Vice President, Center for AI

Summary

Join Jobs for the Future (JFF) as the Vice President of the Center for Artificial Intelligence, reporting to the Chief Solutions Officer. Lead the Center's strategic direction, ensuring AI accelerates economic mobility. Develop and execute a national strategy, raise funds, build partnerships, and oversee initiatives. Collaborate with JFF's Practices, Centers, and teams. Serve as a national expert on AI, shaping conversations and advising partners. Build and lead a high-performing team, fostering a culture of innovation and inclusion. Contribute to JFF's strategic planning and decision-making. This is a newly created VP role within a growing organization committed to leveraging AI for economic advancement.

Requirements

• You are a future-focused , field-recognized subject matter expert on AI who has a track record of successfully championing and leveraging AI within the learn-to-work ecosystem (New hires at the VP level at JFF typically bring 20+ years of prior professional experience through a combination of full-time, part-time, internship, and/or freelance positions)
• You bring deep conviction for the work of the Center for AI , are known for elevating trends to inform your team and organization’s work and bring a deep commitment to advancing economic mobility for all through systems-level transformation
• You are sought out as a thought leader in AI, have shaped national conversations on AI, workforce, and education
• You have a track record of building momentum across sectors , translating ideas into systems-level initiatives , and are comfortable on stage, with media, and in high-stakes rooms with C-suite executives, policymakers, and funders
• You have a strong network across philanthropy, workforce, education, policy, and innovation sectors, and are skilled at forging high-impact partnership and coalitions that drive systemic change
• You are a storyteller and narrative shaper, adept at turning complex ideas into accessible, actionable frameworks that galvanize others
• You excel at convening diverse stakeholders—employers, educators, community orgs, and government—around bold, forward-thinking strategies
• You have raised significant philanthropic, public, and corporate funding (six and seven figure gifts) , and are skilled at crafting fundable strategies, proposals, and budgets
• You bring experience scaling innovation across products, programs, and partnerships, and driving enterprise-wide growth strategies
• You know how to embed AI fluency and strategic alignment across large, mission-driven organizations and can see connections across silos that help others reimagine what’s possible in an AI-powered economy
• You lead with inclusion, belonging, and well-being, and foster collaborative cultures that reflect those values
• You are a visionary team leader who mentors, motivates, and mobilizes high-performing , cross-functional teams and partners toward shared goals
• You possess high energy and passion for JFF’s mission and North Star, and the ability to apply JFF’s core values to all areas of your work
• You are able and willing to travel up to 30% for engagements with funders, partners, and/or internal teams

Responsibilities

• Lead bold strategy, vision and thought leadership for the Center for AI
• Create, evolve and position JFF’s point of view and theory of action for the Center for AI, and its work to ensure that AI accelerates progress towards economic mobility for JFF’s North Star populations
• Lead and be responsible for the articulation, execution, and continuous learning in support of Center for AI strategy, including recommendations and continuing refinement of the Center’s role and positioning at JFF and in the national conversation on AI and the future of work
• Set and communicate strategic goals and priorities and ensure that key initiatives, resources, and budgets are aligned to them
• Provide organizational and national thought leadership on issues related to AI, including through speaking engagements at high-profile events, op-eds, publications, and social media; represent JFF on the national stage
• Represent JFF in national forums and elevate our brand as a go-to authority on the future of work and AI
• Serve as a subject matter expert on AI for strategic advising and program design to field partners and clients as well as internal teams
• Build, lead, and develop a small team for the Center, instilling a culture that enables innovation and supports the professional growth of all team members
• Lead with and model inclusive leadership, stewarding a team culture that celebrates inclusion and ensures that each person has an opportunity to thrive at JFF
• Contribute to strategic planning and decision making for the Solutions Group, and the organization, working with colleagues to continuously strengthen JFF’s performance and impact
• Serve on JFF’s Executive Leadership Council, JFF’s senior leadership team, comprising the Executive Team, all Vice Presidents, and JFFLabs Managing Directors
• Deliver impactful results through visionary program and project initiatives
• Lead all major workstreams and bodies of work related to AI as a project sponsor and/or by directly running key projects and initiatives; oversee all aspects of project management, including budget management, writing proposals, creating staffing plans, etc
• Cultivate strong partnerships with the VPs of JFF’s Practices, Centers, Solutions Design & Delivery, Development Team, and JFFLabs to ensure a unified, collaborative approach to advancing the Center for AI and that drives progress in AI being leveraged effectively and ethically across the learn-to-work ecosystem
• Collaborate with the Solutions Design & Delivery team to develop and design replicable frameworks and content, ensuring these solutions can scale effectively to meet the needs of diverse stakeholders
• In partnership with the Finance team, manage the performance of the Center’s portfolio of projects and budgets
• Seek ways to integrate AI initiatives, foster connections and maximize synergies across JFF that leverage the broad expertise of our staff to achieve greater impact
• Drive fundraising and expand influence of the mission by cultivating and building collaborative partnerships
• Cultivate and manage high-level relationships with external partners, funders, and clients
• Successfully engage funders and strategic partners in the development and funding of new ideas and initiatives, with accountability for achieving annual business development goals for the Center for AI and contributing to shared business development goals for the Solutions Group
• Working closely with the Development team, lead the Center for AI’s efforts in raising funds, including proposal development, capture management from cultivation through award, and relationship management aligned to goals and priorities in JFF’s strategic and operational plans
• Design, build, and curate key networks within the sector in accordance with JFF’s overall network strategy

Benefits

• JFF has offices in Boston, Oakland, and Washington, DC; employees are welcome to use JFF office space to work in-person or hybrid, or completely remote
• To improve the employee experience and promote productivity while working remotely, JFF offers an annual home office stipend to all regular full-time and part-time employees
• In addition, new employees receive office equipment as needed