Technology & AI Adoption Specialist – Operations

About this role

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

Job Overview Technology & AI Adoption Specialist – Operations   will drive the uptake of AI across IRC’s global operations by working directly with teams to identify, test, and scale high-value use cases. This role is responsible for ensuring AI tools translate into real improvements in how IRC works. 

The Specialist will manage a pipeline of AI opportunities across internal functions (e.g., Finance, Supply Chain, HR), embedding with teams to diagnose needs, co-design solutions, and support adoption through to sustained use. The Specialist acts as the bridge between operational teams (product owners) and technical developers, owning problem definition and user adoption so that development resources are deployed against well-scoped, high-value briefs.

Major Responsibilities AI Demand Pipeline & Performance Management • Establish and manage a structured pipeline of AI opportunities across departments, including clear problem definitions, requirements, and expected ROI 

• Maintain a shared intake and prioritization process with technical teams, ensuring the pipeline reflects both operational need and development capacity

• Track use cases from intake through pilot, iteration, and scale 

• Coordinate with cross-functional teams to align on development, deployment, and support 

• Monitor outcomes and performance against defined success criteria (e.g., efficiency gains, time saved, adoption), providing visibility on progress, key bottlenecks, and lessons learned

AI Use Case Development & Deployment • Identify and prioritize high-impact AI use cases across internal functions, in close collaboration with AI Governance and Risk Transformation Lead and relevant product owners in functional domains 

• Work directly with teams to understand workflows, diagnose pain points, and define clear problem statements and requirements suited to AI

• Map current-state and future-state processes and translate needs into developer-ready artifacts (e.g., user stories, workflows) that enable technical teams to build without additional requirements gathering

• Co-design, test, and iterate solutions with end users and technical teams, including supporting user acceptance testing 

• Support AI deployment into live workflows, ensuring solutions are practical, ambitious, adopted, and sustained 

• Document and package successful use cases for replication and scale; ensure learnings from each use case deployment improves the next

• Define and maintain appropriate handoff points with development team throughout product lifecycle

Adoption & Capacity Building (Deployment-Specific) • Lead AI adoption within targeted teams, ensuring solutions are embedded into redesigned workflows rather than layered onto existing ones 

• Serve as the primary point of contact for end-users post-deployment, absorbing support and iteration requests before they reach the development team

• Identify and address barriers to adoption, including resistance, capability gaps, and process misalignment 

• Develop practical adoption strategies that drive consistent, confident use 

• Design and deliver targeted, role-specific learning and practical resources (e.g., workflows, prompts, job aids) 

• Develop clear, practical communications that translate AI initiatives into accessible, relevant narratives tied to impact 

• Create materials such as FAQs, use cases, and success stories that reinforce adoption and learning 

Key Working Relationships: • Position Reports to: (1) AI Governance and Transformation Lead / Vice President Business Operations & Analytics, and (2) Program Technology Innovations Lead

• Key Relationships: AI/Technology development teams, IT, Data, Product Owners in functional departments (Finance, Supply Chain, HR, business development), regional and country teams; Learning & Development team; Staff & Culture AI Task Force; Communications teams

Requirements: • Minimum 6 years of experience in change management, digital transformation, business analysis, learning & development, or related roles 

• Strong familiarity with AI tools and applications, and ability to translate their capabilities and limitations into practical use cases and workflow improvements

• Experience driving adoption of AI and other technology solutions in complex, matrixed organizations, from problem identification through implementation and sustained use

• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills, including the ability to diagnose operational challenges, define clear problem statements and requirements, and analyze and redesign workflows to embed solutions into day-to-day operations

• Experience designing and delivering training or capacity-building initiatives

• Strong data orientation, including the ability to use data to inform decisions and track impact 

• Excellent interpersonal skills and track record of building networks (e.g., champions, communities of practice) to support adoption

• Demonstrated ability to drive alignment and behavior change without direct authority 

• Experience working in international development, humanitarian, or nonprofit contexts strongly preferred 

• Ability to operate in low-resource, high-complexity environments 

• Fluency in English

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