Building on a strong legacy of almost 150 years, we are leading the way to reimagine and improve life every day. Today and for generations to come. Through our innovative and sustainable brands and technologies, across our teams around the world.
Henkel holds leading positions in both industrial and consumer businesses: Our portfolio includes well-known hair care products, laundry detergents, fabric softeners as well as adhesives, sealants, and functional coatings.
Director AI Engineering & Innovation
Apply for this role
Director AI Engineering & Innovation
Apply for this role
About this Position
At Henkel, you’ll be part of an organization that’s shaping the future through innovation, sustainability and collaboration. With our trusted brands like Persil®, ‘all®, Loctite®, Snuggle®, and Schwarzkopf® and our cutting-edge technologies, you’ll have countless opportunities to explore new paths and grow.
Dare to learn new skills, advance in your career and make an impact at Henkel.
What you´ll do
- Serve as the technical lead for AI/GenAI initiatives, ensuring alignment with Henkel’s overall digital strategy
- Drive AI projects with tangible business outcomes while maintaining a focus on compliance, ethics, and responsible AI
- Define and evolve the Americas AI roadmap in alignment with overall business priorities and local market needs
- Provide strategic consulting to business and digital teams on scalable, efficient, and responsible AI adoption
- Champion AI talent development through upskilling, mentoring, and knowledge-sharing across business and digital teams
- Act as a thought leader and change agent, promoting a culture of innovation and cross-functional collaboration.
- Partner with business use case lead and digital teams to design, develop, and deliver end-to-end AI solutions that drive measurable value
- Evaluate, select, and fine-tune advanced AI/GenAI models (e.g., LLMs, CV models) to meet Henkel’s business needs
- Prepare and preprocess Henkel-specific datasets to enable high-quality, responsible model training
- Design, implement, and optimize algorithms tailored to pilot use cases, with a focus on scalability and performance
- Explore emerging AI technologies and tools, bringing forward innovative solutions that keep Henkel at the forefront of digital transformation.
What makes you a good fit
- Four-year degree in Computer Sciences/Information Systems or related
- 5+ years in AI/ML roles with demonstrated leadership experience
- Strong knowledge of AI/GenAI market trends, industry and the US market
- Hands-on experience with AI/ML lifecycle including model development, MLOps, and deployment
- Proficient with modern GenAI tools (e.g., OpenAI APIs, Microsoft Co-pilot, Hugging Face, LangChain, Retrieval Augmented Generation)
- Strong data engineering and Python skills
- Familiarity with Cloud platforms like Azure and GCP
- Experience working with APIs and plugins
- Strategic thinking and stakeholder management skills
- Knowledge of legal, ethical, and regulatory considerations for AI
- Excellent communication and cross-functional leadership capabilities
- Strong team building and mentoring skills
Some benefits of joining Henkel
- Health Insurance: affordable plans for medical, dental, vision and wellbeing starting on day 1
- Work-Life Balance: Paid time off including sick, vacation, holiday and volunteer time, flexible & hybrid work policies (depending on role), and vacation buy / sell program
- Financial: 401k matching, employee share plan with voluntary investment and Henkel matching shares, annual performance bonus, service awards and student loan reimbursement
- Family Support: 12-week gender neutral parental leave (up to 20 weeks for parents giving birth), fertility support, adoption & surrogacy reimbursement, discounted child and elderly care, and scholarships
- Career Growth: diverse national and international growth opportunities, access to thousands of skills development courses, and tuition reimbursement
The salary for this role is $200,000.00- $225,000.00. This is the range that we in good faith anticipate relying on when setting wages for this position. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and this range. This salary range may also be modified in the future.
Henkel does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms or employment agencies. Unsolicited referrals and resumes are considered Henkel property and therefore, Henkel will not pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited referral.
Henkel is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information, and other legally protected categories.
JOB ID: 25087753
Job Locations: United States, CA, Culver City, CA
Contact information for application-related questions: talent.acquisition@henkel.com
Please do not use this email address for sending your application or CV. To apply, please click on the "Apply for this role" button below. Applications sent via e-mail will not be accepted.
Application Deadline: As long as the vacancy is listed on our Career Site, we are happy to receive your application
Job-Center: If you have an application already, you can create or log in to your account here to check the status of your application. In case of new account creation, please use your email address that you applied with.
About Henkel
FAQ
I am interested in several jobs. Can I apply for multiple positions at the same time?
Yes – simply fill out your profile in our online application system. Once your online profile is complete, you can apply for multiple positions.
The job offer is written in English. Should I write my application in English as well?
Yes, please. As Henkel is an international company, you will be working with colleagues from all over the world, and English is our official company language. Generally, our recommendation is to please write the application in the same language as the job ad.
Do I get feedback during the application process about the state of my application?
Each position that we have open with Henkel is unique, and finding the right candidate is important for both the hired candidate as well as for Henkel. We want to make sure that both the candidate and the company are a good fit for each other. We will provide feedback to the candidates throughout the entire process.
Can employees move between business areas and/or to a different country?
Yes, in fact, it is our expectation that Henkel employees will want to grow and explore different career paths during their time with us. This helps to support the company on a broad, global level.
Our “Triple Two” philosophy promotes this expectation, by allowing you to work in at least two different roles, in two different business areas and in two different countries. The reason behind this philosophy is that we believe working in different roles, business units and functions is good for your personal development and improves your understanding of Henkel as a global company.
If I have questions regarding my application, who do I contact?
Our recruiting team will help you with all requests regarding your application. Contact the team here.