AI Project Manager SPP

AI Project Manager

Staples is business to business. You're what binds us together.

Staples is business to business. You're what binds us together.

While you may know Staples as the world's leading office supply company, Staples Promotional Products - a division of Staples - is a national leader in the promotional products industry. At Staples Promotional Products, we help customers build love for their brands with customized merchandise solutions. Whatever story they want to tell, connection they want to make, or goal they need to deliver, Staples Promo makes it easy to design promo experiences that create lasting impact. Join Our winning team!

Team Summary:

Staples Promotional Products helps organizations bring their brands to life through creative merchandise, strategic sourcing, and memorable customer experiences. Our cross-functional team partners with business leaders, technology teams, vendors, and associates to modernize how work gets done. In this role, you will help accelerate practical and responsible AI adoption across the organization while supporting a culture of innovation, learning, and measurable improvement.

Role Summary:

The AI Project Manager will accelerate the adoption and practical application of artificial intelligence across Staples Promotional Products. Serving as a strategic partner between business functions and technology capabilities, this role identifies opportunities to redesign work, improve business processes, and unlock productivity through AI-enabled solutions. You will lead AI initiatives from ideation through implementation, ensuring solutions are scalable, appropriately governed, user-centered, and aligned with measurable business value.

What you'll be doing:

• Execute prioritized AI projects in partnership with business sponsors, technology teams, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies, generative AI platforms, automation tools, and digital solutions against business needs and organizational objectives.
• Lead pilot programs and proof-of-concept initiatives, evaluate results, and scale successful solutions across functions and business units.
• Analyze and document current-state processes, identify opportunities for automation and AI augmentation, and design efficient future-state workflows.
• Design, develop, maintain, and continuously improve AI prompts, agents, workflows, and automation solutions.
• Partner with internal technology teams and external vendors to implement solutions that meet business, security, compliance, and governance requirements.
• Develop and maintain AI governance frameworks, usage guidelines, operating procedures, and practical risk-mitigation practices.
• Lead change-management efforts that build stakeholder commitment, user readiness, and sustainable adoption.
• Train and coach associates and leaders on AI tools, prompting techniques, workflow redesign, and responsible AI practices.
• Establish success measures and report on adoption, productivity gains, efficiency improvements, cost savings, user satisfaction, and business outcomes.
• Manage multiple concurrent initiatives, competing priorities, implementation risks, and stakeholder expectations with limited supervision.

What you bring to the table:

• Strong project management capabilities and demonstrated success leading cross-functional initiatives from concept through implementation and adoption.
• Working knowledge of artificial intelligence, generative AI, automation tools, workflow solutions, and emerging technology trends.
• Ability to translate complex or ambiguous business challenges into practical, scalable, and sustainable technology-enabled solutions.
• Experience identifying, documenting, redesigning, and optimizing business processes.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to quantify business impact and develop data-informed recommendations and business cases.
• Effective change-management, stakeholder-engagement, consulting, facilitation, and organizational-influence skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain technical concepts clearly to varied audiences.
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced, evolving environment while balancing innovation, governance, risk, and measurable results.
• Passion for helping teams transform how work is performed through practical and responsible application of AI.

What's needed- Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Technology, Engineering, Operations, Information Systems, or a related discipline.
• 4+ years of experience in project management, business transformation, process improvement, consulting, technology implementation, or a related field.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives involving business-process redesign, digital transformation, or automation solutions.
• Experience managing enterprise-wide projects with multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.

What's needed- Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in a related discipline.
• Strong understanding of AI technologies, generative AI platforms, automation tools, workflow solutions, and emerging technology trends.
• Experience with process-improvement methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma, or Business Process Management.
• Demonstrated ability to develop AI-enabled solutions, governance practices, training resources, and adoption strategies.
• Exceptional stakeholder-management, relationship-building, facilitation, presentation, training, and documentation skills.

We Offer:

Inclusive culture with associate-led Business Resource Groups

22 days of PTO and Holiday Schedule (7 observed paid holidays + 1 floating holiday)

Online and Retail Discounts, Company Match 401(k), Physical and Mental Health Wellness programs, and more!

The salary range represents the expected compensation for this role at the time of posting. The specific base pay may be influenced by a variety of factors to include the candidate's experience, skill set, education, geography, business considerations, and internal equity. In addition to base pay, this role may be eligible for bonuses, or other forms of variable compensation.

Staples is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law.