AI Data Project Manager ( US or Canada)

Description

Defined.ai is a leading provider of high-quality, ethically sourced data for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) model training. We host the world's largest AI marketplace and offer end-to-end services to help companies accelerate their AI solutions. Backed by significant funding and recognized globally for our commitment to ethical AI, we operate in a fast-paced, innovative environment with offices in Seattle and Lisbon.

About the role

The AI Data Project Manager is responsible for planning, scoping, costing, and operationally designing customer projects involving AI and data services. The role works closely with Sales, Operations, Supplier Management, and customers to translate customer requirements into clear project plans, delivery models, staffing requirements, pricing, and execution strategies.

Responsibilities

• Review customer requirements and translate them into clear, executable project plans.
• Work with Sales and customers to understand project objectives, scope, deliverables, timelines, quality requirements, and constraints.
• Determine the resources, skills, languages, geographies, suppliers, and operational capabilities required to execute projects.
• Develop project assumptions, dependencies, risks, milestones, and execution plans.
• Identify gaps or ambiguities in customer requirements and work with stakeholders to resolve them.
• Ensure proposed project approaches are operationally feasible before commitments are made to customers.
• Develop project cost models based on labor requirements, geography, supplier rates, quality requirements, project complexity, and operational assumptions.
• Support the development of customer pricing and commercial proposals.
• Develop staffing and capacity models for customer projects.
• Analyze different delivery approaches to identify the optimal balance of cost, quality, scalability, and timeline.
• Work with Sales, Finance, Supplier Management, and Operations to validate project economics.
• Have a strong understanding of AI data-service workflows, including:
  • Data collection
  • Image and video annotation
  • Audio and speech data
  • Transcription
  • Translation
  • LLM and AI evaluation
  • Data validation and quality assurance
  • Human-in-the-loop AI workflows
  • Determine the appropriate operational approach for different project requirements.
  • Understand how project specifications affect staffing, cost, timeline, quality, and delivery risk.
  • Stay current with emerging AI data-service methodologies and industry practices.
  • Partner with Sales teams during customer discovery and opportunity development.
  • Participate in customer calls to understand requirements and explain proposed delivery approaches.
  • Translate customer requirements into clear internal execution requirements.
  • Support development of proposals, Statements of Work, RFP responses, and RFI responses.
  • Prepare project scopes, methodologies, timelines, staffing models, assumptions, and pricing inputs.
  • Serve as a key point of contact between Sales and delivery organizations during the presales process.
  • Work with Supplier Management to identify appropriate suppliers and contributor pools for customer projects.
  • Define required supplier capabilities, geographic coverage, language capabilities, capacity, and rates.
  • Validate supplier availability and costs against proposed project requirements.
  • Cook up with Operations and Project Management teams to ensure proposed approaches can be successfully delivered.
  • Support transition of awarded projects from presales into production.
  • Identify operational risks and develop mitigation strategies.
  • Prepare project plans, execution methodologies, and operational approaches for RFPs, RFIs, and other customer requests.
  • Contribute to technical and commercial proposals.
  • Develop assumptions, staffing models, quality approaches, timelines, and pricing inputs.
  • Cook up information across Sales, Operations, Supplier Management, Finance, and other internal stakeholders.
  • Ensure customer commitments are aligned with operational capabilities.
  • Coordinate multiple stakeholders to move opportunities from requirements through solution definition and delivery handoff.
  • Track open questions, decisions, dependencies, and risks.
  • Communicate project requirements clearly across technical, operational, commercial, and customer-facing teams.
  • Drive timely resolution of issues that could affect scope, cost, quality, or delivery.
  • Maintain accurate project documentation and ensure key assumptions are captured.

Requirements

• 3+ years of experience in project management, program management, operations, solutions, or consulting within the AI data services industry.
• Experience managing projects involving multiple stakeholders, teams, suppliers, or external partners.
• Strong understanding of project planning, requirements gathering, resource planning, and execution.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Experience working with budgets, costing, pricing, staffing, or resource planning.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple opportunities and projects simultaneously.
• Strong attention to detail and organizational skills.
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to translate ambiguous customer requirements into structured project plans.
• Experience in one or more of the following environments is strongly preferred:
  • AI data services
  • Data annotation
  • Data collection
  • Data labeling
  • LLM evaluation
  • Speech or language data
  • Transcription
  • Translation
  • Human-in-the-loop AI
  • Content moderation
  • Data operations

Nice-to-have

• Experience at companies providing AI data, localization, crowdsourcing, BPO, or technology-enabled data services is particularly valuable.

What You'll Do

Project Scoping & Planning

• Review customer requirements and translate them into clear, executable project plans.
• Work with Sales and customers to understand project objectives, scope, deliverables, timelines, quality requirements, and constraints.
• Determine the resources, skills, languages, geographies, suppliers, and operational capabilities required to execute projects.
• Develop project assumptions, dependencies, risks, milestones, and execution plans.
• Identify gaps or ambiguities in customer requirements and work with stakeholders to resolve them.
• Ensure proposed project approaches are operationally feasible before commitments are made to customers.

Costing & Pricing

• Develop project cost models based on labor requirements, geography, supplier rates, quality requirements, project complexity, and operational assumptions.
• Develop staffing and capacity models for customer projects.
• Support the development of customer pricing and commercial proposals.
• Analyze different delivery approaches to identify the optimal balance of cost, quality, scalability, and timeline.
• Work with Sales, Finance, Supplier Management, and Operations to validate project economics.

Customer & Sales Support

• Partner with Sales teams during customer discovery and opportunity development.
• Participate in customer calls to understand requirements and explain proposed delivery approaches.
• Translate customer requirements into clear internal execution requirements.
• Support development of proposals, Statements of Work, RFP responses, and RFI responses.
• Prepare project scopes, methodologies, timelines, staffing models, assumptions, and pricing inputs.
• Serve as a key point of contact between Sales and delivery organizations during the presales process.

Supplier & Operations Coordination

• Work with Supplier Management to identify appropriate suppliers and contributor pools for customer projects.
• Define required supplier capabilities, geographic coverage, language capabilities, capacity, and rates.
• Validate supplier availability and costs against proposed project requirements.
• Cook up with Operations and Project Management teams to ensure proposed approaches can be successfully delivered.
• Support transition of awarded projects from presales into production.
• Identify operational risks and develop mitigation strategies.

Proposal & RFP/RFI Support

• Develop project plans, execution methodologies, and operational approaches for RFPs, RFIs, and other customer requests.
• Contribute to technical and commercial proposals.
• Develop assumptions, staffing models, quality approaches, timelines, and pricing inputs.
• Cook up information across Sales, Operations, Supplier Management, Finance, and other internal stakeholders.
• Ensure customer commitments are aligned with operational capabilities.

Cross-Functional Project Leadership

• Coordinate multiple stakeholders to move opportunities from requirements through solution definition and delivery handoff.
• Track open questions, decisions, dependencies, and risks.
• Communicate project requirements clearly across technical, operational, commercial, and customer-facing teams.
• Drive timely resolution of issues that could affect scope, cost, quality, or delivery.
• Maintain accurate project documentation and ensure key assumptions are captured.

Success Measures

• Accurate and complete project scoping.
• Development of commercially viable project approaches.
• Accurate project costing and resource planning.
• Successful coordination between Sales, Operations, Supplier Management, and customers.
• High-quality proposals, SOWs, and RFP/RFI responses.
• Identification and mitigation of operational risks before project launch.
• Efficient transition of awarded projects into delivery.
• Able to independently manage complex customer requirements.
• Strong customer and internal stakeholder relationships.

Benefits

• Flexible working schedule and hybrid model.
• Excellent career development opportunities in a high growth company.
• Culture of feedback and continuous improvement.
• An international and diverse team.
• Continuous training opportunities.
• A comfortable office environment.