AI Program Manager

About AI-First
AI-First is a Halifax-based boutique firm helping organizations across Atlantic Canada work with AI. We work with manufacturers, professional services, associations, government agencies, and more through our flagship AI-First Accelerator program, hands-on workshops, custom development, and advisory retainers. Our approach is hands-on, structured, and built around the realities of working organizations and the people in them.

We are currently a team of seven. Everyone here shapes the work. We are growing intentionally, and this hire is central to that.

We're remote-friendly, AI-native by default, and built around real autonomy: bring your judgment and ideas, and you'll see them put to work quickly.

The Opportunity
We are building our delivery team and looking for an AI Program Manager to join us, with the role targeted for September 2026. This is a rare opportunity to join a small, high-trust firm at the moment it is scaling its core service.

The AI-First Accelerator is our flagship program, and the person we hire into this role will own significant pieces of it over time, not just deliver it.

What You Will Do
Lead AI-First Accelerator engagements from kickoff through final session, including weekly sprints, stakeholder coaching, and client reporting.
Facilitate workshops and training sessions tailored to each client's context, from frontline teams learning new tools to leadership sessions on AI strategy and governance.
Coach organizations through change, helping people move from uncertainty and skepticism to confident, practical AI use. This is organizational change work as much as it is facilitation.
Own client relationships day-to-day, including stakeholder communication, expectation management, and feedback loops.
Shape program development, including refining facilitation guides, session designs, and client-facing materials, working alongside our delivery and leadership teams.
Help us get better from the inside out. Contribute ideas and follow-through on the internal process improvements that make AI-First run better, not just the work we deliver for clients.
Contribute to business development, including scoping conversations, drafting proposals, and shaping new engagements.
Collaborate with our developer team on engagements that call for custom builds or technical integration.
Grow beyond the Accelerator over time. The Accelerator is the initial focus, but this role will include delivering one-off workshopsand other engagement types as you grow with the team.\

How This Role Can Grow
This posting may fill more than one role. Depending on your experience and where your strengths lie, you may grow into any of the following over your first three to six months:
Leading larger, more complex client engagements, and eventually taking ownership of the Accelerator's methodology, tools, and quality.
Taking a more active role in business development, including strategic client conversations and proactive relationship-building.
Supporting the design of new training content, not just its delivery.

These aren't assigned on day one. We'll shape them together as we get to know your experience, interests, and how you like to work.

What We Are Looking For
Required
Demonstrated experience facilitating workshops, training sessions, or group processes in organizational settings.
Daily, active use of AI tools (Microsoft Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or equivalents) and genuine curiosity about where this technology is heading.
Experience helping organizations or teams navigate change – you understand that adoption is a people problem, not a technology problem.
Strong communication skills across levels, from frontline employees to senior leadership.
Comfort with ambiguity and the ability to adapt when a session does not go as planned.
Based in Nova Scotia, with the ability to travel within Atlantic Canada for client engagements.
3+ years of relevant experience leading workshops, training sessions, or client engagements, with growing comfort managing client relationships independently in complex stakeholder environments

If you have deep experience in a particular industry, such as manufacturing, construction, professional services, health, or defence, tell us about it in your application. We are not hiring for one sector only, but sector depth is an asset, and we want to know where yours is.

Change management, business management, or other related professional training or certification (Prosci, CCMP, PMP, or equivalent) is a plus, as is a background in organizational development, workforce development, or adult education. We also value familiarity with everyday business tools and digital ecosystems, whether that is Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or something else, alongside comfort with AI tools like Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini, or similar.

What Success Looks Like
In your first 90 days, you have delivered sessions with clients, you understand how AI-First engagements are structured and why they work, and you are already suggesting improvements.
Within a year, you are leading engagements independently, clients are asking for you by name, and you have a clear sense of where your strengths are strongest and which parts of the role you want to grow into.
Over the longer term, you've grown into the parts of the role that match your strengths, whether that's owning pieces of the Accelerator's methodology and quality, leading on business development, or deepening as a facilitator and program designer. Together with the team, you're helping shape where the practice goes next.

What We Offer
Compensation & Benefits
Competitive salary of $85,000–$105,000, based on experience, expertise, and other factors, with transparent advancement criteria.
Extended health benefits package: group health, dental, and vision coverage, available from day one.
Wellness Spending Account of $500 annually, for things like fitness, ergonomics, or other wellness needs.
RRSP matching program, eligible after 12 mon