Project Manager at ifm-us

The Institute of Foundation Models (IFM) is seeking a Project Manager to oversee product and lab priorities in Abu Dhabi and help drive execution across research, product, and community initiatives. This role focuses on orchestrating work rather than owning a single function: turning priorities into clear plans, keeping teams aligned, and ensuring follow-through on the tasks that move our models and products forward. A core part of this is coordinating model launches end to end – ensuring that research, engineering, product, marketing, and communications are aligned and ready when a model goes live. The ideal candidate is structured, proactive, and comfortable working in a flat organization where everyone takes ownership and is willing to roll up their sleeves. Key Responsibilities Product & Project Orchestration • Work with Research, Engineering and Product teams to translate high-level priorities into clear project plans, milestones, and timelines. • Maintain an up-to-date view of product roadmaps for the Abu Dhabi lab, highlighting dependencies, risks, and decision points. • Coordinate implementation for selected products or features, ensuring that requirements, designs, and technical work stay aligned. • Facilitate regular check-ins (standups, sprint reviews, planning sessions) to keep projects on track and unblock teams. • Ensure that key decisions, action items, and next steps are clearly captured and followed through. Model Launch Coordination • Own the end-to-end coordination of model launches (e.g., K2, JAIS, PAN): from research-to-production handoff through public release and post-launch follow-up. • Work with Research and Engineering to track readiness milestones, resolve blockers, and ensure documentation and technical artifacts are in place before launch. • Coordinate launch timelines and dependencies across Product, Engineering, Legal, and Marketing to ensure all teams are aligned and nothing slips through the cracks. • Support operational readiness for launches, pilots, and external partnerships – ensuring the right assets, environments, and approvals are in place. • Run launch retrospectives to capture lessons learned and improve the process for future releases. Marketing & Communications Liaison • Serve as the coordination point between technical teams and Marketing/Communications (MarComms) for model launches, announcements, and external messaging. • Ensure MarComms has timely access to technical details, key milestones, and positioning inputs needed to prepare launch materials, blog posts, and demos. • Coordinate lab contributions to external events, conferences, and partner briefings – helping position IFM’s work effectively to outside audiences. • Work with the Community team to ensure Abu Dhabi lab priorities are reflected in hackathons, workshops, open days, and partner programs. Lab Operations & Cross-Team Coordination • Serve as a coordination point for the Abu Dhabi lab: aligning work across engineering, product, community, and operations. • Help prioritize lab initiatives and manage trade-offs when competing priorities arise. • Coordinate with other IFM sites (e.g., international labs) to synchronize timelines, share status, and reduce duplication. • Maintain lightweight but reliable processes and tools for tracking work, while keeping bureaucracy low. Execution, Tracking & Reporting • Set up simple, transparent mechanisms to track progress on key initiatives. • Prepare concise status updates for leadership and stakeholders, highlighting progress, risks, and decisions needed. • Proactively identify blockers and drive them to resolution by pulling in the right people – not by escalating everything. • Help the team continuously improve how it works: refine processes, simplify where possible, and share best practices across projects. Essential Experience • 3–6 years of experience in project management, program management, product operations, or closely related roles in a technology, research, or product-building environment. • Proven track record of running cross-functional projects end to end: from clarifying goals and scope, to planning, to execution and follow-through. • Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple parallel workstreams, priorities, and stakeholders. • Comfortable working with technical teams (researchers, engineers, product) and understanding basic technical concepts well enough to manage timelines, dependencies, and risks. • Clear and concise communicator, able to summarize complex work into simple updates for different audiences (leadership, partners, internal teams). • Demonstrated ability to work in a flat, fast-moving environment – taking ownership, adapting to changing priorities, and doing what is needed to keep work moving. Preferred Experience • Experience in AI/ML, deep-tech, or research lab environments where projects involve both exploration and delivery. • Experience coordinating product or model launches – including cross-functional readiness, external communications, and post-launch follow-up. • Familiarity with product development lifecycles (from discovery and prototyping to launch and iteration). • Exposure to foundation models, large-scale AI systems, or similar technologies (formal expertise not required, but curiosity and willingness to learn are important). • Comfort working across technical and non-technical audiences, including marketing, communications, and executive stakeholders. Academic Qualifications • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field preferred.