Subject Matter Expert (SME) - AI Team Management (Fall 2026)

About this role

About Ziplines

Ziplines Education is a category-leading education company that partners with universities to deliver industry-focused certificate courses that prepare professionals for today’s digital-first workforce. Each year, we have the opportunity to help thousands of career advancers build the knowledge, skills, and credentials they need to move their careers forward. 92% of learners would recommend our programs, and our net promoter score is consistently in the excellent range. Together, we empower adult learners to confidently pursue the career they’ve always wanted.

Course development schedule

Work on this course will begin in late September 2026.

More about this AI Team Management course

Description. This is a course for first-line and middle managers whose teams are already using AI without guidance. It teaches the supervisory skills nobody is currently teaching: deciding which of your team's work should move to AI, reviewing output you did not watch get made, and setting norms that hold.

Learner Persona

- Who the course is for: Manager, Senior Manager, Team Lead, or Department Manager, with 5-30 direct reports.

- Pain point: Their direct reports are already using AI on work the manager is accountable for, sometimes without saying so. Their executives assume it is handled. Nobody has told them what handling it means operationally.

- Value proposition: A Team AI Adoption Plan for your actual team: one redesigned workflow, a review protocol for AI-assisted work, team norms, and a 90-day rollout you can put in front of your own boss.

Module outline (you would be the SME for one of these modules)

1. Your team's AI operating picture. Auditing where AI already is in your team's work, including what nobody told you; mapping current exposure and risk.

2. Redesigning a team workflow. Decomposing one real workflow into steps; deciding what moves to AI, what stays human, and what becomes a review point.

3. Supervising work you did not watch get made. Review protocols, spot-check design, failure modes to look for, giving feedback on AI-assisted output without rubber-stamping or micromanaging.

4. Bringing the team along. The resistant report and the over-reliant report as distinct coaching problems; setting norms and disclosure expectations; handling the job-security conversation directly.

5. Proving it worked. Choosing metrics your boss will accept; building the 90-day rollout; assembling the plan.

About you

You bring at least 5 years of team management experience, at least 2+ years of experience in AI adoption, and a genuine passion for helping professionals thrive and achieve success. You have a point of view on what skills and knowledge team leaders need to drive effective AI adoption, and you’re able to break concepts down and make them accessible to beginners. As a SME for our online course module, you'll have the opportunity to shape our AI Team Management curriculum, ensure we’re teaching what matters most, share your expertise with career advancers, and guide them toward achieving their goals.

SME role objectives

- Create compelling, relevant, industry-aligned courses that give learners what they need to advance in their field

- Record authentic, engaging videos illustrating AI Leadership concepts and showing learners how to use technologies and tools related to driving results with AI.

- Inspire learners, build confidence in their capabilities, and help them understand how to adopt and integrate AI into their leadership practice.

- Optimize learner engagement, learner retention, and learner success

Our learners

Our learners are driven professionals from diverse fields. Some are just beginning to explore new career opportunities, while others are looking to deepen their expertise. What they all share is a strong desire to acquire new skills that will help them advance their careers—whether that’s stepping into a new role, earning a promotion, or excelling in their current position.

Our courses

Each week, learners:

- Complete on-demand online content created by industry experts (that’s you!) featuring scenario-based learning, industry context, expert videos, and best practices (3 - 4 hours)

- Apply their skills via a hands-on “Playbook” project that you help create (1 hour)

- Attend a live session to learn from a different industry expert alongside their classmates (2 hours)

- Get extra support by connecting with classmates on Slack or reaching out to our Learner Success team for support

As a SME, you’ll collaborate with our Learning Experience Design team to shape the on-demand content and the Playbook, ensuring that the topical coverage, scenarios, videos, and applied skills are relevant and industry-aligned. Our designers will also ask for your input and review on the live session agenda. Most importantly, you’ll record authentic, engaging videos that make learners feel like they have a supportive, savvy guide to AI Team Management.

Your duties and time commitment

- Overall Time Commitment: 30 - 40 hours over 6 weeks.

- Week 1: Kickoff meeting with learning experience designer, review and refine module outline, clarify schedule.

- Weeks 2 through 5: 1-2 working sessions with learning experience designer. These sessions will focus on mapping out lessons, exercises, and video content. In-between working sessions, you and the designer will work in parallel to flesh out the content and develop detailed outlines for the videos.

- Week 6: Record and upload your videos.

- Week 7: Review the module and give feedback.

How We Support You

- You’re partnered with an experienced learning designer. Our designers understand our course format, our learners, and our goals, and can help you bring your knowledge to life.

- You’re not starting from a blank page. Our learning experience designer will come in with a draft outline covering key topics, technologies, and learning objectives. Together you’ll…