AI Ethicist

At Macmillan Learning, we're committed to driving innovation that transforms education. We seek team members who thrive on pushing boundaries, envisioning future possibilities, and building solutions that make a lasting impact. Whether you're a Pioneer shaping bold new ideas, a Builder turning possibilities into reality, or a Stabilizer optimizing for success, you'll play a vital role in advancing our mission. If you're excited by the prospect of testing new technologies, implementing transformative strategies, and thriving in a fast-paced, innovative environment, we'd love to hear from you!

The AI Ethicist / Responsible AI Specialist is a critical strategic role within Macmillan Learning's data and technology organization, responsible for ensuring that artificial intelligence systems-both those developed internally and those sourced from third-party providers-are designed, deployed, and governed in alignment with ethical principles, emerging regulatory requirements, and the educational mission of the company. This individual serves as the organization's primary authority on responsible AI, translating complex AI ethics concepts into actionable guidance for product teams, executives, customers, and institutional partners.

Reporting to the Chief Technology Officer, this role requires a practitioner who combines deep theoretical grounding in AI ethics, fairness, and accountability with sufficient technical fluency to engage credibly with data scientists, machine learning engineers, and senior AI researchers. The AI Ethicist is an active R&D collaborator and technology strategist-embedded with ML Engineering and Product teams to shape how AI is conceived and built-while also serving as a key partner to leading AI organizations such as Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI, and as a confident voice representing Macmillan Learning's responsible AI posture to customers, executives, and policymakers. This role is eligible for a hybrid work schedule out of the Austin, TX office. It is expected that the incumbent will be based in Austin, TX.

We know that talented candidates sometimes hesitate to apply when they don't meet every single qualification listed. We encourage you to apply if you're excited about this role and believe you can contribute meaningfully to our team, even if your background doesn't align perfectly with every requirement. We're looking for people who are passionate about our mission and can bring valuable perspectives to our work. Different experiences, skills, and approaches all have the potential to strengthen what we do. If this opportunity interests you, we'd love to hear how your unique background and abilities could contribute to our team's success. We're committed to building a workplace where everyone can do their best work and where diverse viewpoints are valued. We encourage all qualified candidates to apply - we're excited to learn about the different ways you might add value to our organization.

Major responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

AI Ethics Governance & Policy

• Develop, maintain, and operationalize Macmillan Learning's AI ethics framework and responsible AI policies.
• Define standards for fairness, transparency, accountability, and privacy across AI-driven products.
• Establish and chair an internal AI Review Committee to evaluate new AI capabilities prior to launch.
• Translate emerging regulatory requirements (e.g., EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, state-level AI legislation) into actionable compliance roadmaps.

R&D Collaboration with ML Engineering & Product

• Serve as an embedded ethics and responsible AI partner within ML Engineering and Product R&D initiatives.
• Participate in model design reviews, feature conceptualization, and prototype evaluation to identify and resolve ethical risks early in the development process.
• Contribute to research into novel AI applications for learning-including adaptive systems, generative feedback, and intelligent assessment-ensuring that innovation is grounded in principled, well-documented methodology.
• Help define evaluation frameworks for experimental models that account for fairness, validity, and pedagogical soundness.

Product & Infrastructure Compliance Oversight

• Partner with Product, Technology, and Data Science teams during the AI development lifecycle to identify and mitigate ethical risks before deployment.
• Conduct algorithmic impact assessments and bias audits on existing and emerging AI models.
• Establish governance checkpoints within the MLOps pipeline and ensure documentation standards for model cards, data provenance, and audit trails are consistently met.

Internal Education & Culture Building

• Design and deliver responsible AI training programs for employees across Product, Engineering, Content, and Sales functions.
• Build internal resources and playbooks that embed ethical thinking into how teams work with AI tools and data.
• Act as an internal advisor and escalation point for teams encountering ambiguous AI ethics scenarios.

AI Technology Strategy

• Advise the CTO and senior leadership on the responsible adoption of emerging AI technologies, tools, and platforms.
• Evaluate third-party AI systems and model providers against Macmillan Learning's ethics and compliance standards.
• Contribute to the company's multi-year AI technology roadmap by identifying governance implications of strategic decisions-including model selection, data partnerships, infrastructure investment, and agentic AI deployment.
• Support due diligence processes for AI-related acquisitions, vendor contracts, and integrations.

External AI Partnership

• Serve as a key partner and relationship owner with senior AI researchers, safety leads, and ethics teams at leading AI organizations (e.g., Google, Anthropic, Microsoft, OpenAI) and academic institutions.
• Represent Macmillan Learning's responsible AI interests in partner working groups, industry forums, and standards bodies.
• Prepare and deliver executive briefings and customer-facing presentations on AI ethics topics, and engage with institutional customers and policymakers as needed.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's in Computer Science or data-adjacent field.
• 5 years' experience working in or closely alongside AI/ML teams, with a focus on ethics, governance, policy, or responsible AI.
• Deep theoretical knowledge of machine learning concepts, including model fairness, bias mitigation, explainability/interpretability (XAI), privacy-preserving ML, and uncertainty quantification.
• Proficiency in at least one programming language (Python strongly preferred); sufficient technical fluency to read and critically evaluate ML code, model outputs, and system architectures-without being a primary practitioner.
• Demonstrated knowledge of the AI regulatory landscape including the EU AI Act, NIST AI Risk Management Framework, FTC AI guidance, and emerging U.S. state-level legislation.
• Proven ability to communicate complex technical and ethical concepts to non-technical audiences including C-suite executives, customers, and board members.
• Experience conducting or overseeing algorithmic impact assessments, bias audits, or AI risk evaluations.
• Familiarity with MLOps practices and the AI product development lifecycle sufficient to embed governance checkpoints effectively.
• Experience effectively communicating complex processes and issues verbally and in writing to audiences of diverse technical levels; ability to author policy documents, white papers, executive summaries, and customer-facing materials.
• Comfort engaging with senior researchers and technical leads at AI-focused technology companies and academic institutions.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Graduate degree (Master's or PhD) in AI Ethics, Philosophy of AI, Computer Science, Cognitive Science, Information Science, Science & Technology Studies, or closely related field.
• Experience in EdTech, higher education, or learning analytics environments.
• Published research or public thought leadership in AI ethics, algorithmic accountability, or responsible AI.
• Experience working with or presenting to institutional review boards, accreditation bodies, or government/regulatory stakeholders.
• Familiarity with generative AI systems (LLMs, multimodal models) and their unique ethical considerations including hallucination, misuse, and intellectual property.
• Experience with data privacy regulations (FERPA, COPPA, GDPR) in the context of AI systems that process student data.

Exemption Status: Exempt

Physical Requirements:

Requires periods of close concentration; must be able to multi-task; must be able to travel occasionally; work overtime - more than 40 hours a week - regularly, as needed

This role is eligible for a hybrid work schedule out of the Austin, TX office. It is expected that the incumbent will be based in Austin, TX.

Benefits

Regular full-time and qualifying part-time employees and their dependents are eligible for Macmillan benefits, effective on the employee's date of hire. Macmillan also offers health benefits coverage to qualifying same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partners (may require additional documentation) of active employees.

• Competitive pay and bonus plan
• Generous Health Benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision)
• Contributions to your 401k retirement account through Fidelity
• Generous paid time off, sick time, floating holidays, and paid holidays (Spring Reset Day , Juneteenth, Indigenous People's Day, Election Day, and more!)
• Employee Assistance Program, Education Assistance Program
• 100% employer-paid life and AD&D insurance
• And much more!

Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. Our engaging content is developed in partnership with the world's best researchers, educators, administrators, and developers. To learn more, please visit macmillanlearning.com or see us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or join our Macmillan Community. Macmillan Learning is a division of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, a family-owned global media company headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.

At Macmillan Learning, we believe diverse perspectives and backgrounds enrich our mission to improve lives through learning. We actively seek candidates who reflect a wide range of identities, experiences, and communities. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, disability status, physical ability, neurodiversity, genetic information, protected veteran status, family and economic status and background, geographical status and background, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. You can read more about our Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion initiatives here.

The successful candidate for this position will be an employee of Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishing Group, LLC d/b/a Macmillan Learning. Bedford Freeman & Worth Publishing Group, LLC has developed an equal opportunity compliance program in compliance with the NY Department of Education's guidance. Portions of the equal opportunity compliance program are available for review by applicants and employees by contacting Human Resources at Macmillan Learning.