The Role
The Strategic Project Lead for AI Operations oversees the AI Ops program, ensuring stakeholder engagement, project tracking, coordination, and effective communication for program success.
Summary Generated by Built In
Why join us?
We’re a global tech company, just not the kind you’re picturing.
Sure, we’ve got catered lunches, team events, cool merch, and yes... dogs in the office. But that’s not why people join.
Our team of nearly a thousand people wakes up every day to make our product and our customers’ lives better. At SafetyCulture, you’ll hear “yes, let’s give it a shot” more often than “that’s not how we do things here.”
People join because we’re building tools that make work better for the 3 billion people who keep the world moving - factory floor operators, baggage handlers, truck drivers, servers, store assistants. The ones who make things happen. We’ve got the scale and innovation you’d expect from big tech. The difference? No endless layers of sign-off. No corporate theatre. Just smart, experienced people solving real problems fast .
The scale is big. But the ownership’s personal. Every full-time team member gets equity - real skin in the game. When we grow, you do too. We’re not perfect, no company is. But this next chapter of our growth is about scaling with intelligence, not just size - fueled by operational maturity, a clear vision, and a strong focus on AI.
This is big tech impact, without the big tech ick. If that excites you more than it scares you, you’ll fit right in.
SafetyCulture is building its AI Operations (AI Ops) function from the ground up — a platform and enablement capability designed to transform how the company runs its business operations. This role exists to make that program land. The Strategic Project Lead is the connective tissue of the AI Ops initiative: owning the operating rhythm, driving cross-functional coordination, and ensuring the right things happen at the right time. You don’t build the technology — you make the people and program around it move.
Key Responsibilities
- Own and chair the AI Ops operating cadence — including team syncs, the broader AI Adoption Group, and the AI Steering Committee; ensure the right stakeholders are engaged, pre-work lands ahead of time, and decisions are captured and actioned.
- Drive cross-functional coordination across IT/Security, Platform Engineering, Business Unit (BU) Practitioners, and the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) — keeping workstreams aligned, dependencies visible, and momentum sustained; ensure documentation and key decisions are captured and accessible across the program.
- Support the AI Ops Engineering Manager by helping manage program dependencies, surfacing blockers early, and escalating on their behalf so AI Ops Engineering technical delivery stays unimpeded.
- Own program tracking — maintain a clear view of deliverables, priorities, and progress using project tracking tools; flag risks early and drive accountability across the team without formal authority.
- Drive AI Ops reporting — coordinate fortnightly AI cost reporting, monthly Chief Financial Officer (CFO) syncs, and async adoption reporting; ensure dashboards and metrics give the ELT clear, consistent visibility on progress and spend.
- Support Business Unit Practitioner engagement — work closely with engineers and practitioners embedded in Business Units (Go-to-Market, Finance, People & Culture) to keep their work visible, connected, and unblocked; identify and resolve coordination gaps between BU teams and the central AI Ops function.
- Drive a regular cadence of communications across the AI Ops program, tailored to each audience to keep stakeholders informed and drive adoption; partner with the communications team to plan and execute broader organisational comms as the program scales.
- Develop and execute change management plans in collaboration with Business Unit (BU) Practitioners and the People & Culture (P&C) team, ensuring people affected by new AI workflows understand what's changing and how to get the most from it.
Required Skills & Experience
- Proven ability to run complex, cross-functional programs in a fast-moving environment — capable of holding many moving parts without losing clarity on what matters most.
- Strong project tracking and coordination skills — builds and maintains the systems that keep a program visible, not just the meeting that describes it.
- Works alongside technical team members to understand and accurately represent technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders — you don’t need to have all the answers, but you need to know where to find them and how to communicate them.
- Experience coordinating with and presenting to senior and executive-level stakeholders.
- Thrives in undefined problem spaces — establishes structure, clarity, and process where none yet exists without waiting for a complete brief or close direction.
- Drives results, at pace: Super-organised, gets things done, enables other people get things done, quickly, tenancy & willingness to jump in and execute if they have the ability and capacity to do so.
- Drives outcomes without direct authority — builds trust and momentum with cross functional partners through reliability and consistent, clear communication.
- Brings solutions, not problems — when blockers surface, comes to the table with options and a point of view. • Open, direct communicator — gives and receives feedback constructively; keeps stakeholders informed even when the update is difficult.
- Commercially connected — understands how their work links to company outcomes; interested in the business result, not just the process.
- Uses AI tools fluently as a primary work instrument where it genuinely accelerates delivery — applies Claude (Cowork and/or Code) to research, drafting, coordination, and reporting tasks rather than defaulting to manual effort.
- Comfortable experimenting with and iterating on AI-powered workflows to improve their own productivity, and coaching others to do the same — AI-first working is a genuine expectation for this team, not an aspiration.
Technical Skills
Behavioural Skills
AI Skills
We’re committed to building inclusive teams and cultivating a sense of belonging so our people can bring their whole authentic selves to work each day. We seek to make reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process to create an even playing field for all candidates. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the entire SafetyCulture team we’ve built an incredible culture which has seen us recognised as a Best Place to Work in Australia, the US and the UK .
Even if you don't meet every requirement listed in the ad, please consider applying for this role. We prioritise inclusion and value individuals with potential over a checklist of qualifications. Don't rule yourself out, hit that apply button if this job resonates with you.
You can find out more about life at SafetyCulture via Youtube, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
To all recruitment agencies, we do not accept resumes or partnership opportunities. Please do not forward resumes to SafetyCulture or any of our employees. We are not responsible for any fees associated with unsolicited resumes.
Skills Required
- Proven ability to run complex, cross-functional programs in a fast-moving environment
- Strong project tracking and coordination skills
- Experience coordinating with and presenting to senior and executive-level stakeholders
- Experience with AI tools for productivity
Am I A Good Fit?
Get Personalized Job Insights.
Our AI-powered fit analysis compares your resume with a job listing so you know if your skills & experience align.
Success! Refresh the page to see how your skills align with this role.
The Company
What We Do
SafetyCulture is a global technology company that puts the power of continuous improvement into everyone's hands. Our operations platform unlocks the power of observation at scale, giving leaders visibility and workers a voice in driving quality, efficiency, and safety improvements. More than 60,000 customers use our operations platform to perform checks, train staff, report issues, and automate tasks. In doing so, we drive processes that help businesses get better every day. Recent analysis by Forrester found that our flagship products provide a 214% return on investment for customers, and USD $3.6M in cost savings from operational improvements. From top Australian ASX-listed grocer and retailer Coles and American aviation giant JetBlue, to Europe’s largest hospitality multi-national Accor, our operations platform is helping teams in every industry.
