Project Manager

About WhipsawWhipsaw is a product design and brand consultancy based in San Francisco. We take products from first insight to first customer, working across strategy, industrial design, digital experience, brand identity, packaging, and market launch with one integrated team. 350+ global client partners. 1,000+ products designed. 325+ design awards. Our clients are funded startups building their first commercial product and established companies evolving an existing one, entering a new market, or launching a new sub-brand. The work spans consumer, medical, scientific, industrial, and connected products. The roleWe're hiring a contract Project Manager to run one engagement, start to finish. You'll be fully dedicated to a single client program in the life sciences space, embedded with our strategists, researchers, and designers for the length of the contract. Your job is to be the connective tissue. You're in every session. You capture what happens, get it to the people who need it, and keep the program moving between meetings. When the design team needs a decision from the client, you know who to ask and when the answer is coming. When our internal PM needs context to conduct across the wider engagement, you've already handed it over. The work is unglamorous and enormously valuable. Programs like this rarely fail on craft. They fail because a piece of feedback got lost in a call three weeks ago, or because two stakeholders were working from different versions of the same deck. You're the reason that doesn't happen here. What you'll doJoin every client working session, workshop, and research reviewCapture feedback, decisions, and open questions live, then turn them into something the team can act on within a daySynthesize session notes, research inputs, and client materials into clear summaries for our strategy and design teamsPrep agendas, pre-reads, and recaps for every client touchpointKeep the schedule, milestones, and deliverable list current, and flag slippage earlyTrack action items on both sides of the engagement and chase them downGive our internal Whipsaw PM the full picture so nothing gets rebuilt from scratch or asked twiceOwn file organization, version control, and shared documentation so nobody hunts for the latest fileSpot the tricky stuff before it lands: unclear scope, conflicting feedback, missing approvals, quiet stakeholders. Work the problem first, escalate second. What we're looking forRequired 3+ years managing complex, multi-workstream projectsDirect experience in at least one of: biotech or life sciences, hardware, medical devices, or softwareReal product development experience. You know how a program moves from research through concept, refinement, and handoff, and you know where it usually breaksExceptional organization and communication. This is the whole job. You write clearly, you write fast, and you write for the person reading it, whether they're a scientist, a designer, or an executiveComfort with AI tools. We use them daily for synthesis, note capture, research, and documentation. You should already be doing the same, and you should know when to trust the output and when to check itTech native. New platform, new client system, new workflow. You pick it up without a training sessionPatience. Complex programs mean repeated questions, shifting inputs, and stakeholders who join late and need catching up. You handle that without frictionBased in the San Francisco Bay Area and able to work hybrid onsite Nice to have Experience in regulated or scientific environments (FDA, ISO 13485, clinical or lab workflows)Agency, studio, or consultancy backgroundExperience working in Microsoft 365 environmentsExperience working in Google Cloud environmentsFamiliarity with Figma, Notion, or SmartsheetResearch operations or workshop facilitation experience TermsContract Length: 4-5 months, with potential to extendHours: Up to 40 hours per week, fully dedicated to one client programOvertime: Billed to client and paid to you hourlyLocation: Hybrid, San Francisco/ 2-3 days per week onsite at 55 Mississippi St. Rate: $65-75 per hourStart date: August 12, 2026Classification: 1099