Senior Manager, Responsible AI Solutions

The application deadline is May 11, 2025.  Please submit both a resume and a cover letter to be considered.

ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY

The Ford Foundation is offering a new opportunity to shape our AI initiatives. As the Senior Manager, Responsible AI Solutions, you'll be an individual contributor playing a key role in developing and implementing cutting-edge AI to address complex challenges and create significant impact. Reporting to the Global Director, Business Systems, you will collaborate with staff and consultants to guide the creation and deployment of AI solutions that align with the foundation's values and mission. This is a chance to be a champion for responsible AI, driving innovation and making a real difference.

HOW YOU WILL CONTRIBUTE 

The Senior Manager, Responsible AI Solutions will perform the following and/or similar activities: 

• Develop and implement ethical AI solutions: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify and translate business challenges into AI solutions. This involves assessing organizational needs, recommending ethical solutions, gathering requirements, designing and developing AI solutions, and deploying them into production environments. 

• Manage and oversee AI program: Includes overall program and actions to plan, execute, and deliver AI projects, ensuring they are completed on time, within budget, and meet the required quality standards. This includes defining project scope, gaining insight and agreement from others, allocating resources, managing timelines, and mitigating risks.

• Define and track key performance indicators (KPIs): Establish and monitor KPIs to measure the success and impact of AI initiatives, ensuring alignment with business objectives and providing data-driven insights for continuous improvement.

• Evaluate and optimize AI model performance: Continuously monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and performance of AI models, identifying areas for improvement and implementing optimization strategies to reduce our carbon footprint and enhance accuracy, efficiency, and scalability

• Ensure compliance with ethical AI practices: Adhere to ethical guidelines and data privacy regulations in all AI-related activities. Promote responsible AI development and deployment within the organization, considering potential biases, fairness, and transparency in AI systems

• Monitor AI advancements: Remain up-to-date with emerging  AI trends, technologies, and best practices. Research and recommend new AI tools and techniques to improve operational efficiency and drive innovation

• Communicate effectively with stakeholders: Clearly and effectively communicate project solutions, requirements and updates, technical details, and AI concepts to technical and non-technical audiences, including senior management, business stakeholders, and team members. Translate complex technical information into clear business value for non-technical stakeholders

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

• Proficient in Python and AI frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch), with expertise in machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing, including Gen AI technologies.

• Experienced with Generative AI tools and techniques (e.g., LLMs, LangChain, retrieval-augmented generation) and Agentic architecture.

• Familiar with AI Ops principles, including CI/CD pipelines, containerization, and automated testing.

• Skilled in optimizing AI workflows (e.g., distributed training, inference optimization, resource utilization - GPU/TPU) through collaboration with AI experts.

• Experienced in deploying AI models to production cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP), considering performance, cost, and latency.

• Adept at monitoring and troubleshooting model performance, addressing issues like performance drift and latency.

• Familiar with cloud computing platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and data technologies (SQL, Hadoop, Spark) for AI development and deployment.

• Demonstrated ability to recommend and apply AI solutions to real-world problems in content-rich domains.

• Experienced in working with large datasets and extracting insights from unstructured data. 

• Strong understanding of content management systems, knowledge graphs, information retrieval techniques and experience with agile development methodologies.

• Excellent project management skills, including experience managing complex AI projects.

• Ways of working and engaging that align with the Foundation’s mission,  core values, and commitment to creating a culture of excellence.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: 

This position is primarily a sedentary role. However, the person in this position may need to occasionally move about inside the office to liaise with internal staff, access files, office machinery and a copy machine/printer.

The Ford Foundation is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its programs, and operations. As part of this commitment, the Foundation will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application process, please contact, talentacquisitionhr@fordfoundation.org. 

SALARY: The Ford Foundation is committed to salary transparency. The starting annualized gross salary is $150,000. The final offer is based on relevant experience and our commitment to internal equity. We review global compensation regularly to ensure market competitiveness and equity. The hiring range for this position has been carefully crafted to align with the market.

LOCATION: This position is based in the foundation’s New York office. We operate in a hybrid model and require staff to be in the office three days per week.

EMPLOYMENT TYPE: This is a permanent position. 

WORKING AT FORD

• Commitment to creating a culture where everyone feels respected

• A hybrid working model and flexible work arrangement policies offer colleagues the opportunity to engage in meaningful ways and the space to maintain a healthy work-life balance 

• Professional development and ample opportunities to build your expertise and expand your network

• Comprehensive benefits package designed for your well-being and work-life needs, including medical, dental, and vision benefits effective on your first day

• Generous time off, including personal, vacation, sick, extended holiday time off, and wellness days

• Generous parental leave policy, including birth, surrogacy, adoptive, foster parents, and resources for backup child and elder care that support our colleagues’ ability to attend to family responsibilities 

• Comprehensive retirement benefits options (with employee and employer contributions of up to 13%), allowing you to invest in your financial future with confidence

Learn more about what it’s like to work at the Ford Foundation.  

Equal employment opportunity and having a diverse staff are fundamental principles at The Ford Foundation, where employment and promotional opportunities are based upon individual capabilities and qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation/affectional preference, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as established under law. The Ford Foundation does not discriminate against formerly incarcerated individuals.