Managing Director, Civic Innovation and AI

Position Overview

The Managing Director, Civic Innovation & AI is responsible for designing and stewarding civic innovation - including responsible AI - as jobs infrastructure within the Foundation's U.S. portfolio, strengthening public systems in ways that measurably improve employment outcomes. This role ensures innovation and AI are not deployed as isolated pilots or tools, but as durable system capabilities that strengthen public institutions, improve workforce attachment, shorten time-to-reemployment, and support job creation at scale.

Operating with a portfolio-wide mandate and clear programmatic decision rights, the Managing Director sets strategy, guardrails, and learning agendas that guide how civic innovation and AI are integrated across community, sectoral, and national efforts where they materially improve job outcomes and public system performance. The role also ensures the Foundation remains forward-looking and grounded in how AI-driven economic disruption is reshaping labor markets, institutions, and pathways to good jobs.

Reporting to the Vice President, U.S. Economic Opportunity & Civic Innovation, this role works closely with the Managing Directors for Community Investment Strategy and National Partnerships, as well as policy, sector, and catalytic finance colleagues, to ensure civic innovation is (1) grounded in community implementation realities; and (2) positioned for adoption and scale through institutions, policy, and capital. In partnerships with national platforms, this role typically leads on strategy, guardrails, and outcomes.

Work Schedule: This role follows a hybrid schedule and is required to be on-site Monday through Thursday.

Hiring Range: $226,500 - 277,100. This represents the present low and high ends of the Foundation's hiring range for this position. Actual pay will vary based on various factors, including but not limited to experience.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

• Design and steward the Foundation's civic innovation and responsible AI approach, establishing priorities, guardrails, and learning agendas that guide how innovation and AI are deployed across the portfolio and where the Foundation invests - and what it will not do - to stay focused on job outcomes and public-system performance.
• Lead the Civic Innovation & AI strategy by identifying priority public-system bottlenecks where innovation and responsible AI can materially improve employment outcomes and public system performance, and sequencing initiatives to balance ambition, institutional readiness, and scalability.
• Translate AI-driven economic and labor market dynamics into strategic insight, monitoring emerging trends and evidence, and converting complex, uncertain developments into clear implications for investment, program design, and portfolio strategy.
• Oversee the identification and stewardship of responsible AI use cases that improve workforce and employment outcomes, ensuring they are implementable within real public systems and aligned with governance, ethical, and operational standards.
• Ensure civic innovation efforts generate decision-relevant, transferable insight through cross-site learning, clear hypotheses, and measurable outcomes, and work across portfolios to distinguish context-specific results from scalable models.
• Integrate civic innovation across the U.S. portfolio by partnering with community, sector, policy, and finance teams to embed innovation into workforce systems, economic development strategies, and institutional reform efforts, while clarifying decision rights, roles, and operating norms to reduce duplication and fragmentation.
• Partner with national partnerships leadership to determine which approaches are ready for broader adoption and through which pathways (institutional uptake, policy integration, funding alignment, and capital strategies).
• For national platforms and intermediaries that scale across states (e.g., multi-state workforce transition platforms responding to AI disruption), serve as the programmatic strategy lead (guardrails, success metrics, and learning agenda) while partnering with the Managing Director, National Partnerships, as the primary relationship owner for partner management, co-funding, and scaling pathways.
• Represent the Foundation externally in key forums and partnerships, positioning it as a pragmatic, systems-oriented leader in civic innovation and responsible AI focused on strengthening public institutions and delivering measurable job outcomes.
• Provide direct management and leadership for the Civic Innovation & AI team, including supervision of a Director and Senior Associate, supporting team development, performance management, and effective execution aligned with portfolio priorities.

Education, Experience, and Skills

• Generally expected to have 12+ years of progressive leadership experience in civic innovation, public sector modernization, economic policy, workforce systems, or related fields, with demonstrated impact at a regional or national level.
• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• 5+ years of proven experience designing and leading systems-level initiatives, including strategy development, cross-sector collaboration, and implementation within complex institutional environments.
• Strong understanding of AI-driven economic and labor market dynamics, with the ability to translate emerging trends into concrete portfolio choices, safeguards, and implementation priorities.
• Practical experience deploying innovation and/or technology solutions within public sector environments, including familiarity with governance, procurement, data, change management, and operational constraints.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and influence cross-functional initiatives in a matrixed environment.
• Experience overseeing portfolios, initiatives, or investments with accountability for outcomes, learning, and impact.
• Strong judgment in prioritization, sequencing, and risk management, with the ability to operate effectively in ambiguity while maintaining strategic clarity.
• Executive presence and credibility with public sector leaders, philanthropic partners, and technical experts, with the ability to represent the Foundation externally.
• Ability to travel as required.

Competencies

• Action Oriented : Takes on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
• Collaborates : Builds partnerships and works collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
• Manages Complexity : Makes sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.
• Nimble Learning : Learns through experimentation when tackling new problems, using both successes and failures as learning fodder.
• Strategic Mindset : Sees ahead to future possibilities and translates them into breakthrough strategies.
• Develops Talent : Develops people to meet both their career goals and the organization's goals.

About The Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on collaborative partnerships at the frontiers of science, technology, and innovation that enable individuals, families, and communities to flourish. We make big bets to promote the well-being of humanity in food, health, energy, and finance, including through our public charity, RF Catalytic Capital (RFCC). For more information, sign up for our newsletter at and follow us on X @RockefellerFdn and LinkedIn @the-rockefeller-foundation.

The Rockefeller Foundation offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that includes health insurance programs, tuition reimbursement and student loan repayment, a generous 401K, parental leave, and various forms of paid time off, all to help our employees feel energized, cared for, and engaged.

As an organization, we focus on six values to advance our culture and continue our success. We are dedicated to being Transparent, Optimistic, Accountable, Collaborative, Trusted, and Equitable. We expect all employees at the Foundation to contribute by developing their unique perspectives and talent, challenging conventional wisdom through evidence and reason, and amplifying marginalized voices.

The Rockefeller Foundation is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity and compliance with all federal, state, and local laws concerning employment discrimination, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. To this end, the Foundation ensures equal opportunity to all employees and applicants regardless of race, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, lawful alien status, physical, mental, and medical disability, veteran status, liability for service in the United States Armed Forces, or any other protected status.


The Rockefeller Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer.