AI Project & Operations Manager

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for an AI Project & Operations Manager based in the United States. The AI Project & Operations Manager will drive technology delivery and business operations for an innovative AI software platform serving the wood panel manufacturing industry. This senior individual contributor role combines end-to-end program management with the development of scalable operating processes. You will coordinate engineering, IT, R&D, data science, and customer delivery teams to turn strategic priorities into measurable results. Working across globally distributed teams, you will establish clear planning cycles, performance indicators, and accountability structures. You will also help transform an initial customer deployment into a repeatable launch model that supports future growth. This is an opportunity to shape how industrial AI solutions are delivered, adopted, and scaled in real-world manufacturing environments.
Accountabilities

Own quarterly commitments across engineering, R&D, and customer delivery, managing scope, schedules, dependencies, risks, decisions, and stakeholder reporting.
Coordinate planning across multiple technical and delivery teams, translating shared priorities into actionable plans with clear responsibilities, milestones, and deadlines.
Identify at-risk initiatives early, develop recovery plans, align stakeholders, resolve dependencies, and restore delivery confidence.
Establish and manage the business operating cadence, including planning cycles, business reviews, decision tracking, and action follow-through.
Develop executive-ready KPIs and dashboards that provide visibility into delivery progress, operational health, risks, and business outcomes.
Design scalable processes, handoffs, and playbooks to support consistent customer launches and future deployments.
Connect Platform and IT teams with R&D and Customer Delivery, coordinating the integration and deployment of manufacturing software, including Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM/MOS) platforms.
Support plant connectivity, software deployment, training, operational adoption, and value realization in customer environments.
Coordinate globally distributed data science and modeling teams, including colleagues across Israel and other time zones.
Partner with customer success managers and forward-deployed engineers to support successful implementation and customer outcomes.
Use project management tools such as Azure DevOps and Jira to improve transparency, track execution, and maintain accountability across workstreams.
Communicate delivery challenges, risks, trade-offs, and decisions clearly to technical teams, field organizations, customers, and senior leadership.
Apply lessons learned from current deployments to continuously improve planning, execution, and future launch processes.
Requirements

At least 10 years of experience managing complex technology projects from initiation through delivery, including scope, schedules, dependencies, risks, and stakeholder reporting.
Demonstrated success coordinating planning across multiple engineering or technical teams, including quarterly or release-train planning, with measurable delivery results.
Proven ability to recover at-risk projects through structured planning, stakeholder alignment, and disciplined execution.
Hands-on experience with project management and delivery tools such as Azure DevOps or Jira.
Experience delivering, integrating, or deploying manufacturing software in plant environments, particularly MES and MOM/MOS platforms, with an understanding of operational adoption.
Experience establishing and managing business operating rhythms, including planning cycles, business reviews, decision logs, and action tracking.
Proven ability to build KPIs and dashboards that support executive decision-making.
Experience designing scalable processes, handoffs, and playbooks that are adopted by teams and evolve as organizations grow.
Experience leading or coordinating large, globally distributed engineering and quality assurance teams across different time zones without direct reporting authority.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage effectively with technical teams, field organizations, customers, and senior leaders.
Strong execution discipline, organizational skills, risk management capabilities, and cross-functional leadership.
Preferred qualifications

Experience delivering digital or software products within industrial, chemical, or manufacturing environments, ideally for external customers.
Previous software development leadership experience, such as working as a developer, lead developer, or engineering manager.
Experience in a startup or early-stage business, particularly taking an alpha product, prototype, or pilot into production and repeatable deployment.
Background coordinating customer-facing delivery teams, including customer success, implementation, or field engineering.
PMP, Agile, or an equivalent recognized project management certification.
Familiarity with industrial data and plant connectivity technologies, including MES, MOM/MOS, historians, OPC, and IoT platforms, or the ability and motivation to develop expertise in these areas quickly.
Benefits

Opportunity to help scale an AI-powered software platform for industrial manufacturing.
Senior individual contributor position with broad influence across engineering, R&D, IT, data science, and customer delivery.
Exposure to global teams and complex technology deployments in manufacturing environments.
Opportunity to build operational processes, delivery frameworks, and scalable customer launch models.
Professional growth through involvement in industrial AI, manufacturing technologies, and cross-functional transformation initiatives.
Inclusive, collaborative work environment focused on innovation, sustainability, safety, and continuous development.

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