Sr. Manager, AI Engineering & Innovation

No Relocation Assistance Offered
Job Number #177327 - Piscataway, New Jersey, United States

Who We Are

Colgate-Palmolive Company is a global consumer products company operating in over 200 countries specializing in Oral Care, Personal Care, Home Care, Skin Care, and Pet Nutrition. Our products are trusted in more households than any other brand in the world, making us a household name!

Join Colgate-Palmolive, a caring, innovative growth company reimagining a healthier future for people, their pets, and our planet. Guided by our core values—Caring, Inclusive, and Courageous—we foster a culture that inspires our people to achieve common goals. Together, let's build a brighter, healthier future for all.

Role Summary

Are you ready to revolutionize the Consumer Goods industry by building the next generation of intelligent digital commerce? The selected candidate will workwithin our Digital Commerce Solutions group, bridging the gap between cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence and real-world B2B and DTC commerce applications. Reporting to the lead of Commerce Solutions, you will engage with commercial teams on a need-basis to identify opportunities within evolving global commerce processes, actively re-imagining workflows to be more efficient and effective. You will move beyond standard generative AI models to architect, prototype, and deploy purpose-built AI workflows deeply integrated into our commerce platforms, Order Management Systems (OMS), and external partner networks (e.g., PIMS). You will work at the intersection of Machine Learning, AI orchestration, and enterprise software engineering to ensure our commerce ecosystem is powered by intelligent, data-driven capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Forward Deployed Problem Solving: Operate as a forward deployed engineer, collaborating with commercial teams on a need-basis to deeply understand business bottlenecks. Continuously identify opportunities within global commerce spaces and re-imagine process flows to be significantly more efficient and effective using AI.
  
  

• Rapid Prototyping & Scalable Foundations: Innovate and build solutions by partnering with Commerce Solutions leadership to rapidly validate POCs/MVPs and deliver enterprise-scalable technical foundations aligned with Colgate's principles.
  
  

• AI Commerce Architecture & Development: Lead the technical design and implementation of domain-specific LLMs and autonomous AI workflows tailored for B2B and DTC digital commerce, automated procurement, intelligent reordering, and dynamic conversational selling.
  
  

• Enterprise Commerce Integration: Architect robust tool-calling interfaces, machine-readable APIs, and data pipelines to integrate AI capabilities directly into our core commerce platforms, Order-to-Invoice (O2I) workflows, and external third-party systems (e.g., Practice Management Systems/PIMS).
  
  

• AI Ops, Scalability & Governance: Oversee the deployment, monitoring, and maintenance of AI agents in production, ensuring they operate within strict enterprise security guardrails, data privacy standards, and cost-effective cloud architectures.
  
  

• Engineering Mentorship: Serve as a foundational technical leader within the newly formed AI Engineering group, guiding junior talent and establishing best practices for AI software engineering and integration.
  
  

Required Qualifications

• Experience: 6 to 8+ years of experience in AI/ML Engineering, Backend Software Engineering, or Data Science with a strict focus on building intelligent, production-ready applications

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree Required

Preferred Qualifications

• Technical Stack: Deep proficiency in Python, SQL, and AI orchestration frameworks (e.g., LangChain, LlamaIndex, AutoGen). Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (GCP, AWS, or Azure) is essential.
  
  

• GenAI & Orchestration Mastery: Extensive practical experience with LLM tool-calling architectures, prompt engineering, embedding models, and multi-step AI workflows for tangible business applications.
  
  

• Industry Background: Experience in the Consumer Goods (CPG/FMCG) or Retail industry, with a strong understanding of consumer transaction data, inventory visibility, and brand equity.
  
  

• Domain Expertise: Proven track record working within B2B/DTC eCommerce architectures, Order Management Systems (OMS), or complex digital transaction workflows.
  
  

• Business-Technologist Hybrid: Ability to translate complex commerce objectives into precise technical AI specifications and system logic.
  
  

• Agile Prototyper: Highly comfortable working in an iterative, fast-paced environment, utilizing short sprint cycles to deliver incremental value and transition prototypes into scalable solutions.
  
  

• Collaborative Communicator: Capable of explaining complex AI concepts, technical feasibility, and system limitations to cross-functional stakeholders, marketing teams, and executive leadership.
  
  

• Strategic & Ethical Focus: Maintains a "big picture" view of how AI capabilities connect to broader enterprise O2I goals, ensuring data privacy and ethical AI standards are embedded in all deployments.
  
  

Compensation and Benefits
Salary Range $155,000.00 - $170,000.00 USD

Pay is determined based on experience, qualifications, and location. Salaried employees may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses, profit-sharing, and long-term incentives for Executive-level roles.

Benefits: Salaried employees enjoy a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance, paid parental leave, disability coverage, and participation in the 401(k) retirement plan with company matching contributions subject to eligibility requirements. Additional benefits include a minimum of 15 vacation/PTO days (hourly employees receive a minimum of 120 hours) and 13 paid holidays (vacation days are prorated based on the employee's hire date within the calendar year). Paid sick leave is adjusted based on role and location in accordance with local laws. Detailed information regarding paid sick leave entitlements will be provided to employees upon hiring and may be subject to adjustments based on changes in legislation or company policies.

Our Commitment to Inclusion
Our journey begins with our people—developing strong talent with diverse backgrounds and perspectives to best serve our consumers around the world and fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels a true sense of belonging. We are dedicated to ensuring that each individual can be their authentic self, is treated with respect, and is empowered by leadership to contribute meaningfully to our business.

Equal Opportunity Employer
Colgate is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, marital status, veteran status (United States positions), or any other characteristic protected by law.

Reasonable accommodation during the application process is available for persons with disabilities. Please complete this request form should you require accommodation.

For additional Colgate terms and conditions, please click here.