AI Catalyst

Mechanics Bank is currently searching for an AI Catalyst to join our team. Here at Mechanics Bank, we value connection, partnership, long term relationships and working together in person. This is a fully remote opportunity.

The AI Catalyst owns the full lifecycle of an innovation — from the first stakeholder conversation to proven adoption. This role independently manages multi-unit business relationships, leads discovery sessions, produces BRDs (Business Requirements Documents) with AI assistance, and applies the ALIGN scoring framework to prioritize opportunities. Working within a Paired Innovation model — Paired Innovation — the working model where a Catalyst and Creator partner throughout the innovation lifecycle, combining business insight with technical execution — the AI Catalyst serves as the single point of accountability for business outcomes, partnering with AI Creators to translate business needs into working solutions.

Reports to the Director, AI Innovation.

• Independently manage stakeholder relationships across multiple business units, leading discovery sessions to identify automation and AI opportunities.
• Produce comprehensive BRDs using AI tools, capturing requirements, success criteria, and expected business impact.
• Apply the ALIGN scoring framework to evaluate and prioritize innovation opportunities, presenting recommendations to leadership.
• Partner with AI Creators through the Paired Innovation model, translating business requirements into actionable build specifications and providing ongoing business context.
• Demo POC (Proof of Concept) solutions to business stakeholders, gathering feedback and validating that solutions address the identified need.
• Present innovation proposals and outcomes to senior leadership, including documentation of expected return and MVP (Minimum Viable Product) estimates.
• Own implementation follow-up and adoption tracking, ensuring innovations deliver measurable value after deployment.
• Contribute to the AI Innovation Handbook, skills repository, and team processes through regular review and improvement.
• Participate in team ceremonies and rotate through scrum master responsibilities.

Travel required:

0-10%

• 4 Year / Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Information Systems, Communications, or related field preferred.
• Graduate Degree in Business Administration, Data Analytics, or Technology Management preferred.
• Additional experience may be considered in lieu of degree.
• Minimum 3 years of experience in either (a) product or business analysis (including product management, requirements gathering, business case development, or strategic consulting) or (b) banking/financial services with deep operational, process, or line-of
  -business knowledge within a bank or regulated financial institution.
• 2+ years of experience in demonstrated AI fluency and regular use of AI tools for business tasks is preferred.
• Proven ability to manage business relationships across multiple organizational units and levels of seniority.
• Strong requirements elicitation skills with the ability to translate business needs into structured documentation.
• Demonstrated fluency with AI tools for analysis, documentation, and presentation preparation.
• Ability to present confidently to senior leadership, translating technical concepts into business outcomes.
• Understanding of innovation lifecycle management from ideation through adoption measurement.
• Experience with scoring or prioritization frameworks for project intake and resource allocation.
• Strong follow-through skills with a track record of ensuring initiatives deliver on stated goals.
• Comfort with ambiguity and evolving processes; ability to remain productive when direction is unclear or shifting.
• Willingness to…