Project Manager, AI

Job Background/Overview:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Housed within the Emergency and Humanitarian Action Unit (EHAU), the Signpost Project is a rapidly scaling community-led information service that empowers its clients in times of crisis. Signpost delivers critical information to affected populations through staff equipped with digital tools, digital channels and social media — providing communities with timely and actionable information to make critical decisions on the issues that matter most to them.

In 2024 the Signpost project will launch the Universal Access to Information Lab (UAI), a dynamic and innovative division within the International Rescue Committee (IRC), focused on leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to solve age-old humanitarian problems and create universal access to information for people affected by conflict, crisis, or climate. UAI will de-risk and evaluate the effectiveness of AI to better provide information and ensure lack of information is never a barrier for people in crises to exercise their human rights, understand their options, and find critical support. Through the Signpost Project’s global footprint and consortium partners, UAI will prototype promising solutions, research and disseminate practical insights about the performance of the prototypes, and scale successful products globally as companies or global public goods. Through this initiative, Signpost aims to get closer to our goal of providing information to 50% of the world’s displaced population by 2030.

As a key player in this dynamic environment, the Project Manager will oversee the lab’s diverse and innovative projects, ensuring they align with our strategic goals and deliver impactful outcomes. This role requires a blend of technology project management expertise, similar to positions at leading tech companies, with a focus on humanitarian, responsible, or nonprofit innovation. The Project Manager will liaise closely with product development teams, establish clear goals and KPIs, run agile development and research scrums, and effectively onboard partners and new staff. Additionally, this role involves representing the lab to external parties, contributing to reporting and documentation for fundraising, and driving forward the development and research outcomes of the lab. This role will be the first hire to start the UAI initiative- a critical importance to the International Rescue Committee and the aid sector, and therefore must exhibit the leadership to build a team of innovative professionals and integrity to bring significant impact on the lives of individuals affected by crises globally.

Major Responsibilities:

• Project Management (30%):

  • Oversee the entire project lifecycle of AI prototypes and research projects, focusing on their potential for social impact in humanitarian settings.
  • Engage with humanitarian responders and teams globally to understand their needs, translating these into actionable project scopes with sponsoring organizations.
  • Develop and implement project plans, setting clear expectations on timelines, milestones, and resource allocation while aligning with the broader social impact goals.
  • Collaborate with Signpost Product team, IRC IT Project Management Office, IRC Tech for Programs, the IRC’s AI Community of Practice and other relevant entities to maintain standards in business processes and ensure effective information sharing.
  • Represent UAI in interactions with external parties, including vendors, research partners, and NGO practitioner teams, emphasizing the lab’s vision of universal access to life-saving information.
  • Ensure AI prototypes and research outputs are delivered on time, within scope, and within budget.

• Liaison with Product Development Teams (20%):

  • Develop technical scoping documents that align with the lab’s long-term strategy and the immediate needs of humanitarian responders.
  • Translate the needs of humanitarian responder teams, or humanitarian clients alongside the Business Systems Analyst and Product Lead to the development team with clear expectations.
  • Foster communication and collaboration between technical teams, stakeholders, and partners, emphasizing the development of solutions with high social impact.

• Goal Setting and KPI Management for Social Impact (15%):

  • Establish clear, measurable goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) for team efficiency and individual AI prototypes, with a focus on each prototypes cost, effort to build, and responsiveness to humanitarian needs.
  • Continuously review and adjust KPIs to ensure projects remain aligned with strategic objectives and the lab’s commitment to making a difference in humanitarian contexts.

• Agile Research Scrum Facilitation for Rapid Prototyping (10%):

  • Implement agile scrum and rapid research processes, tailored to enhance collaboration and efficiency in rapidly developing new prototypes that address urgent humanitarian challenges.
  • Lead regular scrum rituals and sprint reviews, focusing on quick iteration and responsiveness to the evolving needs of humanitarian contexts.
  • Contribute to scrum of scrums ritual between relevant shareholder teams

• Partner and Staff Onboarding for Collaborative Impact (10%):

  • Coordinate the integration of new partners and staff into the lab’s operations, ensuring alignment with the lab’s mission of driving social impact through technology.
  • Develop clear documentation of lab expectations, processes, systems and context.
  • Develop and maintain comprehensive onboarding materials and training programs, emphasizing the lab’s humanitarian goals and collaborative working style.

• External Representation and Fundraising for Humanitarian Innovation (10%):

  • Represent the lab at external events, conferences, and meetings, advocating for responsible use of artificial intelligence and practical prototyping of tools to facilitate genuine humanitarian impact.
  • Support in fundraising efforts, including crafting proposals and donor reports that highlight the lab’s progress against KPIs and existential needs

• Outcome-Driven Research and Development for Humanitarian Needs (5%):

  • Ensure that the lab’s research and development activities are sharply focused on generating tangible, impactful outcomes that meet humanitarian needs and general business requirements.
  • Contribute to the creation of metrics that evaluate the quality, cost, and impact, of individual projects.

Key Working Relationships:

• Reports to: Product Lead, Signpost
• Collaborates with: Signpost Product Development, IT Project Management Office, Research Analysts, External Partners and Vendors, Donors

Essential Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Project Management, Business Administration, Computer Science, Public Policy, Technology Ethics or a related field.
• 5+ years of project management experience in a technology-focused environment
• Strong familiarity with agile methodologies and scrum management.
• Academic or experiential familiarity, interest, and/or belief in Responsible AI, with exposure to digital ethics and equality, misinformation, and humanitarian principles.
• Excellent leadership and team management skills. Action-oriented and relentlessly entrepreneurial.
• Ability to set achievable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in dynamic projects, and build systems to have automated processes to evaluate the efficiency of projects.
• Proven track record of successful project delivery and ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Strong experience with multicultural communication, expectation-setting, presentation, and negotiation skills.
• Fluency in English.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience in a speculative or product research and development experience at a large technology company or successful startups.
• Familiarity or expertise with Jira, Zendesk, PowerBI, Monday, Zapier, Microsoft Azure Synapse, Microsoft Azure.
• One or more of the following:
  • Experience in Responsible AI, Technology Trust & Safety.
  • Experience or academic background developing or researching AI, machine learning technology.
  • Experience with chatbot and virtual assistant technology.
  • Experience with translation platforms and natural language processing technology.
  • Experience in a humanitarian, government, or development context.
• Familiarity with both agile development and academic research timelines and processes.
• Additional language skills relevant to IRC’s operational areas (Spanish, French, Arabic, etc.)
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification or equivalent a plus.

Working Environment***:***

• This role will work remotely, with the possibility to work in person depending on location.
• Relevant stakeholders will be in time zones from GMT-8 to GMT +3, which means there may be some early or late calls on a semi-regular basis in order to adequately collaborate.
• Will serve as direct manager for 1-3 staff that will be hired after the PM joins
• We are open to applications from other places

Compensation:

Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

US Benefits:

We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days (depending on role and tenure), medical insurance starting at $145 per month, dental starting at $7 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus a 3-7% base IRC contribution (3 year vesting), disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.