Program Manager - AI Engineering

Program Manager – AI Engineering
Charlotte, NC

This role serves as a strategic partner to the Head of AI Engineering, acting as an extension of leadership across a rapidly growing portfolio of AI, GenAI, and Agentic AI initiatives. Combining executive-level strategic support with strong program management discipline, this individual will drive key priorities, portfolio execution, governance, and organizational alignment.

The ideal candidate has a proven track record of supporting senior technology leaders, influencing across complex organizations, and independently driving high-impact initiatives from strategy through execution.

RESPONSIBILITIES
Strategic Leadership & Executive Enablement

• Serve as a trusted partner and extension of AI Engineering leadership, helping drive strategic priorities across the organization.
• Operate with a high degree of autonomy, translating leadership direction into actionable plans and measurable outcomes.
• Represent leadership in meetings and stakeholder forums when needed.
• Develop executive communications, business reviews, and leadership presentations.
• Identify risks, dependencies, and opportunities, and proactively drive resolution.

AI Engineering Portfolio Delivery & Governance

• Lead a portfolio of AI, GenAI, and Agentic AI initiatives from ideation through production and optimization.
• Provide executive-level reporting on delivery status, risks, dependencies, and business outcomes.
• Establish and maintain governance practices supporting AI lifecycle management, risk controls, and regulatory requirements.
• Ensure programs align with enterprise standards and achieve target adoption, performance, and stability outcomes.

Financial, Vendor & Workforce Management

• Manage portfolio budgets, forecasts, funding allocations, and financial reporting.
• Oversee vendor relationships, including SOWs, contract governance, invoicing, and performance management.
• Develop workforce strategies including capacity planning, staffing optimization, resiliency, and critical skill development.
• Partner with leadership to build scalable operating models that support growing AI Engineering demand.

Program Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement

• Provide oversight of strategic initiatives, ensuring alignment between business objectives, engineering delivery, and investment priorities.
• Apply Agile and modern software delivery practices to improve execution and time-to-market.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leaders across AI Engineering, Finance, Risk, Compliance, Sourcing, and business teams.
• Drive alignment, decision-making, and accountability across complex cross-functional initiatives.

Business Impact

     Success in this role will drive:

• Greater transparency into AI Engineering investments, priorities, risks, and outcomes.
• Strong financial stewardship and optimized portfolio investments.
• Scalable vendor and workforce models supporting AI growth.
• Reliable, well-governed, production-grade AI and GenAI solutions.
• Faster delivery of AI capabilities and business value.
• Stronger operational resilience, governance, and risk management.
• Increased effectiveness of AI Engineering leadership through proactive execution and strategic support.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 8+ years in program/portfolio management within technology organizations (banking preferred)
• Experience managing AI/ML, GenAI portfolios
• Technical Expertise & Understanding:
  • AI/ML lifecycle (data, training, deployment, monitoring)
  • GenAI and LLM-based solutions
  • Agentic frameworks and orchestration patterns
  • MLOps / AIOps practices
  • Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
  • Data engineering and big data ecosystems
  • DevOps and CI/CD pipelines 
• Financial & Operational Skills & Experience:
  • Portfolio budgeting and forecasting
  • Cost optimization strategies for cloud and AI workloads
  • Vendor contract and SOW management
• Leadership & Execution:
  • Demonstrated ability to lead complex, cross-functional portfolios
  • Strong executive communication and reporting skills
  • Proven ability to drive delivery stability and operational excellence at scale
• Regulatory & Risk Awareness:
  • Understanding of model risk management, governance, and compliance within financial services
• Demonstrated Executive Partnership & Influence

  • Supporting senior executives, business leaders, or technology leaders

  • Representing leadership priorities across large organizations

  • Influencing without direct authority

  • Preparing executive-level presentations and communications

  • Engaging confidently with senior stakeholders

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE:

• Chief of Staff, Business Operations, Strategic Initiatives, Portfolio Operations, or Executive Program Management experience
• Experience serving as a strategic advisor or operational extension to senior technology leaders
• Experience supporting board, executive committee, or senior leadership reviews

Hours & Work Schedule

• Hours per Week: 40
• Work Schedule: Monday-Friday
• Location: Charlotte, NC

Pay Transparency

The salary range for this position is $146,000-$155,000 per year, plus an opportunity to earn an annual discretionary bonus. Actual pay is based on various factors including but not limited to the budget, work location, and relevant skills and experience. We offer competitive pay, comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, maternity/paternity leave, flexible work arrangements, education reimbursement, wellness programs and more. Note, Citizens’ paid time off policy exceeds the mandatory, paid sick or paid time-away policy of every local and state jurisdiction in the United States. For an overview of our benefits, visit 

https://jobs.citizensbank.com/benefits  

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Citizens, its parent, subsidiaries, and related companies (Citizens) provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all colleagues and applicants for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, citizenship, physical or mental disability, perceived disability or history or record of a disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, genetic characteristic, marital or domestic partner status, victim of domestic violence, family status/parenthood, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, pregnancy/childbirth/lactation, colleague’s or a dependent’s reproductive health decision making, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by federal, state and/or local laws. At Citizens, we are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that enables all colleagues to bring their best selves to work every day and everyone is expected to be treated with respect and professionalism. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, qualifications, performance and capability.

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