AI Automation Specialist

About the Department

Hello, we’re Metro! Metro is dedicated to shaping a better future for the greater Portland region. The work the people of Metro do every day benefits the lives of the people who live here, today, and tomorrow.

The Technology Department is looking for a cutting-edge role as an AI Automation Specialist where your creativity and technical skills will drive the transformation of AI-powered automation and intelligent workflows for our staff and our community.

In this dynamic role, you will design, build, and deploy AI-driven automations that transform how Metro departments serve the community, contributing significantly to Metro’s digital evolution. Be part of a team where innovation meets public service, and your work directly enhances daily lives of the community. Your expertise in agentic AI systems and workflow automation will turn manual bottlenecks into intelligent, autonomous processes—allowing staff to focus on high-touch public service.

The Team:

The Digital & Data Services team is on a mission to enhance the effectiveness and reach of technology for both Metro employees and the community, contributing to enhanced service delivery with the help of technology. Whether it’s building AI-powered workflow automations that eliminate manual bottlenecks, architecting resilient infrastructure, managing enterprise platforms, or offering front-line technology support, the Digital & Data Services team is all about improving lives with technology.

As the AI Automation Specialist you will

• Architect Agentic Workflows: Design and deploy autonomous AI agents that can plan, reason, and execute multi-step tasks to streamline government operations—working with the Microsoft tool stack (Copilot Studio, Azure AI Foundry, etc.) as well as complementary tools necessary to natively build AI with AI.
• Administer AI & Automation Platforms: Own the configuration, lifecycle management, and day-to-day administration of the AI and automation platforms that power Metro’s workflows—managing environments, user access, and connector health so the tools staff depend on remain reliable and secure.
• Collaborate Across Departments: Partner with Metro teams to map existing processes and redesign them with embedded AI agents and systems that solve real operational pain points.
• Rapidly Prototype & Deploy: Build working MVPs in days, not months, to address immediate departmental challenges before they become long-term backlogs.
• Ensure Security, Data Integrity & Compliance: Serve as a gatekeeper for how AI systems access, process, and store government data. Implement role-based access controls, secure API integrations, and human-in-the-loop safeguards for high-stakes decisions—ensuring all automations comply with public sector records retention, privacy laws, and PII protection requirements.
• Monitor, Debug & Optimize: Proactively identify and resolve failures in AI logic or integrations, maintaining the reliability of tools that citizens and staff rely on daily while tracking measurable outcomes like hours saved and error rates.
• Train & Enable: Create technical playbooks and lead training sessions to help department leads understand, use, and oversee the AI tools you build—building trust and driving adoption across the organization.

Attributes for Success

• Hands-on experience building and deploying AI-driven tools, workflows, or agents—whether conversational agents, LLM-powered automations, or intelligent triage systems—with shipped work you can speak to directly.
• Demonstrated prompt engineering ability: writing structured, repeatable prompts that define how AI agents reason, act, and handle edge cases—treating prompts as executable specifications, not casual inputs.
• Professional background in workflow automation, low-code platform development, DevOps, or adjacent technology fields—with hands-on experience both building automated solutions and administering the platforms they run on.
• Working knowledge of data governance in regulated environments: PII protection, role-based access controls, auditability, and designing AI systems for human oversight and public accountability.
• A Growth Mindset Learner who treats every failed prototype as a lesson, actively seeks feedback, stays current with a rapidly evolving AI landscape, and pushes yourself and your teammates to continuously improve.
• An Empathy-Driven Designer who starts with the people who will use what you build—investing time understanding their world before writing a single prompt, because the best automation is one that makes someone’s day easier.
• A Persuasive Communicator who can make a compelling case for change to skeptical department heads, cautious IT security teams, and executive leadership alike—building trust through transparency and demos over slide decks.
• A Builder at Heart who sees a broken process and immediately starts sketching a solution—someone who’d rather ship a working prototype in a week than spend a month perfecting a requirements document.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION 

At Metro, we strive to cultivate diversity, advance equity, and practice inclusion in all of its work. This means attracting and empowering a workforce that is inclusive of a broad range of human qualities. Workplace diversity is both a moral imperative and a business strength, essential to providing quality support and services to our region. Metro’s goal is to hire, develop and retain highly skilled and talented individuals across all departments and programs who best reflect the diversity of our community.   

Learn more about how Metro is advancing diversity

TO QUALIFY

We will consider any combination of relevant work experience, volunteering, education, and transferable skills as qualifying unless an item or section is labeled required. Please be clear and specific in your application materials on how your background is relevant. 

Minimum qualifications

• 4-6 years of related professional experience experience in information systems, workflow automation, low-code platform administration, DevOps, or related technology fields, with a focus on building and deploying automated solution, and 
• Bachelor’s Degree, or   
• Any combination of experience and education that provides the applicant with the desired skills, knowledge, and ability required to perform the job.

Working Conditions 

• This position requires the ability to perform those activities necessary to complete the essential functions of the job, either with or without reasonable accommodation. Position requires continuous and/or frequent standing, walking, fingering, talking, and repetitive motions of hand/wrists, hearing, and handling. Also requires occasional stooping, crawling, reaching, feeling, and repetitive motions of feet, sitting, bending, kneeling and the ability to lift and/or carry up to 25 pounds.

If this statement is true for you, then you may be ineligible to apply

If you were terminated for cause during any employment with Metro, or resigned in lieu of termination, you may be ineligible for rehire for a minimum of 3 years.

Hybrid Telework 

This position is designated as “hybrid telework.” You will be required to work onsite and at times have the option to work away from your assigned work location. The specific schedule and balance of onsite and telework will be discussed with the hiring manager at the time of offer. Employees must reside in Oregon or Washington to work at Metro. Please note, the designation of hybrid telework may be subject to change at a future time.

Like to have qualifications

You do not need to have the following preferred qualifications/transferable skills to qualify. However, keep in mind we may consider them when identifying the most qualified candidates. Your transferable skills are any skills you have gained through education, work experience, including the military, or life experience that are relevant for this position.

• Familiarity with Microsoft Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate) and Azure AI services, including hands-on platform administration experience.
• Experience with AI-native developer tooling such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, n8n, or LangChain for custom agent orchestration.
• Experience creating technical documentation, training materials, or workshops that drive adoption of new technology tools across non-technical audiences.
• Background in civic tech, government technology, or another mission-driven regulated environment where public trust and compliance are central to the work.

SCREENING AND EVALUATION

The application packet: The application packet consists of the following required documents. Please ensure that you upload these documents in your online application. Make sure your application is complete, missing any part of these items could result in an incomplete application and will not be moved forward in the recruitment.

• A completed Resume that includes these details for each employer:
  • Name of employer, working title  
  • Dates of employment; including if the work was full-time or part-time your title, 
  • Number of employees supervised 
  • Summary of your responsibilities
• Cover letter with the following:
  • A project prompt for a Claude Project/Custom GPT/etc. for am “AI Automation Specialist” whose purpose is to be your AI advisor for this role.
  • Also include a detailed explanation of the process that you used when building this “AI Automation Specialist” project. If you utilized an llm conversation to develop the prompt, describe the conversation from its beginning through to the final output and end of the conversation.

The selection process: We expect to evaluate candidates for this recruitment as follows. The selection process is subject to change.

• Initial review of minimum qualifications
• In-depth evaluation of application materials to identify the most qualified candidates
• Consideration of top candidates/interviews
• Testing/assessments 
• Reference check 
• Background records check for finalist candidate 

COMPENSATION, BENEFITS AND REPRESENTATON

The full-salary range for this position is step 1: $91,400.94 to step 7: $122,515.70. However, unless a candidate’s qualifications justify, based on the Oregon Pay Equity Act requirements and Metro’s internal equity review process, the appointment will likely be made between step 1: $91,400.94 to the equity range step: $105,815.81. 

This position is not eligible for overtime and is represented by AFSCME 3580. It is classified as a Systems Analyst III position. Classification descriptions are typically written broadly and do not include the specific duties and responsibilities of the positions. View the classification description.

Questions?

Recruiter: Carrie Gundermann

Email: carrie.gundermann@oregonmetro.gov

Other Qualifications

Equal employment opportunity

All qualified persons will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, familial status, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability for which a reasonable accommodation can be made, or any other status protected by law.

Accommodation

Metro will gladly provide a reasonable accommodation to anyone whose specific disability prevents them from completing this application or participating in this recruitment process. Please contact the recruiter outlined in the job announcement in advance to request assistance.

Veterans' preference

Under Oregon Law, qualified veterans may be eligible for veterans' preference when applying for Metro positions. If you are a veteran and would like to be considered for a veterans' preference for this job, please provide qualifying documents as instructed during the application process.

Hybrid Telework

Positions designated as “hybrid telework,” meaning you will have the option to work away from the office, although there may be times that coming into the office will be required. The designation of Hybrid Telework may be subject to change at a future time. All employees must reside in Oregon or Washington; Metro cannot support ongoing telework from other locations.

Pay equity at Metro

No matter who you are or where you work at Metro, you deserve to be paid fairly for the work you do. Every worker must get equal pay for equal work regardless of your gender, race, age, or other protected characteristics. Metro has established processes and conducts routine pay equity reviews as part of the hiring process to ensure compliance with the 2017 Oregon Pay Equity Act.

Online applications

Metro accepts job applications online. If you need assistance or accommodation with your application, or access to a computer, please contact the recruiter outlined in the job announcement in advance to request assistance. 

How to Apply

For tips on how to apply and more information on what the application process looks like, visit Metro’s “How to apply” page. 

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Metro 

Led by an elected council, this unique government gives all residents of greater Portland a voice in shaping the future and provides parks, venues, services, and tools at a regional scale. We find solutions for our area’s garbage and recycling that protect clean air and water; help plan land use and development to provide jobs and safe transportation; manage local venues that provide a connection to arts and culture and help keep the economy growing; protect 17,000 acres of parks and natural areas, and run the Oregon Zoo, to keep nature close to home.