Principal, Knowledge & AI Transformation

Blackbaud; Charleston (SC); On-site; USD 78,000 - 105,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Remote-flexible workforce

401(k) with employer match

Generous parental leave

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Blackbaud is seeking a strategic Principal, Knowledge & AI Transformation to shape knowledge governance and AI-enabled experiences across Customer Success, Support, Enablement, and self-service channels. You will drive scalable, trusted content and define how knowledge is created, retrieved, and reused for humans and AI.

You will lead enterprise knowledge strategy, establish governance models, and drive measurable improvements in customer outcomes and agent productivity through AI-driven

Qualifications

• 7+ years of related experience in enterprise knowledge management, customer experience transformation, digital transformation, AI enablement, or a related discipline.
• Proven expertise in knowledge architecture, taxonomy, metadata, governance, and content lifecycle.
• Experience leading enterprise knowledge strategy with governance, standards, and operating models.
• Proven AI-enabled transformation from strategy to adoption with measurable outcomes.
• Knowledge-centered service (KCS) principles and practices are preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead a unified knowledge strategy with architecture, ownership, and lifecycle governance.
• Establish content standards, taxonomy, metadata, and governance processes.
• Build AI-ready knowledge with structure, authoritative sources, and retrieval quality.
• Drive opportunities to accelerate knowledge creation and AI-enabled workflows.
• Measure impact on customer effort, resolution effectiveness, and agent productivity.

Skills

Enterprise knowledge management

Customer experience transformation

AI enablement

Knowledge architecture

Taxonomy

Metadata

Governance

Content lifecycle

Education

KCS certification

Tools

Salesforce Knowledge

SharePoint

Microsoft Copilot

ServiceNow

Zendesk

Job description

Blackbaud unleashes the potential of the people and organizations who change the world, and we’re growing our team. As the leading software provider exclusively dedicated to fueling social impact, you can expand what is possible across the nonprofit and education sectors and work with companies committed to social responsibility, so you can expand what is possible.

What You’ll Do

We’re looking for a strategic, collaborative, the Principal, Knowledge & AI Transformation to join the YourCause Customer Experience organization. This senior individual contributor will shape how knowledge is created, governed, discovered, and used across Customer Success, Support, Enablement, customer self-service, and AI-enabled experiences. This role will ensure knowledge is accurate, trusted, discoverable, reusable, and structured for both human and AI consumption. You’ll connect knowledge strategy with practical AI transformation, building the trusted content, governance, and retrieval foundations needed to deliver consistent answers and scalable customer outcomes. This is an opportunity to lead purpose-driven innovation while partnering across Customer Experience, Product, Operations, and Technology.

Role

• Develop and lead a unified knowledge strategy by defining architecture, taxonomy, ownership, content standards, and lifecycle governance.
• Establish content standards, governance practices, taxonomy, metadata, ownership, and lifecycle management processes.
• Build AI-ready knowledge by establishing standards for structure, source authority, retrieval quality, response accuracy, and ongoing evaluation for assistants, copilots, self-service, and agentic workflows.
• Evaluate opportunities to use AI to accelerate knowledge creation, classification, maintenance, discovery, and continuous improvement.
• Drive measurable AI transformation by moving opportunities from concept through implementation and adoption, and connecting outcomes to customer effort, resolution effectiveness, and employee productivity.
• Improve knowledge health and self-service effectiveness by using search behavior, content usage, case trends, customer feedback, and AI performance data
• Promote Knowledge-Centered Service practices that integrate knowledge capture and improvement into daily work.
• Influence knowledge-first ways of working by partnering across Customer Success, Customer Support, Enablement, Customer Experience Operations, Product, and Technology.
• Lead change adoption for new governance practices, tools, processes, and AI-enabled workflows.

What You’ll Bring

• 7+ years of related experience in enterprise knowledge management, customer experience transformation, digital transformation, AI enablement, or a related discipline, with demonstrated progression into enterprise-level strategy and leadership as a senior individual contributor.
• Deep expertise in enterprise knowledge management, including knowledge architecture, taxonomy, metadata, governance, content lifecycle, search, self-service, and designing content for both human and AI consumption.
• Proven experience defining and leading enterprise knowledge strategy, including establishing governance models, standards, ownership structures, measurement frameworks, and operating practices across multiple functions or business areas.
• Demonstrated success leading AI-enabled transformation from strategy through implementation, adoption, and measurement, with the ability to identify high-value opportunities, translate them into scalable solutions, and demonstrate measurable business and customer outcomes.
• Applied expertise in AI-enabled knowledge experiences, including retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), grounding, knowledge retrieval, evaluation methodologies, response quality and accuracy, and responsible AI governance.
• Experience improving the quality and reliability of AI-powered experiences by establishing authoritative sources, content and retrieval standards, evaluation frameworks, and continuous-improvement practices.
• Proven ability to influence senior leaders and cross-functional stakeholders without direct authority, build alignment across competing priorities, and drive enterprise-wide changes in processes, behaviors, tools, and ways of working.
• Strong analytical and strategic problem-solving capabilities, with experience using search behavior, content performance, case trends, customer feedback, adoption metrics, and AI performance data to identify opportunities and guide investment and prioritization.
• Ability to operate with a high degree of autonomy in complex and ambiguous environments, moving effectively between enterprise strategy, program design, and hands-on execution while establishing direction for others.
• Experience with enterprise knowledge and AI platforms such as Salesforce Knowledge, SharePoint, Microsoft Copilot, ServiceNow, Zendesk, or comparable platforms, including experience connecting technology capabilities to broader knowledge strategy and operating models.
• Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) certification or comparable formal training in enterprise knowledge management preferred, with demonstrated experience embedding knowledge-centered practices into day-to-day customer or employee workflows.
• Experience in social impact, corporate social responsibility, nonprofit technology, or philanthropic technology is a plus.

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Blackbaud powers social impact through purpose‑driven technology and responsible AI. Guided by our Intelligence for Good® vision, we’re building a culture where innovation, trust, and human expertise come together to help organizations make a greater difference in the world.

Blackbaud is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive work environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, physical or mental disability, age, or veteran status or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law.

The starting base pay is $77,700.00 to $104,500.00. Blackbaud may pay more or less based on employee qualifications, market value, Company finances, and other operational considerations.

Benefits Include

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Remote-flexible workforce
• Wellness Programs
• 401(k) program with employer match
• Flexible paid time off
• Generous Parental Leave
• Donations for Doers
• Pet insurance, legal and identity protection
• Tuition reimbursement program