AI Project Manager

International Erosion Control Association; San Diego, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 149,000 - 156,000; Part time

Job summary

International Erosion Control Association in San Diego, CA is seeking an AI Project Manager for a 6-month hybrid contract. You will lead a portfolio of enterprise AI initiatives from intake to production, coordinating cross-functional teams across R&D, Commercial, Manufacturing, and Corporate functions.

The role requires strong governance, vendor management, and the ability to design adoption plans, pilot cohorts, and executive status updates for VP-level leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 5+ years managing technical delivery or enterprise tech projects.
• Proven experience leading AI or machine learning initiatives from concept to production at enterprise scale.
• Experience delivering agentic AI or multi-step automation capabilities.
• Experience in regulated environments with Legal, Security, and Compliance approvals.
• PMP, Agile, or equivalent certification is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Manage and prioritize a portfolio of enterprise AI initiatives.
• Drive projects from intake through pilot and production.
• Coordinate governance with Legal, Security, IT, and Compliance.
• Manage SOWs and implementation timelines with vendors.
• Develop adoption plans and pilot cohorts; measure utilization.
• Provide executive-level status updates and steering materials.

Skills

Project management

AI governance

Vendor management

Stakeholder management

Communication

Analytical thinking

Problem-solving

Leadership

Independent work

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Claude

Microsoft 365 Copilot

Glean

Power Automate

UiPath

Azure

Fabric

Entra ID

SharePoint

Teams

Job description

AI PROJECT MANAGER

LOCATION: SAN DIEGO, CA (HYBRID)

DURATION: 6-MONTH CONTRACT

PAY: 108-113 USD per hour

Job Responsibilities

In this role, you will manage and support a portfolio of enterprise AI initiatives, driving projects from intake through pilot and production.

Key Responsibilities Include

• Managing and prioritizing multiple AI initiatives across R&D, Commercial, Manufacturing, and Corporate functions, including:
• Enterprise search and conversational assistants.
• Document Q&A and document intelligence.
• Report drafting and meeting intelligence.
• Request triage and workflow automation.
• Agentic AI and multi-step automation capabilities.
• Sequencing an active AI roadmap against available team and pod capacity.
• Making and documenting prioritization decisions regarding initiatives that proceed, defer, or stop.
• Driving AI initiatives from intake through pilot and production, including scope, milestones, dependencies, risks, and launch activities.
• Removing blockers and coordinating delivery across small technical and business-focused pods.
• Leading the delivery of agentic AI and multi-step automation capabilities, including human-in-the-loop controls, escalation paths, guardrails, monitoring, and rollback provisions.
• Partnering with Legal, Security, IT, Compliance, and other stakeholders to ensure governance and approvals are incorporated into delivery plans.
• Managing implementation partners and SaaS vendors against SOWs, timelines, and committed deliverables.
• Developing and executing adoption plans for each AI capability, including pilot cohort design, utilization tracking, and user enablement.
• Preparing status updates, decision materials, and steering communications for VPs and executive leadership.

Essential Duties and Job Functions

• Manage project delivery activities from initial intake through pilot and production deployment.
• Maintain project scopes, milestones, dependencies, risks, decisions, and launch plans.
• Establish and maintain a transparent prioritization model that connects business value, delivery requirements, and available pod capacity.
• Document and communicate roadmap changes, prioritization decisions, and scope adjustments.
• Coordinate AI Policy Review Committee submissions and ensure required governance activities are completed on schedule.
• Engage Legal, Security, IT, Compliance, and other governance stakeholders early in the project lifecycle.
• Evaluate AI workflows to determine which processes are appropriate for autonomous or agentic execution.
• Define human review checkpoints, escalation paths, monitoring requirements, guardrails, and rollback procedures for agentic AI solutions.
• Coordinate implementation across enterprise AI and automation platforms and technical teams.
• Monitor vendors and implementation partners to ensure delivery aligns with SOW requirements and committed timelines.
• Establish pilot programs and measure utilization and adoption against defined targets.
• Coordinate enablement activities alongside AI literacy initiatives.
• Track and report production adoption rather than relying solely on deployment or launch metrics.
• Develop executive-level status reports, decision documents, steering materials, and other communications.
• Establish delivery cadences, intake processes, and documentation practices that can be sustained by the internal team following completion of the engagement.

Knowledge & Skills

• Strong project management, delivery, documentation, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Strong understanding of enterprise AI, generative AI, automation, and machine learning delivery.
• Practical experience with agentic AI workflows, including tool use, orchestration, multi-step execution, and human-in-the-loop controls.
• Working knowledge of enterprise AI and automation platforms such as Claude, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Glean, Power Automate, and UiPath, or comparable technologies.
• Ability to evaluate AI platform and vendor capabilities and translate technical concepts into practical business requirements.
• Understanding of data and analytics delivery, including how data readiness and platform architecture impact AI outcomes.
• Strong understanding of AI governance, risk management, security, compliance, and approval processes.
• Experience working with Legal, Security, IT, Compliance, and other cross-functional stakeholders.
• Strong vendor and stakeholder management skills, including experience managing SOWs and implementation timelines.
• Strong analytical, organizational, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and make effective tradeoff decisions in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong executive-level written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and operate effectively within a lean team environment.
• Familiarity with Microsoft technologies, including Azure, Fabric, Entra ID, SharePoint, and Teams.
• Understanding of data governance concepts, including data classification, data ownership, stewardship, and access frameworks.
• Ability to establish productive relationships with internal teams, external vendors, and implementation partners.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience managing technical delivery or enterprise technology projects.
• Demonstrated experience leading AI or machine learning initiatives from concept through production at enterprise scale.
• Direct experience delivering generative AI initiatives such as enterprise search, document intelligence, conversational assistants, or similar solutions.
• Practical experience delivering agentic AI or multi-step automation capabilities.
• Experience delivering projects in a regulated environment where Legal, Security, and Compliance approvals are part of the critical path.
• Experience with AI governance or AI review committee processes preferred.
• Experience in biopharma, life sciences, or another regulated industry preferred.
• Familiarity with GxP or MNPI considerations preferred.Experience with vendor management, SOW administration, or contract management preferred.
• PMP, Agile, or equivalent certification is a plus.