Senior Project Manager — AI Data Collection & Annotation at Richfield Tech — NeverHard

Senior Project Manager — AI Data Collection & Annotation Why this role exists Andovar's DCA division builds multilingual speech, text and image datasets — collection, transcription and annotation — for some of the world's largest technology and AI companies. It is the fastest-growing part of the business, and delivery complexity has outgrown coordination-style project management. We are hiring a Senior PM to own our most complex accounts end-to-end, lead a distributed delivery pod, and make delivery predictable: problems surfaced in week one, not at 70% delivered. This is a senior, decision-making role. You will run accounts the way an owner would — feasibility before commitment, margin visibility throughout, and a team that gets stronger under you. You do not need to come from AI data: we can teach the domain. What we cannot teach is agency craft — managing client expectations, handling unknowns, and chasing down what your project needs. What you will own Account and delivery ownership • Own 2–4 complex, high-volume accounts end-to-end — including new-client pilots where speed and first impressions decide whether the account scales. • Install early-truth checkpoints on every project: pilot batches, week-one acceptance-rate checks, and contributor-funnel math, so wrong assumptions surface while they are still cheap to fix. • Run delivery against explicit capacity math — what one PM, one language, one contributor pool can produce per day — instead of gut-feel commitments. Client leadership • Lead client communication for your accounts: pilot reviews, scope negotiation, delivery forecasts and risk calls. You keep control of scope in writing. • Translate ambiguous client requirements into precise operational instructions, acceptance criteria and QA workflows. • Handle unknowns openly: surface them early, convert them into questions with owners and dates, and manage client expectations while they are being resolved. • Proactively reach out — to client stakeholders and to internal departments (recruitment, vendor management, engineering, finance) — to get what your project needs. You chase; you don't wait. Pre-sales, commercial and margin • Participate in pre-sales for your domain: quotation, sampling and pilot scoping alongside Sales — and give a feasibility verdict before we commit, not after. • Track project-level financials — budget, vendor spend, forecast vs. actual — and flag margin erosion early enough to act on it. • Own the invoicing step on your accounts: accurate, on-time invoicing inputs, and follow-up with the client through to payment. Team leadership • Lead a pod of project coordinators, interns and freelance PMs across countries; design shift coverage and handovers so client hours (including US/EU evenings) are covered without single points of failure. • Mentor juniors to independently run standard projects, so senior time stays on client-facing and high-complexity work. • Own escalations on your accounts and resolve them; escalate upward with options, not problems. Process and instrumentation • Improve SOPs, trackers and reporting so status reflects reality — acceptance rates, throughput and margin visible weekly, not discovered at invoicing. What success looks like • First 90 days: you own 2–3 key accounts including one live pilot; weekly reporting on your accounts shows real acceptance rates, forecast vs. actual and margin status; invoicing goes out accurately and on time; your coverage plan has no single point of failure. • By 12 months: your accounts deliver on time at or above target margin; at least two coordinators you mentor run standard projects independently; every new deal in your domain gets your feasibility and estimation input before commitment. Requirements You must be able to show evidence of all of the following: • Agency-side experience is mandatory: 5+ years delivering projects for external clients in an agency or client-services environment — software development, research/custdev, data collection or related — of which 2+ years at senior level. • Owned client relationships directly — expectations, escalations and scope negotiations, not just the trackers. You can show how you kept a client confident through a project going sideways. • A proactive operating style with evidence: you reach out to client stakeholders and internal departments to unblock your projects, surface unknowns early, and turn them into named risks with owners and dates. • Managed distributed freelance, vendor or subcontractor delivery teams, including performance management. • Ran projects with budget or financial responsibility: budgeting, forecasting, vendor spend control, and invoicing follow-through with clients. • Participated in pre-sales: quotes, proposals, samples or pilots — and can talk about one you shaped. • Mentored or led junior PMs or coordinators. • Fluent professional English, written and spoken (C1+); confident client-facing communication. • Based in Asia time zones (UTC+5 to UTC+9), with flexibility for evening calls with US/EU clients. • Advanced command of project tracking and reporting tools (Excel plus Airtable, Jira, Asana or similar). Preferred • Experience in AI data collection, annotation, machine learning pipelines or content operations (speech/audio, code-switching or biometrics a strong plus) — valued, but not a gate. • Experience building cost models or quotes for services businesses. • Experience designing shift or coverage models for follow-the-sun operations. • A second working language. What we offer • Remote-first role with a distributed, international team. (possible relocation to Bangkok,Thailand). • Senior scope with real decision authority — and a visible path toward Program Manager / Head-of-delivery responsibility as the division grows. • Direct exposure to frontier AI companies and the fastest-growing segment of the language industry. • Compensation built for owners: base salary plus a bonus on each successful project close — you share directly in the outcomes you deliver. How we hire Four stages, typically within 2–3 weeks: application screening, a short HR call, a structured interview, and a practical case with a live working session.