AI Engagement Manager

Overview

The Enterprise AI Pod is a forward-deployed, field-first unit within Instacart's Enterprise Solutions team — purpose-built to take the Instacart Intelligence Platform to market with B2B retail and CPG partners. As the AI Engagement Manager, you are the operational backbone of the engagement — the person who makes complex, multi-stakeholder AI engagements actually move. This is an orchestration role, not a commercial one; success is measured by getting partners to value, not by signings or P&L. You own the partner relationship from discovery through workflow adoption, hold the team accountable to delivery, and serve as the primary bridge between field execution and R&D — all while managing multiple engagements simultaneously in an environment where the playbook is still being written.

About the Job

• Own the full AI engagement arc. From first discovery through sustained workflow adoption — serving as the external partner's single point of contact across every phase while driving scope, timelines, milestones, and escalations and keeping cross-functional workstreams aligned and moving. There is no "launch and hand off" in this model.
• Drive requirements and delivery precision. Shape engagement structure, align on objectives, translate partner needs into a clear execution plan, and track against it with rigor. Surface risks early and keep stakeholders — partner and internal — ahead of problems, not behind them.
• Champion continuous quality. In AI engagements there's no single gate — value is proven iteratively. You oversee the testing and feedback loops that ensure the platform is performing against real partner workflows, track adoption progress, and stay on top of the change management work that determines whether a deployment becomes a lasting behavior change.
• Hold the R&D feedback loop. You are accountable for ensuring field learnings flow back to R&D and that R&D delivers on agreed roadmap commitments. When either side of the loop breaks down, you own the escalation.
• Build playbooks. Identify reusable patterns across engagements and turn them into scalable delivery frameworks the whole pod can use. We are early; what you build now will become the foundation for how this team operates at scale.
• Own engagement economics. Track the full cost structure of every active engagement — resource allocation across the pod, time spent per workstream, and cost card inputs — and maintain a running view of cost-to-deliver across the portfolio. Surface cost/benefit signals to inform prioritization and go/no-go decisions on new engagements. As the pod scales, your cost data becomes the foundation for delivery efficiency benchmarks.
• This is a field-first role. Travel is part of the job — expect to be on-site at partner locations during key engagement phases, with travel that could reach 50%+ at peak. Presence matters in this model.

About You

Minimum Qualifications

• 8+ years in technical project management, enterprise engagement management, or a related field — with a track record of delivering complex, multi-stakeholder technical programs end to end to external enterprise clientele. 
• Demonstrated experience managing programs across the full software development lifecycle — from requirements definition and scoping through build, test, and launch — including the ability to identify and manage risk, develop detailed work plans, and allocate resources across concurrent workstreams.
• Technical fluency sufficient to hold credible conversations with partner engineering teams, understand AI/ML implementations and integration dependencies, and manage technically complex delivery workstreams without being the technical expert in the room.
• Experience building and maintaining engagement cost models — tracking resource utilization, time allocation, and cost inputs across concurrent programs and translating those into cost/benefit analysis that informs business and deal-level decisions.
• Exceptional communication, organizational, and time management skills, paired with a sharp attention to both details and overarching project objectives. An expert in facilitating highly productive internal and external meetings - and creating assets and processes which drive project clarity at every step.
• Comfort operating in ambiguous, fast-moving environments where structure doesn't yet exist.
• Proficiency across program management tools (Jira, Asana, Smartsheet), collaboration and documentation platforms (Confluence, Google Workspace), and executive-level presentation tools (PowerPoint, Google Slides). 
• Bachelor's degree in Technology, Engineering, Business, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Willingness to travel ~50% within North America.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing AI, data platform, or systems integration deployments at enterprise scale.
• Background in retail tech, e-commerce, operations, or CPG.
• Experience working at the intersection of engineering, product, and commercial teams.
• Familiarity with agentic AI platforms, LLM APIs, or RAG-based systems — enough to be conversant with partners and contextualize where Instacart's platform fits.
• Familiarity with CRM tools (Salesforce), BI and reporting platforms (Tableau, Looker, Power BI), and workshop facilitation tools (Miro, Lucidspark) — enough to stay aligned with pipeline, interpret engagement metrics, and run a working session when needed.
• PMP or equivalent program management credentials.
• Prior work in a forward-deployed, embedded, or startup environment.