Director, Innovation (AI Focused)

ARCO Companies; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

ESOP

Traditional and Roth 401k

Tuition reimbursement for associates

Scholarship for associates’ children

1-month paid sabbatical after every 5y

1-week paid volunteer leave

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

100% paid 12-week maternity leave

Job summary

ARCO, a family of construction companies, seeks a strategic AI leader based in Chicago to own the AI roadmap and scale a distributed workflow initiative across the organization.

You will deliver multiple AI projects focused on back-office efficiency, build just-in-time business cases, and partner with Innovation and IT leaders to drive adoption and value realization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Project Management, Communications, Information Systems, or a related field.
• 5-8 years of experience in project coordination, operations support, innovation, process improvement, or a similar execution focused role.
• Proven ability to execute and deliver AI solutions.
• Hands-on experience with modern AI tools, automation, or data-driven systems.
• Strong business judgment and ROI-driven prioritization skills.
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to diverse audiences.
• Comfortable working autonomously in ambiguous environments.
• Relationship-oriented with a collaborative, pragmatic mindset.

Responsibilities

• Deliver 3–5 AI initiatives with measurable time and/or cost savings
• Inherit and advance an existing agentic workflow project
• Identify and execute additional high-impact AI projects, primarily focused on back-office efficiency
• Build and manage a prioritized pipeline of AI opportunities based on ROI and feasibility
• Establish lightweight intake, prioritization, and delivery processes in ServiceNow (in partnership with IT)
• Partner with L&D to drive AI literacy, adoption, and internal capability-building
• Identify and support internal AI champions and create visible proof points
• Own the AI roadmap and build business cases that address cost, risk, and return
• Build strong relationships across business units and translate AI concepts for non-technical stakeholders

Skills

AI project delivery

Project coordination

ROI prioritization

Stakeholder communication

Autonomy

Education

Bachelor's degree in business/related field

Job description

Are you a big-picture person with a history of implementing high-impact AI solutions in an organization? If the answer is, “Yes!” then we have an exciting, long-term career opportunity for you based in Chicago. Who are we? We are ARCO, a Family of Construction Companies. You will own the AI roadmap, inherit an existing agentic workflow initiative, and identify additional opportunities focused on back-office efficiency and information management. You’ll work closely with Innovation, IT, and business leaders across a distributed, multi-office organization.

A Day in the Life:

Deliver 3–5 AI initiatives with measurable time and/or cost savings

Inherit and advance an existing agentic workflow project

Identify and execute additional high-impact AI projects, primarily focused on back-office efficiency

Build and manage a prioritized pipeline of AI opportunities based on ROI and feasibility

Establish lightweight intake, prioritization, and delivery processes in ServiceNow (in partnership with IT)

Partner with L&D to drive AI literacy, adoption, and internal capability-building

Identify and support internal AI champions and create visible proof points

Own the AI roadmap and build business cases that address cost, risk, and return

Build strong relationships across business units and translate AI concepts for non-technical stakeholders

Necessary Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required in Business, Project Management, Communications, Information Systems, or a related field
• 5-8 years of experience in project coordination, operations support, innovation, process improvement, operational efficiency, or a similar execution focused role

Proven ability to execute and deliver AI solutions

Hands-on experience with modern AI tools, automation, or data-driven systems

Strong business judgment and ROI-driven prioritization skills

Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to diverse audiences

Comfortable working autonomously in ambiguous environments

Relationship-oriented with a collaborative, pragmatic mindset

What We Can Offer You:

We are dedicated to the well-being of our associates and are proud to be consistently recognized as a Best Place to Work. Our compensation and benefits package not only supports our associates and their families but benefits local communities and communities around the world.

• ESOP
• Traditional and Roth 401k
• Tuition reimbursement for associates
• Scholarship for associates’ children up to $28,000 per child
• 1-month paid sabbatical after every five years of employment, plus $5,000 for travel
• 1-week paid volunteer leave each year
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage
• 100% paid 12-week maternity leave

At ARCO, our first core value is to treat people fairly and do the right thing. We are committed to building and sustaining a culture that supports diversity and inclusion. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment.

From recruiting, training, and hiring practices to selecting our subcontractors, we understand that diversity of all those involved in the construction process enhances our ability to deliver the best solutions to our customers. We hire the best and the brightest from across the country – constructing a team of experts in architecture, design, engineering, project management, and business services.

MAKE YOUR MOVE

We are proud to be one of the fastest-growing, privately-owned companies in America, celebrating over 30 years of experience as design-build experts. We have completed over 7,500 design-build projects nationwide. We ranked #9 on ENR’s Design-Build Firms list and #34 on ENR's Top 400 Contractors list of 2026. Most importantly, our clients like us, trust us, and want to do business with us. We are looking for people with the same enthusiasm, passion, and respect for the hard work that brought us to where we are today. Are you a person who can make a difference at ARCO? If the answer is “Yes!” we look forward to meeting you.

ARCO does not accept unsolicited resumes from individual recruiters or third-party recruiting agencies without pre-approval from ARCO’s Human Resources team. Pre-approval is required before any external candidate can be submitted. ARCO will not be responsible for fees related to unsolicited resumes and for candidates who are sent directly to our hiring managers. Agencies must have a fully executed vendor agreement in place as well as written approval to submit candidates from an ARCO TA Manager for a specific position before submitting candidates.