power Query, XLOOKUP); exposure to Python or scripting is a plus.

Preferred Qualifications

• PMP, CBAP, or similar project or business analysis certification is a plus.
• Experience in food production, agriculture, manufacturing, or distribution is a significant plus.
• Working knowledge of ERP data structures and core transaction flows; NetSuite experience is a plus, not a requirement.

Technologies

NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics, Oracle, Power BI, data lake, BI platform, SQL, BigQuery, ERP, Salesforce, ADP, VIDA18, EDI middleware, EDI, Agile, hybrid, Excel, Power Query, XLOOKUP, Python, generative AI, machine learning, intelligent automation.

Leadership and Performance Expectations

• Act as a trusted advisor to leadership on AI, analytics, and business systems.
• Own outcomes by defining success for each initiative, measuring results, and reporting them.
• Manage outside partners and consultants to deliverables, budget, and timeline.
• Mentor the EDI & Production Systems Coordinator and other team members on analysis, data standards, and AI tools; potential future supervision of analyst-level staff.
• Champion responsible AI adoption and data literacy across the organization.
• Model professionalism, accountability, and continuous learning.
• Prioritize co-worker safety and well-being by following all company safety protocols.

Performance measures include on-time, on-scope delivery of AI and automation projects; measurable time savings, cost reduction, or accuracy gains; enterprise AI tool utilization and active use cases; adoption of governed Power BI reporting with reduction in manually built spreadsheets; quality of requirements, process documentation, and KPI definitions; partner and vendor performance against scope, budget, and timeline; and stakeholder satisfaction across Finance, Operations, and Sales.

Career Development

This position offers growth into roles such as Senior Manager, AI & Transformation, Director of Business Systems, Director of Data & Analytics, or Vice President of AI, Transformation & Strategic Initiatives.

Working Conditions

• Standard business hours with extended support during project go-lives and key business cycles.
• Primarily on-site at Fresh Origins’ San Marcos, CA facilities.
• Office environment with regular visits to greenhouse, production floor, cold storage, and warehouse areas to observe processes and work with users.
• Routine use of computer, ERP and BI software, phone, and standard office equipment.
• Occasional after-hours work for rollouts or vendor coordination.

Compensation and Location

Location: San Marcos, CA (onsite). Compensation: USD 100,000 to 120,000 per year.