Principal Deployment Strategist

About the Role

Echelon is seeking a Principal Deployment Strategist to work with enterprise clients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This full-time role involves translating business challenges into practical AI use cases and implementation plans. The strategist will collaborate with senior AI transformation leaders, solution architects, technology partners, and Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) to lead client discovery, use case definition, and technology mapping, moving AI initiatives from concept to proof of value and deployment.

Role Overview

This is a client-facing, business-led position for a hands-on professional. The role requires strong analytical and consulting skills combined with a working understanding of enterprise AI technologies. The Principal Deployment Strategist will contribute to transformation engagements and manage defined workstreams, receiving guidance on complex strategic or architectural decisions.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead client interviews and discovery workshops to understand business processes, pain points, priorities, and desired outcomes.
• Translate business problems into structured AI use case briefs, detailing scope, users, data requirements, KPIs, risks, and expected business value.
• Build and maintain AI use case inventories, assessing and prioritizing opportunities based on impact, feasibility, data readiness, and delivery effort.
• Lead AI maturity assessments with client stakeholders and develop transformation roadmaps and phased implementation plans from the findings.
• Map use cases to appropriate approaches, including predictive AI/ML, GenAI, agentic workflows, intelligent automation, and established enterprise platforms.
• Collaborate with architects, FDEs, and technology partners on solution options, integrations, build-versus-buy analysis, and high-level delivery assumptions.
• Assist in preparing PoC/PoV charters, MVP scopes, acceptance criteria, business cases, and client-facing presentations.
• Track decisions, dependencies, business KPIs, and client feedback throughout use case validation and early delivery phases.
• Lead adoption planning and stakeholder communication to facilitate the integration of successful AI initiatives into daily operations.

Required Experience and Approach

Candidates should possess 5-10 years of relevant experience. The ideal candidate approaches challenges by focusing on the problem first, demonstrating energy and a clear plan even with unclear mandates or stalled programs. Key attributes include:

• Curiosity: A commitment to understanding how work truly happens and continuous learning as technology evolves.
• Speed: Ability to quickly move from a brief to a scoped use case and initial outcome, without waiting for perfect conditions.
• Rigour: Grounding every recommendation in evidence and data, with the ability to explain all choices.
• Confidence & Humility: Willingness to challenge and accept challenges, and to adjust views based on evidence without ego.
• Autonomy: Capability to make decisions with incomplete information and take ownership, organizing work independently from an outcome.
• Resourcefulness: Ability to find solutions despite missing access, unclear ownership, or partial data.
• Situational Leadership: Leading when appropriate and following when an engineer or customer has a better approach.
• Force Multiplier: Developing frameworks, value cases, and playbooks that accelerate future engagements.
• AI-Native Depth: Utilizing AI tools for research, analysis, writing, and engagement execution, with practical experience building solutions using LLMs.
• Engagement Leadership: A senior leader who remains closely involved in the work, comfortable in both workflow workshops and architecture reviews, and fluent in the language of executives and technologists.

Work Type and Location

This is a full-time position based in Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.