AI Project Manager

Apex Systems; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

401K with match

HSA

ESPP

Job summary

Everforth Apex is seeking an IT Program Manager III to lead end-to-end planning and execution for AI programs in a hybrid delivery model. The role covers discovery, prototyping, pilot, and production, partnering with stakeholders to manage scope, timelines, and governance.

You will coordinate cross-functional teams across Product, Engineering, Data, and Compliance, while owning RAID, budgets, and readiness for production support. Strong Agile and Jira/Confluence skills are required.

Qualifications

• 7+ years leading complex technology projects, including 3+ years delivering AI/ML or LLM-based solutions.
• Proven ability to coordinate data, engineering, product, and reliability engineering teams.
• Experience in regulated environments, particularly financial services.

Responsibilities

• Establish integrated project plans for AI initiatives with milestones and critical path.
• Run Agile ceremonies (Scrum/Kanban) and manage hybrid delivery needs for model work.
• Manage RAID logs with owners, due dates, and mitigations.
• Coordinate cross-functional delivery across Product, Engineering, Data, and Compliance teams.
• Track budgets, vendor engagement, and resourcing; maintain status and forecast reports.
• Ensure Responsible AI governance, including data privacy controls and model risk management.
• Drive readiness for production support with runbooks and incident playbooks.
• Partner on release planning, change management, and post-launch retrospectives.
• Maintain project artifacts in Jira and Confluence and uphold documentation standards.
• Facilitate stakeholder communications through executive updates and decision logs.

Skills

Agile methodologies

Scrum

Kanban

Stakeholder management

Risk management

Tools

Jira

Confluence

ServiceNow

Job description

Location: Chicago, Illinois / Charlotte NC (Hybrid)

Duration: 12 months

Job #: 3044625

Job Title: IT Program Manager III

Role Overview

We are seeking an IT Program Manager to lead end-to-end project planning and execution for AI programs. This role involves managing the full lifecycle from discovery and prototyping to pilot and production. The Program Manager will partner with key stakeholders to manage scope, timelines, dependencies, and governance, while owning delivery cadences, risk management, and operational readiness.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain integrated project plans for AI initiatives, including milestones, dependencies, and critical path.
• Run Agile ceremonies (Scrum/Kanban) and adapt to hybrid delivery needs for model and platform work.
• Manage RAID logs (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies) with clear owners, due dates, and mitigations.
• Coordinate cross-functional delivery across Product, Engineering, Data, and Compliance teams.
• Track budgets, vendor engagement, and resourcing; maintain status and forecast reports.
• Ensure Responsible AI governance, including data privacy controls, model risk management, and fairness checks.
• Drive readiness for production support, including runbooks, incident playbooks, and knowledge management alignment.
• Partner on release planning, change management, and operational handoffs, ensuring post-launch retrospectives.
• Maintain project artifacts in Jira and Confluence and uphold documentation standards.
• Facilitate stakeholder communications through executive updates, decision logs, and outcome-based reporting.

Required Qualifications

Experience: 7+ years leading complex technology projects, including 3+ years delivering AI/ML or LLM-based solutions. Demonstrated success managing multi-team programs in regulated environments, particularly within financial services. Proven ability to coordinate data, engineering, product, and reliability engineering teams. Production support experience is also required.

Technical Skills: Strong Agile expertise (Scrum/Kanban) and proficiency with Jira, Confluence, and ServiceNow for knowledge and change management. Experience with standard project management artifacts such as RAID logs, roadmaps, and budget tracking.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certifications such as PMP, PMI-ACP, and/or CSM.
• Experience with GenAI, agentic systems, LangChain/LangGraph orchestration, and RAG pipelines.
• Familiarity with model risk management, Responsible AI frameworks, and evaluation tooling.
• Exposure to LLMOps/MLOps practices like observability, rollback, feature flags, and CI/CD for models.
• Familiarity with Python, FastAPI integration patterns, and vector relational database concepts.
• Comfort collaborating with production support and reliability engineers for operational readiness.

Company Overview

Everforth Apex is a world‑class IT services company that serves thousands of clients across the globe. When you join Everforth Apex, you become part of a team that values innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning. We offer quality career resources, training, certifications, development opportunities, and a comprehensive benefits package. Our commitment to excellence is reflected in many awards, including ClearlyRateds Best of Staffing® in Talent Satisfaction in the United States and Great Place to Work® in the United Kingdom and Mexico.

Benefits Overview

Everforth Apex offers a range of supplemental benefits, including medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and other insurance plans that offer an optional layer of financial protection. We offer an ESPP (employee stock purchase program) and a 401K program which allows you to contribute typically within 30 days of starting, with a company match after 12 months of tenure. Everforth Apex also offers a HSA (Health Savings Account on the HDHP plan), a SupportLinc Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with up to 8 free counseling sessions, a corporate discount savings program and other discounts. In terms of professional development, Everforth Apex hosts an on‑Demand training program, provides access to certification prep and a library of technical and leadership courses/books/seminars once you have 6+ months of tenure, and certification discounts and other perks to associations that include CompTIA and IIBA. Everforth Apex has a dedicated customer service team for our Consultants that can address questions around benefits and other resources, as well as a certified Career Coach. You can access a full list of our benefits, programs, support teams and resources within our ‘Welcome Packet’ as well, which an Everforth Apex team member can provide.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Everforth Apex Systems is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate or allow discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, genetic information, registered domestic partner status, marital status, disability, status as a crime victim, protected veteran status, political affiliation, union membership, or any other characteristic protected by law. Everforth Apex will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable law.

Everforth Apex Systems is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate or allow discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, genetic information, registered domestic partner status, marital status, disability, status as a crime victim, protected veteran status, political affiliation, union membership, or any other characteristic protected by law. Everforth Apex will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable law.

If you require an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act to participate in an interview with a virtual recruiter or to use our website for a search or application, please contact our Benefits Department at [e-mail] or 804-523-8228. Please note that this contact information is strictly to be used for medical ADA accommodations and that no other inquiries will be answered.

If you have visited our website in search of information on employment opportunities or to apply for a position, and you require an accommodation in using our website for a search or application, please contact our Benefits Department at [e-mail] or 804-523-8228. (Do not submit resumes or solicit consultants to this email address).

Compliance Information

UnitedHealthcare creates and publishes the Transparency in Coverage Machine-Readable Files on behalf of Everforth Apex Systems.