AI Engagement Manager

Instacart is transforming the grocery industry. 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, orchestrating complex, multi-stakeholder AI engagements from discovery through workflow adoption. 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.

• 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 ahead of problems.
• Champion continuous quality: oversee testing and feedback loops that ensure the platform is performing against real partner workflows, track adoption progress, and manage change management work to ensure lasting behavior change.
• Hold the R&D feedback loop: ensure field learnings flow back to R&D and that R&D delivers on agreed roadmap commitments; own escalations when either side breaks down.
• Build playbooks: identify reusable patterns across engagements and turn them into scalable delivery frameworks for the pod.
• Own engagement economics: track the full cost structure of every active engagement, including resource allocation, time spent per workstream, and cost card inputs; maintain a running view of cost-to-deliver and surface cost/benefit signals for prioritization and go/no-go decisions.

• 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.
• Experience managing programs across the full software development lifecycle, from requirements definition and scoping through build, test, and launch, including risk management, detailed work plans, and resource allocation 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, and translating them into cost/benefit analysis for business and deal-level decisions.
• Exceptional communication, organizational, and time management skills, with sharp attention to details and overarching project objectives.
• Expert in facilitating highly productive internal and external meetings and creating assets and processes that drive project clarity.
• 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.

• 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).
• PMP or equivalent program management credentials.
• Prior work in a forward-deployed, embedded, or startup environment.

Base pay range for Canadian-based candidates: CAN$185,000—$195,000 CAD. Eligible for a new hire equity grant as well as annual refresh grants. Instacart provides highly market-competitive compensation and benefits in each location where our employees work.

This role is remote and the base pay range is dependent on permanent work location. Currently hiring only in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia. Instacart is a Flex First team: employees have the flexibility to choose where they do their best work—from home, an office, or a coffee shop—while staying connected through regular in-person events. This is a field-first role with travel up to 50%+ at peak, on-site at partner locations during key engagement phases.