AI Service Manager

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. UCSC will not sponsor work visas for this position.

This position is hybrid, with opportunities to negotiate a fully remote telecommute agreement.

HOW TO APPLY

For full consideration, applicants should attach their resume and cover letter when applying for a job opening. For guidance related to the application process or if you are experiencing difficulties when applying, please review the Applicant Resources on our website.

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INITIAL REVIEW DATE (IRD)

UC Santa Cruz jobs are posted until filled. All application materials submitted by 11:59 pm on the IRD will be routed to the hiring team for consideration. NOTE: Applicants who miss the IRD are still encouraged to apply; their materials will still be forwarded for consideration if requested by the hiring team. Application materials cannot be accepted outside of the jobs portal. Applications cannot be edited on an applicant's behalf. For more information about the IRD and the applicant review process, view this link.

The IRD for this job is: 01-08-2026

ABOUT UC SANTA CRUZ

UC Santa Cruz is a public university like no other in California, combining the experience of a small, liberal arts college with the depth and rigor of a major research university. It's known as an unconventional place where innovation and experimentation is part of the campus's DNA. That playful, bold spirit still thrives today, all on a campus renowned as among the most beautiful in the world.

DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW

Information Technology Services (ITS) is the center for IT services and support at UC Santa Cruz. We are a team of over 200 diverse, enthusiastic people with a mission to deliver exceptional, modern, accessible, and secure technology services and support to nearly 25,000 students, faculty, and staff. We are constantly striving to meet the evolving needs of our campus while fostering a culture that embraces the rich variety of perspectives and experiences within our community.

We are looking for people who are curious, hard-working, resourceful, kind, and committed to inclusion. We strive to continually improve service quality, experience, and value for UC Santa Cruz students and employees, and are in search of people who can help our team continue to meet that goal. ITS is committed to strengthening our internal values of equity, work-life balance, and fostering a supportive culture. Prioritizing career paths is important to us and we devote resources to skill and professional development for our staff. We encourage you to apply, even if you do not believe you meet every qualification for the position but possess transferable skills and experience.

University of California offers competitive benefits including Medical, Dental & Vision Care Insurance Plans, University of California (UC) retirement, Paid Family Leave, and Paid Holidays plus accrued vacation and sick leave. Visit the UC benefits page for more information at UC Compensation and Benefits.

More information can be found at https://its.ucsc.edu/

JOB SUMMARY

The AI Service Manager will lead the service management, coordination, and enablement of UC Santa Cruz's Generative AI (GenAI) platforms, ensuring the platforms evolve in alignment with campus needs and strategic priorities. This role serves as the primary point of contact for internal and external stakeholders, overseeing scope, schedule, and delivery. The role will drive collaboration across technical and non-technical teams, lead stakeholder engagement, support solution design, and facilitate the identification and documentation of requirements and AI use cases to advance efficiency, innovation and impact for teaching, learning, research, and administration.

APPOINTMENT INFORMATION

Budgeted Salary: $132,300 - $155,000/year. Salary commensurate with skills, qualifications and experience.
Under California law, the University of California, Santa Cruz is required to post a reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role. The salary shown above is the budgeted amount the University reasonably expects to pay and the salary extended should not exceed this posted amount.

Benefits Level Eligibility: Full benefits

Schedule Information:

• Full-time, Fixed
• Percentage of Time: 100%, 40 Hours per Week
• Days of the Week: Mon-Fri
• Shift Includes: Day

Employee Classification: Career appointment

Job End Date: None

Work Location: Scotts Valley

Union Representation: Non-Represented

Job Code Classification: 000658 (BUS SYS ANL 5) - Grade 26

Travel: Up to 25% of the time

JOB DUTIES

25% - Strategic Leadership & Oversight

• Provide strategic leadership and operational oversight for UCSC's GenAI platforms, ensuring high-impact, equitable service delivery, and compliance with campus policy and guidance.
• Develop, define and implement performance metrics to track platform adoption, effectiveness, and alignment with campus objectives and identify actionable opportunities for continual service improvement.
• Collaborate with ITS leadership, campus AI governance bodies, and project sponsors to manage platform scope, priorities, and timelines, ensuring alignment with both strategic and tactical goals.
• Manage vendor relationships, including coordinating contract reviews, researching and proposing new vendors and technologies for GenAI and its offerings, and engaging vendors in support for incidents that cannot be resolved by the service team.

20% - AI Enablement and Adoption

• Partner with academic, research, and administrative stakeholders to identify opportunities where Generative AI can enhance efficiency, decision-making, and innovation.
• Translate business and academic challenges into actionable AI use cases and collaborate on solution design.
• Facilitate AI literacy and adoption across campus through training, workshops, and collaborative learning communities.
• Monitor adoption metrics, gather feedback, and analyze the realized value and impact of AI services.
• Partner with academic leadership on the approach to discipline specific student AI literacy, infrastructure, and investment.
• Champion ethical, responsible, and effective use of AI technologies in alignment with campus and UC policies.

20% - Service Management

• Respond to and resolve incidents and inquiries for the service and its offerings in alignment with the service level agreement. Escalate incidents as appropriate to subject matter experts in other service areas.
• Fulfill pre-defined service requests. Identify and define new service requests.
• Manage changes; identify, analyze, and resolve problems; and identify and respond to major incidents in collaboration with the Service Desk.
• Knowledge and Training Management Draft, publish, and manage knowledge articles and knowledge feedback, ensuring articles are accurate, useful, and effective for client self-service and the Service Desk.
• Provide direct training, knowledge and feedback to the Service Desk to ensure early resolution of incidents and inquiries for clients.
• Coach and train service team members in incident, service request, major incident, problem, change, and knowledge management.

15% - Stakeholder Engagement & Communication

• Serve as the central point of coordination for platform stakeholders, including faculty, staff, students, vendors, and governance bodies.
• Lead stakeholder engagement efforts including needs assessment, requirements gathering, use case development, and ongoing feedback loops.
• Build and facilitate communities of practice to cultivate shared learning and more sophisticated uses of GenAI platforms.
• Oversee ITS communications, training, and change management activities to ensure successful platform rollouts and service sustainability.
• Collaborate with partner organizations (such as Academic Affairs and Staff HR) on communications and training to support adoption and utilization of GenAI platforms.
• Interact with peer managers across the organization.

15% - Technical Requirements & Solutions Design

• Translate business and academic needs into technical requirements, and support solution design in partnership with technical leads and subject matter experts.
• Manage platform scope, priorities, and timelines in coordination with ITS leadership and project sponsors.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to design and develop platform solutions that meet user expectations, ensuring compliance with university policies on data privacy, security, and accessibility.
• Ensure compliance with UC and campus guidance and policies regarding data privacy, information security, and accessibility.

5% - Team Collaboration

• Provide leadership and coordination for the AI Service function, fostering collaboration across ITS and campus partners to ensure effective service delivery and advancement of divisional goals.
• Establish clear goals, expectations, and performance standards for project work, ensuring accountability and alignment with organizational priorities.
• Support the professional growth of colleagues and project team members by modeling best practices, providing feedback, and identifying development opportunities.
• This role may assume formal supervisory responsibilities as the AI Service function expands.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in related area and / or equivalent experience / training.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex GenAI technology services or projects in an enterprise, higher education or research environment.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical concepts into practical, accessible applications for non-technical users.
• Advanced knowledge of business analysis methodologies and experience leading cross-functional planning and delivery efforts.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to navigate and influence in a decentralized environment.
• Proven ability to lead stakeholder engagement, gather and analyze business requirements, and deliver high-quality service outcomes through continuous assessment and service improvements.
• Ability to recruit and retain excellent staff, provide constructive feedback, effectively evaluate performance, and motivate others.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment in developing creative solutions to service, coordination, and policy challenges.
• Demonstrated experience with strategic planning, service design, or IT governance in higher education.
• Proven capacity to measure and communicate the impact of technology initiatives through data and outcomes. Skilled in defining, designing, and delivering services that align with the organizational goals and client needs.
• Extensive knowledge of ITIL frameworks and service management principles.
• Experience with ITSM tools, such as ServiceNow.
• Familiarity with artificial intelligence, machine learning, or data-intensive applications.
• Client-focused with a passion for service excellence.
• Extensive experience with ensuring compliance with policies and regulations including information security, FERPA, and ADA.
• Ability to create and maintain accurate and effective knowledge documentation.
• Experience in providing training to technical and non-technical staff.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively and effectively technical and non-technical audiences, building strong relationships with colleagues, clients, and stakeholders
• Ability to develop and maintain effective vendor partnerships to enhance service quality, optimize costs, and ensure compliance with contractual and regulatory requirements.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Typically 2-5 years of experience managing an information technology organization.
• Demonstrated ability to develop, manage, and forecast complex service budgets, aligning financial resources with strategic priorities, vendor partnerships, and sustainable delivery of GenAI platforms.
• Experience working with or managing remote and hybrid IT support teams.
• Experience managing an information technology organization.
• ITIL 4 Foundations Certification.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

• Selected candidate will be required to pass a pre-employment criminal history background check.
• Selected candidate must pass the employment misconduct disclosure process.
• Ability to work long periods of time at a computer with or without accommodation.
• This is a fully remote position, and the selected candidate must be able to work successfully from a home/remote office and be able to fulfill the requirements of the UCSC telecommuting agreement.
• Selected candidate will be required to complete training within established time frames as directed including UC compliance training.
• The University of California has implemented a Vaccination Policy covering all employees. Employees, including new hires, are required to comply with any applicable policies relating to the University of California vaccine program.
• Per the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), this position has been identified as a Mandated Reporter. The selected candidate will be required to report known or suspected child abuse or neglect as defined by CANRA and will be required to sign a Statement Acknowledging Requirement to Report Child Abuse prior to commencing employment. CANRA Penal Codes, and related definitions, requirements, and responsibilities may be obtained here.
• Exercise the utmost discretion in managing sensitive information learned in the course of performing their duties. Sensitive information includes but is not limited to employee and student records, health and patient records, financial data, strategic plans, proprietary information, and any other sensitive or non-public information learned during the course and scope of employment. Understands that sensitive information should be shared on a limited basis and actively takes steps to limit access to sensitive information to individuals who have legitimate business need to know. Ensure that sensitive information is properly safeguarded. Follow all organizational policies and laws on data protection and privacy. This includes secure handling of physical and digital records and proper usage of IT systems to prevent data leaks. The unauthorized or improper disclosure of confidential work-related information obtained from any source on any work-related matter is a violation of these expectations.

MISCONDUCT DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT

As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts a conditional offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; received notice of any allegations or are currently the subject of any administrative or disciplinary proceedings involving misconduct; have left a position after receiving notice of allegations or while under investigation in an administrative or disciplinary proceeding involving misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of misconduct with a previous employer.

• "Misconduct" means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer. For reference, below are UC's policies addressing some forms of misconduct:
  • UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
  • UC Anti-Discrimination Policy
  • Abusive Conduct in the Workplace

SAFETY STATEMENT

All UCSC employees must understand and follow job safety procedures, attend required health and safety training, proactively promote safety at work, and promptly report actual and potential accidents and injuries.

NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY

EEO/AA

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status or other protected categories covered by the UC Anti-Discrimination Policy.

It is the policy of the University of California to undertake affirmative action and anti-discrimination efforts, consistent with its obligations as a Federal and State contractor.