Sr Dir. Tech Enablement & Partnerships

Company Description

VERSANT is a leading force in news, sports and entertainment - home to iconic and trusted brands that inspire, inform, and delight audiences. Our unique combination of content, technology and services enriches the cultural fabric, igniting passions, sparking conversations, and connecting people to what they love most.

As an independent, publicly traded company, VERSANT brings together powerhouse cable networks - including USA Network, CNBC, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and Golf Channel - with dynamic digital and direct-to-consumer brands such as Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass, and SportsEngine. Together, these businesses reflect our commitment to delivering exceptional experiences across every screen and service.

VERSANT is an industry-changing media company fueled by innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit. With a strong foundation and a forward-looking vision, VERSANT empowers creativity, embraces change, and drives connection in an ever-evolving world.

Job Description

The Senior Director of Technology Enablement & Partnerships will lead VERSANT’s AI Enablement function within the Innovation & Emerging Technology organization. This role is responsible for accelerating the practical application of AI across the enterprise spanning all Corporate groups, Product, Engineering, and Editorial teams by translating rapidly evolving capabilities into scalable, technically sound, and high-impact workflows.  

A critical dimension of this role is partnering closely with VERSANT’s News, Sports, and Entertainment editorial organizations to embed AI into daily content workflows and core publishing systems. This includes identifying opportunities to integrate AI into CMS platforms, content creation pipelines, and editorial decision making in ways that enhance speed, quality, and creativity while maintaining editorial integrity.  

This leader will serve as the company’s central authority on applied AI usage, including LLM-based tools, copilots, and agent frameworks ensuring employees can effectively and responsibly leverage these technologies in their day-to-day work.  

Unlike traditional change or communications roles, this position is deeply grounded in the technical realities of modern AI systems and software development practices. The role  

requires fluency in how AI tools integrate into engineering and content workflows, including prompt engineering, agent design, automation patterns, and developer-adjacent tooling.  

As a senior leader within Innovation & Emerging Tech, this role will build and scale an AI enablement ecosystem combining hands-on guidance, reusable assets, internal communities, and strategic partnerships to drive measurable improvements in productivity, content velocity, and innovation across VERSANT.  

Responsibilities  

AI Enablement Strategy & Execution  

· Own and evolve VERSANT’s AI enablement strategy, focused on embedding AI capabilities into real workflows across business, technical, and editorial teams.  

· Drive adoption of enterprise AI tools and platforms (ChatGPT Enterprise, Claude, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, etc) with a focus on practical, high-value use cases.  

· Define and standardize best practices for prompt engineering, agent design, and human-in-the-loop workflows.  

· Develop scalable frameworks for how teams evaluate, adopt, and operationalize new AI capabilities.  

· Partner closely with engineering, product, and data teams to align enablement efforts with technical architecture and development practices.  

Editorial & Content Workflow Integration  

· Partner with News, Sports, and Entertainment editorial teams to identify and implement AI-driven enhancements to content creation, editing, research, and publishing workflows.  

· Collaborate with Product and Engineering teams to integrate AI capabilities directly into CMS platforms and content systems.  

· Develop use cases and patterns for AI-assisted research, content production, metadata generation, and audience optimization ensuring alignment with editorial standards and brand integrity.  

· Provide hands-on guidance to editorial teams on effective and responsible use of AI tools in daily workflows.  

Technical Enablement & Capability Building  

· Lead the creation of hands-on, technically grounded enablement assets, including playbooks, reference architectures, reusable prompts, and agent templates.  

· Oversee internal programs that emphasize applied usage including workshops, labs, hackathons, and build sessions.  

· Establish guidelines and patterns for integrating AI into workflows such as coding, content creation, analysis, and operations.  

· Stay at the forefront of AI advancements and tr