Impress employers and recruiters.
Choose from hundreds of resume examples.

Target Resume Now

Tailor your resume to this AI Innovation & Portfolio Lead role.

Rezi rewrites your resume against Year Up's job description. Free.

Resume score gauge reading 58 out of 100

Don't guess if your resume is good enough.

See how it scores against the AI Innovation & Portfolio Lead posting at Year Up — free, in seconds.

About the Role

The AI Innovation & Portfolio Lead will manage the organizational view of AI initiatives and oversee the process of turning business problems into tested pilots before committing to full-scale development. This role focuses on identifying valuable AI applications, validating their effectiveness through pilots, and preparing successful ones for scaling by technical teams.

Responsibilities

Maintain a trusted, current view of every AI initiative for leadership decision-making.
Advance AI use cases from intake through discovery to a go/kill decision each cycle.
Achieve a healthy graduation rate of validated pilots into scaled builds, and end unsuccessful pilots quickly and cost-effectively.
Grow cross-organizational participation in AI through the community of practice.
Evaluate pilots based on validated learning against defined milestones.
Stand up fast, low-cost pilots to test the viability of solving business problems.
Run discovery sessions with stakeholders to identify the most critical problems.
Design and orchestrate experiments using flexible resourcing.
Make evidence-based go/kill decisions and retire most pilots quickly.
Prepare validated pilots for transition into scaled builds.
Maintain a single, trusted view of every AI initiative, including status, cost, adoption, outcomes, and readiness for scaling.
Own the status and learnings of every AI initiative.
Surface portfolio insights to inform prioritization and investment decisions.
Co-chair the Strategic AI Leadership (SAIL) group, Year Up United’s AI governance committee.
Own the SAIL intake process, collecting and triaging AI use cases.
Treat intake as the top of the innovation funnel.
Present the AI pipeline and evidence to SAIL for decisions on scaling.
Apply a workforce development lens to all AI decisions, considering student impact and employer needs.
Lead biweekly AI skill-sharing sessions (Lunch & Learns).
Sense team-built AI initiatives and integrate them into the funnel.
Build cross-organizational AI fluency and a culture of experimentation.
Co-lead and manage the AI Champions program, a national network of staff building with AI.
Set the strategy for recruiting, developing, and activating future AI Champions.
Utilize AI Champions as organizational sensors for independent team builds and promising use cases.
Create shared infrastructure for AI Champions, including resources and playbooks.
Track AI Champions program health through participation and quality of surfaced use cases.
Represent the AI Champions program to senior leadership.
Partner across departments (program, partnerships, marketing, Development, operations) to identify AI opportunities.
Act as a connective layer between the Technology & Transformation team and the rest of the organization.
Track the latest AI tools, models, and capabilities.
Evaluate the applicability of new AI advancements and integrate them into strategic bets.
Serve as an AI capabilities resource for internal teams.
Monitor the external AI landscape and brief leaders on relevant developments.
Identify opportunities to position Year Up United’s AI work within national conversations.
Hand off validated pilots cleanly to technical AI build and agile delivery teams for scaling.
Ensure a smooth transition from pilot success to production readiness.
Serve as a coach/mentor to a small group of current students.
Participate in weekly group sessions, staff meetings, and training as part of the Learning Community.

Requirements

Minimum 5–7 years of experience in product management, portfolio management, innovation, or digital transformation.
Experience building and maintaining portfolio views, operating dashboards, or initiative roll-ups for leadership decision-making.
Demonstrated track record of standing up pilots or prototypes and making evidence-based go/kill decisions.
Deep, current fluency in AI, with the ability to distinguish real capability from hype without needing to be an engineer.
Genuine passion for AI, including active experimentation with new tools.
Comfort operating with ambiguity and lean experimentation.
Strong facilitation and stakeholder management skills.
Ability to partner with technical builders and agile delivery teams to move validated work into production.
Experience as a senior operator comfortable leading through influence without a dedicated team.
Experience building or scaling a community of practice, ambassador program, or distributed change network across a complex organization.
Ability to track and synthesize external AI developments and translate them into strategic implications for a mission-driven organization.
Understanding of workforce development, skills-based hiring, or economic mobility, or a genuine drive to develop this understanding quickly.
A passion for the mission of Year Up United and belief in the potential of young adults.
Proficiency with Salesforce or a similar ecosystem (preferred).
Experience in nonprofit, education, or workforce development environments (preferred).
Prior experience presenting to senior leaders or an executive/governance committee (preferred).
Occasional travel to Year Up United sites for discovery and pilot work.
Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Skills

AI
Product Management
Portfolio Management
Innovation
Digital Transformation
Operations
Pilot Development
Experimentation Design
Stakeholder Management
Facilitation
Community Building
Change Management
Strategic Analysis
Workforce Development
Salesforce (preferred)

Location

Hybrid
Commutable distance to a Year Up United location

Work Type

Hybrid
Full-time

Experience Level

Mid-Senior Level

Salary/Compensations

$135,000 - $160,000

Benefits

Comprehensive healthcare options
Dental coverage
401(k) match for eligible participants
Three weeks paid vacation in first year of employment
Four weeks paid vacation after initial year

About the Company

Year Up United is a $160M national workforce development nonprofit operating in 20+ locations, closing the Opportunity Divide for tens of thousands of young adults annually.
Year Up United is a national 501(c)3 workforce development organization committed to ensuring equitable access to economic opportunity, education, and justice for all young adults.
Employers face a growing need for talent while millions of talented young adults lack access to meaningful careers, perpetuating the opportunity gap.
Year Up United closes this gap through targeted skills training, connections to livable-wage employment, empowering others to serve young adults, and changing systems that perpetuate the opportunity gap.
The intensive training program utilizes a high expectations, high support model where students learn in-demand technical and professional skills and apply them during a corporate internship.
Year Up United has directly served more than 40,000 young adults since its founding in 2000.
Year Up United's nationwide presence includes Arizona, Austin, Bay Area, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Greater Atlanta, Greater Boston, Greater Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, the National Capital Region, New York City/Jersey City, Pittsburgh, Puget Sound, Rhode Island, South Florida, Tampa Bay, and Wilmington.
Voted one of the Best Nonprofits to Work For in the country by The NonProfit Times.
Staff are passionate, supportive, mission-driven, and committed to positive change and continuous learning.
Core values reflect an unshakable belief in the talent and potential of young people.

Equal Opportunity

Year Up United embraces diversity and equal opportunity in a serious way.
All aspects of employment, including the decision to hire, promote, discharge, or discipline, are based on meritocracy.
We do not permit discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristics protected by federal, state, or local laws.
Year Up United is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities.