Senior Manager, AI Transformation

Location: NYC (in-person) 

About Fanatics Collectibles 

Fanatics Collectibles is building the future of trading cards—and scaling fast. Our licenses span MLB, NBA, NFL, Premier League, UEFA, WWE, UFC, and more. To power this growth, we’re investing in modern internal platforms that serve as the digital backbone of our business—from card design and production to fulfillment and distribution. With over 2,000 employees and a mix of acquisitions and organic growth, our internal systems are ready for reinvention. This role sits at the center of that transformation. 

The Role 

The Senior Manager, AI Transformation will own how Fanatics Collectibles applies AI to transform business processes across the company. This role blends strategy, transformation, and hands-on technical work to design and implement AI-enabled operating models and workflows at scale.

You will lead structured discovery across business units, define evaluation, prioritization, and build-vs-buy frameworks, design AI-enabled solution patterns, and partner with engineering to validate and deliver them. You will also own the portfolio of AI initiatives and be accountable for value realization and adoption across the business.

You should be equally comfortable in an executive working session, running vendor due diligence, or spinning up a quick prototype yourself—and you’ll manage a flexible bench of external contractors and vendors to help you execute.

This is a high-autonomy, high-impact role for someone who:

• Has led large-scale digital and AI transformation and knows what it takes to land change inside a complex, matrixed organization.
• Has both business strategy and technical chops; very comfortable doing light prototyping or workflow/agent building.
• Brings a consulting-grade toolkit (e.g., top-tier strategy firm or equivalent) combined with in-house operating experience.

What You’ll Do 

• Set strategy, roadmap, and portfolio: Define a 12–24 month AI vision and roadmap for key workflows across functions, and stand up a cross-functional portfolio of initiatives with clear business cases, KPIs, and an operating cadence to track impact, adoption, and learnings.
• Lead discovery and design frameworks: Run structured discovery with business units to map processes, quantify pain points, and identify high-value AI use cases; develop repeatable frameworks for intake, prioritization, build vs buy, and value measurement.
• Shape solution patterns and prototypes: Translate business problems into AI-enabled solution archetypes (e.g., agent workflows, copilots, RAG-based solutions) and use low-code tools, workflow automation, and basic scripting/agent building to create directional prototypes or feasibility spikes that inform technical design.
• Drive build-vs-buy and external execution: Lead technical and commercial evaluation of vendors and tools; assess when to leverage internal builds vs external solutions, and build/manage a flexible bench of contractors and specialized vendors (e.g., boutique AI shops, implementation partners) to accelerate delivery and manage performance and spend.
• Lead change, rollout, and capability building: Work with functional leaders, enablement, and ops to design pilots, training, communications, and rollout plans that drive behavior change and measurable impact; serve as a senior thought partner and mentor to help teams build muscles in AI discovery, evaluation, and implementation.

What You’ll Bring 

• Experience: At least 7 years in strategy consulting, product strategy, or transformation, with meaningful time spent on digital or AI-driven change, including both top-tier consulting or equivalent and in-house roles.
• End-to-end transformation delivery: Proven track record seeing AI or digital transformation programs through discovery → design → pilot → rollout → scale, not just recommending them.
• Process and value orientation: Strong experience with process evaluation and redesign (mapping workflows, quantifying opportunities, building business cases) and comfort building ROI models and success metrics.
• Technical fluency: Ability to independently use low/no-code tools and workflow automation, build and iterate on prototypes or agent workflows, and evaluate technical feasibility of vendor and tooling options (APIs, data flows, integration implications).
• Business–technical translation: Ability to translate between business and technical stakeholders, framing AI opportunities in clear, structured narratives and decision frameworks for senior leaders.
• Stakeholder management and communication: Excellent cross-functional communication skills; comfortable influencing senior leaders and partnering closely with engineering, data, and operations.
• Working style: High bias for action, comfort with ambiguity, and a builder mentality—willing to iterate, experiment, and learn quickly.

Nice-to-Haves 

• AI/LLM-specific experience: Experience with AI/LLM-driven transformations, including agent-based workflows or RAG-style systems.
• Tooling and integration: Experience evaluating enterprise SaaS vendors and integrating APIs into broader data/AI platforms.
• Budget and partner management: Experience managing a meaningful budget across tools, pilots, and external partners.
• Background and interests: Computer science, engineering, or similar backgrounds; MBA or equivalent professional experience; interest in sports, collectibles, or large-scale operations.

In NYC, the salary range for this position is $160,000 - $200,000, which represents base pay only and does not include short-term or long-term incentive compensation. In Los Angeles, the salary range for this position is $144,000 - $180,000. The listed salary ranges are specific to Los Angeles or NYC and may not be applicable to other locations. When determining base pay, as part of a final compensation package, we consider several factors such as location, experience, qualifications, and training.

Ensure your Fanatics job offer is legitimate and don’t fall victim to fraud. Fanatics never seeks payment from job applicants. Feel free to ask your recruiter for a phone call or other type of communication for interview, and ensure your communication is coming from a Fanatics email address (including collectfanatics.com). For added security, where possible, apply through our company website at www.fanaticsinc.com/careers