Senior Director, New Product Development (AI)

Practising Law Institute (PLI) educates and informs lawyers and other professionals with innovative programs, publications, podcasts, and additional resources. With a sterling reputation developed over 90 years, PLI is a trusted source of professional development and knowledge for the legal community. A nonprofit organization, PLI is also known for its dedication to providing pro bono training and resources to ensure access to justice. PLI’s client base includes a large array of prestigious law firms, corporations, and government agencies. We are also proud to have recently been named one of the “Brands That Matter” by Fast Company. More information about PLI may be found on our website www.pli.edu.

PLI is searching for a professional to fill the role of  Senior Director, New Product Development (responsibilities and qualifications are described below). Work in a collaborative environment with a diverse, employee community where staff enjoy a generous benefits package and a genuine commitment to a work-life balance (4+ weeks of paid time off and hybrid remote/in-person schedules for most roles).

The Senior Director, New Product Development is a central architect of PLI’s AI-driven products. You will use Generative AI, LLM orchestration, and low-code/no-code platforms to build, test, and deploy products at high velocity. You are responsible for taking the "Innovation Triad’s" best ideas and turning them into functional products.

1. → AI-First Product Build

• →Lead the creation of MVPs and full-scale products using AI-driven development workflows (e.g., using AI skills to generate front-end interfaces, automate backend logic, and manage data structures).
• →Establish a "Rapid MVP Lab" where ideas and prototypes are turned into functional AI products in weeks, not months.
• →Ensure PLI’s AI and digital products are grounded in PLI’s proprietary legal expertise and maintain high accuracy and credibility.

1. → The "Innovation Triad" Integration

• →With Innovation: Take experimental AI use-cases and prototypes and transform them into stable products. With the Innovation team, determine which AI models (OpenAI, Gemini, open-source) are best suited for the vision.
• →With Product Management: Work together to build the product road map and go-to-market strategy.

1. → Risk & Quality Governance

• →Ensure all AI-generated products meet the rigorous ethical and accuracy standards required for the legal profession (minimizing hallucinations) and meet or exceed PLI’s own standards for professional legal industry products.
• →Ensure all AI-generated products conform with highest rigor to PLI’s AI and data governance policies.
• →Monitor the cost-efficiency of AI API usage to ensure products remain profitable as they scale.

• Experience: 8+ years in digital product leadership, with a significant recent focus on Generative AI implementation.
• Technical Proficiency: Deep understanding of the AI lifecycle, from prompt engineering and fine-tuning to RAG and API orchestration.
• The "Non-Traditional" Builder: Expert-level experience with no-code/low-code ecosystems and AI development tools that eliminate the need for manual coding or engineer intervention.
• Legal/Compliance Awareness: Understanding of data privacy and IP issues as they relate to training and using AI in a professional services context.

• JD or other professional legal industry experience
• Experience producing digital products for the legal profession
• Experience in an educational technology organization

• Prompt Mastery: The ability to communicate with AI models as effectively as one would communicate with a human engineer.
• Architectural Vision: You see the "big picture" of how different AI products connect to solve a complex legal problem.
• Velocity: A bias toward action; you prefer a "working AI beta" today over a "perfectly coded spec" next month.