Senior Manager, Strategic Operations & AI Enablement

Versant Media; Orlando (FL); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Versant Media is seeking a Senior Manager, Strategic Operations & AI Enablement to drive scalable, AI-enabled operations across the Digital Platforms & Ventures division. You will redesign processes, modernize operations, and build intelligent workflows to boost efficiency and collaboration across GolfNow, Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, and more.

The role supports all verticals, brands, and groups, requiring 5+ years of project management experience and strong knowledge of marketing.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Sales, Project Management or Communications.
• 5+ years of project management experience, preferably within marketing, production, digital-first environments.
• Proficient with project management tools; Asana experience is a plus.
• Mac OS skills and knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite; typing and math skills with Word/Excel.
• Understanding of marketing, branding, and consumer psychology.
• Willingness to work a hybrid 3-day schedule in a hub office.
• Consistent, regular, and punctual attendance required.

Responsibilities

• AI & Operational Innovation: Champion an AI-first approach to operational excellence across the organization.
• Identify repetitive, manual, or inefficient workflows and redesign them using AI, automation, and intelligent process design.
• Build, train, test, and optimize AI assistants, prompts, automations, and operational agents that improve team productivity.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and recommend scalable solutions that create measurable business impact.
• Develop governance, best practices, and standards for responsible AI adoption across business teams.
• Workflow Architecture & Systems Design: Design scalable operational workflows that support creative, marketing, print, digital, and cross-functional initiatives.
• Translate business needs into standardized, repeatable workflows that improve efficiency, visibility, and execution.
• Create operational frameworks that reduce manual effort while increasing quality and consistency.
• Continuously optimize existing workflows based on analytics and evolving priorities.
• Serve as the organization’s subject matter expert for workflow strategy and design.
• Project Intake & Operational Planning: Own the DPV project intake process from request through readiness.
• Assess incoming work for completeness, resources, workflow alignment, and prioritization.
• Convert business requests into scalable operational workflows.
• Partner with stakeholders to define requirements before work enters execution.
• Ensure work is routed efficiently through standardized processes.
• Platform Strategy & Integrations: Own administration and evolution of platforms including Asana, PageProof, Salesforce integrations, Jira.
• Design and implement integrations between systems to reduce duplicate work and improve data flow.
• Collaborate with vendors to evaluate and optimize technologies.
• Build automation strategies to reduce manual touches across systems.
• Develop scalable infra to support future growth.
• Data, Intelligence & Continuous Improvement: Leverage data and AI insights to identify optimization opportunities.
• Develop dashboards and reporting on operational health, efficiency, adoption, and impact.
• Establish KPIs around automation, cycle time, resource use, and effectiveness.
• Drive a culture of continuous improvement through experimentation and iteration.
• Training & Change Enablement: Lead AI tool adoption, create training materials, playbooks, and self-service resources.
• Coach teams on maximizing AI within daily workflows.
• Foster a culture of innovation, experimentation, and operational excellence.

Skills

Project management

Marketing knowledge

Interpersonal skills

Attention to detail

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing/Communications/related field

Tools

Asana

Adobe Creative Suite

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Company Description

VERSANT (Nasdaq: VSNT) is an industry-changing media and entertainment business and home to trusted brands that shape culture, inform audiences, and build lasting connections. It operates across four core markets: political news and opinion, business news and personal finance, golf, and sports and genre entertainment. These markets are served through a powerful portfolio of iconic and innovative brands, including CNBC, MS NOW, USA Network, Golf Channel, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and Versant's sports division USA Sports, along with complementary digital assets including Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and GolfPass.

Company Description

VERSANT (Nasdaq: VSNT) is an industry-changing media and entertainment business and home to trusted brands that shape culture, inform audiences, and build lasting connections. It operates across four core markets: political news and opinion, business news and personal finance, golf, and sports and genre entertainment. These markets are served through a powerful portfolio of iconic and innovative brands, including CNBC, MS NOW, USA Network, Golf Channel, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and Versant's sports division USA Sports, along with complementary digital assets including Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and GolfPass.

Job Description

We are seeking a Senior Manager, Strategic Operations & AI Enablement to lead the evolution of how work strategically scales across the Digital Platforms & Ventures division. This role is responsible for designing scalable operational systems, driving AI-enabled innovation, and transforming complex business needs into streamlined, intelligent workflows that improve efficiency, collaboration, and business outcomes.

This is not a traditional project management role. Success is measured by the ability to redesign business processes, modernize operations through AI and automation, and build scalable systems that empower teams to work smarter and more effectively.

The Senior Manager, Strategic Operations & AI Enablement supports all verticals, all brands and all groups within the Versant Digital Platforms & Ventures division, including such products as GolfNow, Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, and more.

Responsibilities

AI & Operational Innovation

• Champion an AI-first approach to operational excellence across the organization.


• Identify repetitive, manual, or inefficient workflows and redesign them using AI, automation, and intelligent process design.


• Build, train, test, and optimize AI assistants, prompts, automations, and operational agents that improve team productivity.


• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and recommend scalable solutions that create measurable business impact.


• Develop governance, best practices, and standards for responsible AI adoption across business teams.

Workflow Architecture & Systems Design

• Design scalable operational workflows that support creative, marketing, print, digital, and cross-functional initiatives.


• Translate business needs into standardized, repeatable workflows that improve efficiency, visibility, and execution.


• Create operational frameworks that reduce manual effort while increasing quality and consistency.


• Continuously optimize existing workflows based on analytics, stakeholder feedback, and evolving business priorities.


• Serve as the organization's subject matter expert for workflow strategy and operational design.

Project Intake & Operational Planning

• Own the DPV project intake process from request through operational readiness.


• Assess incoming work for completeness, resource requirements, workflow alignment, and strategic prioritization.


• Convert business requests into scalable operational workflows rather than one-off project plans.


• Partner with stakeholders to define requirements before work enters execution.


• Ensure work is routed efficiently through standardized operational processes.

Platform Strategy & Integrations

• Own strategic administration and evolution of operational platforms including Asana, PageProof, Salesforce integrations, Jira, and future technology solutions.


• Design and implement integrations between business systems to eliminate duplicate work and improve data flow.


• Partner with O&T and vendors to evaluate, implement, and optimize new technologies.


• Build automation strategies that reduce manual touchpoints across systems.


• Develop scalable operational infrastructure supporting future business growth.

Data, Intelligence & Continuous Improvement

• Leverage operational data, AI insights, and workflow analytics to identify optimization opportunities.


• Develop dashboards and reporting that measure operational health, workflow efficiency, adoption, and business impact.


• Establish KPIs around automation, cycle time reduction, resource utilization, and process effectiveness.


• Drive a culture of continuous improvement through experimentation and iterative optimization.

Training & Change Enablement

• Lead organizational adoption of AI tools (ChatGPT, Codex, etc.), workflow platforms, and operational best practices.


• Develop training programs, documentation, playbooks, and self-service resources.


• Coach teams on maximizing AI capabilities within their daily workflows.


• Serve as a trusted advisor helping teams rethink how work gets done through technology.


• Foster a culture of innovation, experimentation, and operational excellence.

Qualifications

Qualifications/ Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree from a four-year college or university preferably in Marketing, Sales, Project Management or Communications


• 5+ years of project management experience, preferably within marketing, production, digital-first environments


• Proficient with project management tools a must, experience with Asana a plus


• Mac OS skills and knowledge of Adobe Creative suite, typing & math skills with a command of Word & Excel


• Understanding of marketing, branding, and consumer psychology


• Willingness to work a hybrid 3-day schedule in a hub office


• Consistent, regular, and punctual attendance required

Desired Characteristics

• Extremely detail-oriented and highly organized


• Strong accountability and desire to be the one ultimately responsible for getting things done right, the first time, on time


• Is comfortable working in a group environment and possesses strong interpersonal skills


• Takes initiative and is self-motivated


• Knowledge of sports and movies a plus


• Ability to work effectively with management and executive leaders


• An ability to multitask and perform under tight deadlines within this fast-paced environment


• Confident and professional video conferencing and phone presence


• Strong verbal and written communication skills


• Punctual, regular, and consistent attendance

Additional Information

As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with a VERSANT Media employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. VERSANT Media's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to [e-mail].

VERSANT Media is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. We include a good faith pay range for each position to comply with applicable state and local pay transparency laws and to promote equity across our organization. Actual compensation will be based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, experience, and location and may include additional forms of compensation and benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, etc.