Senior Program Manager – AI Implementation

Senior Program Manager – AI Implementation (9-12 month contract)

Location: Edmonton / Hybrid

Staffing Placement Opportunity

Purpose / Summary

The Senior Program Manager – AI Implementation is responsible for leading the coordinated delivery of a small portfolio of high-priority AI initiatives aligned with the organization's AI strategy and business priorities.

This role provides focused leadership, delivery discipline, and execution momentum, ensuring approved AI initiatives progress efficiently from concept through pilot and into operational use while aligning with established governance, risk, privacy, and change management principles.

The Program Manager does not own AI strategy or governance decisions. Instead, the role translates approved direction into measurable outcomes, removes delivery barriers, and enables cross-functional teams across business and operational areas to succeed.

Key Responsibilities

AI Use Case Delivery & Execution
Lead the end-to-end delivery of 2–3 prioritized AI use cases within the fiscal year, from initiation through pilot and implementation.
Translate approved use cases into clear delivery plans, milestones, dependencies, and success measures.
Ensure solutions are designed for adoption, scalability, and operational readiness—not just technical proof of concept.
Cross-Functional Coordination
Coordinate contributors across business units, Information Technology, data teams, vendors, and external partners.
Act as the primary point of delivery accountability while respecting ownership for data, business processes, privacy, security, and change management.
Proactively identify and resolve dependencies, risks, and resource constraints.
Vendor & Partner Management
Manage relationships with external vendors and implementation partners, where applicable.
Ensure vendor deliverables meet organizational expectations, timelines, and quality standards.
Support "buy versus build" evaluations as part of execution planning when required.
Governance Alignment (Enablement, Not Ownership)
Deliver work within established AI governance frameworks, policies, and organizational standards.
Prepare status updates, decision materials, and presentations for leadership and governance forums.
Ensure delivery activities align with organizational principles related to privacy, security, ethics, and responsible AI use.
Change Management, Adoption & Readiness
Partner with Communications, Learning, and business leaders to support successful adoption of AI capabilities.
Ensure documentation, operational handoffs, training, and support models are established prior to go-live.
Proactively manage change impacts on employee workflows and business operations.
Reporting & Delivery Transparency
Provide concise, executive-ready updates to senior leadership.
Monitor progress, risks, dependencies, budgets, and realized business outcomes such as productivity improvements, cost savings, and service enhancements.
Maintain delivery documentation to support governance, audits, continuous improvement, and future scaling.

Required

Qualifications & Experience

7–10+ years of program management or senior project management experience leading complex, cross-functional initiatives.
Demonstrated experience delivering AI, analytics, automation, or digital transformation initiatives into operational environments.
Strong understanding of AI implementation, including data readiness, organizational adoption, governance, and ethical considerations.
Proven ability to influence and collaborate across multiple stakeholder groups without formal authority.
Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to translate technical delivery into meaningful business outcomes.

Preferred

Experience working in higher education, public sector, healthcare, or other complex, multi-stakeholder organizations.
Experience delivering AI or digital transformation initiatives within large, matrixed environments.
Familiarity with enterprise systems such as ERP, HRIS, Finance, CRM, or Student Information Systems (e.g., PeopleSoft, Workday, SAP, Oracle) is considered an asset.
Ability to quickly understand enterprise platforms, data architecture, and system integrations without being a technical specialist.
Experience driving AI adoption and operational transformation across multiple business functions.

Note: this is an opportunity with a Microserve client.