AI Program Manager - Special Projects & Innovation

Smart Tech Contracting delivers turnkey BAS & EPMS solutions for mission-critical colocation and hyperscale data centers operating at national program scale. As a Master Systems Integrator (MSI), we unify controls construction (DDC, PLC, SCADA) with software engineering, optimized graphics / UI standards, and program-level governance. Our Special Projects and Innovation (SPI) group is where we pursue the ideas that do not fit inside a standard project — and it is the home of SmartTech.ai, our company-wide AI enablement program.

AI adoption at STC has grown fast and organically: capable people across every department have built real tools and returned real time. That grassroots energy is our foundation — and it has outgrown an informal, team-by-team approach. As AI Program Manager, you will take SmartTech.ai from siloed experimentation to a governed, supported, and scalable capability — setting light-touch policy and standards, standing up the development frameworks and hosting platforms that turn prototypes into deployable products, pairing the right tools to the right use cases, and raising the AI fluency of every employee through training, messaging, and hands-on support.

This is STC's first dedicated AI enablement hire. You will report to the VP of Engineering & Technology, operate within the SPI department, and coordinate a hub-and-spoke network of departmental AI Champions. You are equal parts builder and enabler — technical enough to architect and ship AI solutions yourself, and skilled enough with people and process to make the entire company better at using AI. You will receive general direction on objectives and work independently to build the program, communicating and operating in line with organizational goals and values as well as departmental objectives.

Establish light-touch, practical governance for AI use company-wide — acceptable-use standards, data-handling and security guardrails, and a clear tool-approval pathway — in partnership with IT and InfoSec

Contribute to development of the innovation and idea intake (“funnel”), triaging incoming requests and prototypes and prioritizing them by value, effort, and risk

Maintain a lightweight review cadence that keeps the program safe and consistent without slowing the people doing the work

Raise the AI fluency of the entire company — technical and non-technical staff alike — through hands-on training, office hours, documentation, and reusable prompt and workflow libraries

Own internal messaging and change management for SmartTech.ai: announcements, wins, and adoption campaigns that build momentum and engagement

Coordinate the departmental AI Champions network, turning individual wins into shared, company-wide capability

Turn ideas and prototypes into deployable, supportable solutions — designing, building, and shipping LLM-powered tools, agents, and integrations

Serve as a hands-on power user of Claude and modern AI development tools, setting the technical bar for prompt engineering, agentic workflows, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) over company knowledge, and API integration

Harden and deploy high-value prototypes built by others so delivery teams can rely on them without owning their maintenance

Design and stand up the sanctioned development environments, hosting platforms, and DevOps toolchain (source control, CI/CD, containerization, cloud hosting) that let AI solutions be built, deployed, and maintained safely and repeatably

Replace ad-hoc, unsanctioned workarounds with secure, documented, scalable infrastructure, in coordination with IT and InfoSec

Establish reusable patterns, templates, and reference architectures for AI application development

Evaluate, select, and manage the company's portfolio of AI tools and platforms; map tools to specific business needs and use cases so teams adopt the right tool for the job

Track adoption, value, and ROI; maintain a prioritized roadmap of AI investments aligned to corporate growth targets

Manage vendor relationships, licensing, and cost, and advise leadership on build-vs-buy decisions

Leverage AI-enabled and digital tools to enhance efficiency, reduce manual effort, and support consistent, high-quality work output

Identify opportunities to improve processes and demonstrate a continuous learning mindset, seeking out new technologies, skills, and methods that elevate individual and team performance

Adapt to emerging technologies and evolving digital workflows, actively supporting the integration and adoption of innovative tools across the organization

Completion of assigned tasks and deliverables on time and on budget

Performs other related duties as assigned

The following physical demands must be met by the employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is:

Frequently required to remain in a stationary position and to operate a computer and other office equipment

Frequently moving through office, lab, and critical-facility environments, including tight and confined spaces

Occasionally descending / ascending stairs and ladders to access equipment during site visits

On occasion required to move equipment weighing up to 25 pounds

5+ years in software / AI development, technical program management, or AI/ML enablement, including hands-on delivery of AI or LLM-powered solutions.

2+ years building, leading, or maturing an AI enablement program, Center of Excellence, or comparable initiative at a similarly sized organization

STC does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters, employment agencies, or other staffing services. Unsolicited resumes include any resume or hiring document sent to STC in the absence of a signed Service Agreement where STC has expressly requested recruitment/staffing services specific to the position at hand. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted to hiring managers or other business leaders, will become the property of STC and STC will have the right to hire that candidate without reservation – no fee or other compensation will be owed or paid to the recruiter, employment agency, or other staffing service.

Smart Tech Contracting delivers turnkey BAS & EPMS solutions for mission-critical colocation and hyperscale data centers operating at national program scale. As a Master Systems Integrator (MSI), we unify controls construction (DDC, PLC, SCADA) with software engineering, optimized graphics / UI standards, and program-level governance.

Complex integrations are delivered cleanly, consistently, and fast. Our teams thrive in high-stakes environments where quality control and uptime matters, schedules are compressed, and coordination is everything.