Sei is hiring a Director of AI in Operations and Finance — New York City. The overview below is synthesized from the employer posting on jobs.ashbyhq.com: factual requirements and scope are preserved, but prose is rewritten with editorial context. Verify details and apply via the employer link.
About Us
Company context from the listing:
Sei is the first parallelized layer 1 blockchain. By re-writing the most widely adopted execution environment in Web3, Sei is setting a new standard in blockchain performance and scalability.
About the role
Day-to-day scope for the Director of AI as described in the posting:
The Sei Development Foundation is hiring its first Director of AI - the person who transforms how the organization works by embedding AI into the daily operating fabric of every team. This is not a research role or a content role.
You’ll start by working closely with founders and leadership, shipping quick wins in the first two weeks and a full AI playbook within 90 days. Over time, you’ll become the organizational standard-bearer for AI adoption, the person everyone comes to when they want to work faster and think sharper.
Responsibilities
Day-to-day scope for the Director of AI as described in the posting:
Workflow Audit & Opportunity Mapping
- Conduct a rapid audit of current AI usage and operational workflows across the organization, identifying the highest-leverage opportunities for improvement
- Build a prioritized roadmap of AI implementation opportunities ranked by time savings, output quality, and strategic impact
- Identify recurring bottlenecks in research, reporting, communications, and decision-making that are strong candidates for AI-assisted automation or augmentation
Prompt Engineering & Workflow Design
- Design, test, and iterate on prompts and prompt chains that deliver reliable, high-quality outputs for specific business functions (research synthesis, executive briefings, partner outreach, content drafts, etc.)
- Build and document repeatable AI workflows for core operating functions including reporting, analysis, planning, and communications
- Develop systematic evaluation criteria for AI output quality and reliability, so the organization knows when to trust AI outputs and when to verify
- Maintain a living prompt library organized by function, with version history and performance notes
Automation & Systems Building
- Implement AI-driven automation for recurring processes including reporting pipelines, research summaries, meeting prep, and post-meeting follow-through
- Integrate AI tooling across the organization’s existing stack (Slack, Notion, Monday.com, Google Workspace, etc.) to reduce manual handoffs and eliminate repetitive work
- Evaluate and recommend new AI tools and platforms, with a clear framework for build vs. buy vs. configure decisions
- Identify where agentic workflows can replace multi-step manual processes and scope those builds
Enablement & Organizational Adoption
- Train founders, leadership, and cross-functional teams on AI tools, workflows, and best practices, meeting each team where they are and making adoption feel obvious, not obligatory
- Build and maintain the organization’s AI playbook: a living, searchable reference that codifies best practices, approved prompts, and role-specific workflows
- Create lightweight documentation and training materials that allow any team member to self-serve on core AI workflows without needing ongoing support
Measurement & Iteration
- Track and report on key AI adoption metrics: hours saved on recurring work, output quality and consistency, team workflow adoption rates, and number of processes meaningfully improved or automated
- Run a continuous improvement loop, ship, measure, learn, and iterate on all AI workflows based on real usage data and team feedback
- Report directly to founders on AI impact and the organizational adoption roadmap
What We're Looking For
- Professional experience with deep, hands-on daily usage of AI tools in real work contexts - you’ve built systems that demonstrably improve the quality and speed of your own work, and you can show them
- Hands-on experience with agentic frameworks Proven track record of implementing AI workflows in real organizations with measurable impact - not pilots, but production systems that teams actually use
- Strong prompt engineering skills: you understand how to structure context, chain reasoning, control output format, and evaluate reliability across models (GPT, Claude, Gemini, etc.)
- Systems thinker: you see workflows as interconnected processes, not isolated tasks, and you design solutions that scale beyond the immediate problem
- Exceptional communicator with a track record of translating complex AI concepts into clear, practical guidance for non-technical stakeholders, including C-suite
- Background in operations, product, strategy, or engineering - you understand how organizations work and where friction lives
- High ownership mentality: you don’t wait for direction and you don’t declare victory until it’s in production and being used
- Comfort working in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment where priorities shift and execution speed is a competitive advantage
Bonus Points
Additional experience noted as a plus:
- Engineering background or scripting proficiency (Python, JavaScript) - the ability to build lightweight integrations rather than relying solely on no-code tooling
- Experience in crypto, Web3, or high-growth tech environments where the pace of change is a constant
- Previous experience building internal AI capability at a startup or foundation, where you owned the function from scratch