PH - Project Manager

Working at Thinking Machines

Thinking Machines is a technology consultancy building AI & data platforms to solve high impact problems for our clients. Our vision is for Southeast Asia to become a global hub for data science. To do that, we create data cultures one organization at a time.

We’re a company made up of intellectually curious, civic-minded, forever-learning individuals. We believe that great data science products are built with care for people, and that the best way to drive inclusive innovation is to start with a diverse team.

Our field of work is incredibly dynamic, so we want to work with people who are committed to growing with us. We want to hire people who can demonstrate an ability to learn, then provide them with personalized coaching, growth opportunities, and a great working environment to get them to world-class.

Role Description

As a Project Manager, you are key in the successful and timely delivery of our data science projects. As our operations expand, so does the number of projects and their complexity. We deliver strategic projects for some of the largest organizations in Southeast Asia and having a dedicated project manager will allow us to take on more projects while maintaining the level of commitment and quality that our clients have come to expect from us.

You will be the main point of contact for our clients, keeping them informed of relevant milestones, blockers, or changes that a project needs. It’s not good to over or under-inform, so the project manager must be able to cascade the right information to the relevant people at the appropriate time.

You will be in charge of the projects’ schedule, requirements backlog, and to-do lists. Expect to work with both internal and client teams, and sometimes even push back on them, to keep the project on track -- effectively communicating at varying levels of seniority and contexts is a must. You will be expected to systematically break down big, vague requests into smaller, more actionable tasks for our teams. As such, being able to consolidate information from various parties and craft next steps from them will be very important.

Internally, you will be establishing workflows for your project teams depending on various factors like the nature of the project and the working style of your members. You need to quickly identify and improve on things that don’t work, as well as document and codify the things that do as best practices. The Project Manager is expected to create appropriate protocols, remove blockers, and address risks in a timely fashion, so that your team works at maximum efficiency. You must be able to build a strong rapport with your project teams. Making sure the project is delivered successfully through tough times while keeping your team motivated and not burnt out will be one of your most important responsibilities.

Qualifications and competencies

We are looking for someone who has:

• Strong external communication skills - One of your main responsibilities will be to communicate with our client and internal teams. Not all news will be good news, so you need to know how to handle all sorts of situations.
• A burning desire to get things done - You are the number one champion of your project, and you can rally your teammates to complete things on the task board.
• Great adaptability and flexibility - Project plans, no matter how meticulously made, will veer off-course one way or another. You need to change strategies as needed, and not be locked into one way of doing things.
• Ability to deal with ambiguity - You may handle projects that deal with topics you’ve never encountered before. You need to know how to ask the right questions to the right people to make things sensible for you and the team.
• Quick learning ability - We don’t expect you to be an expert on the ins and outs of a data science project, but we do expect you to fill in the gaps quickly. Do the research and ask questions! You'll be part of a very talented team, so make sure to learn something new every day.
• Strong initiative - There are many things to do from all sides! See something you can help with but you haven’t been assigned to? Go ahead and do it!

Ideal candidates have:

• At least 1-2 years of professional work experience
• Been involved in successfully completing at least one project, successfully shipping a product, or any similar experience
• Have experience communicating with stakeholders of varying seniority

Huge bonus points for candidates that are familiar and have experience with:

• Running technology-focused projects or software development
• Product design
• Executing Agile methodologies

Additionally, we are requiring candidates to be flexible and willing to accommodate periodic face-to-face meetings with clients within Metro Manila. While Thinking Machines operates as a fully remote company, certain project phases will require in-person interactions. As the main point of contact in client projects, Project Managers are expected to be the first to attend these on-site meetings.

Benefits and Perks

We offer the following compensation and benefits:

• Competitive salary — the compensation amount is positively correlated with the difficulty of the job, relevant experience, fit, and skill factors.

• Fully remote — due to the global pandemic, we have shifted to a fully remote company for the foreseeable future while we monitor the situation.

• Individual professional development budget— an annual budget for conferences, training courses, books, and software is available to sharpen your skills and build new ones to help you grow in your role.

• Full health benefits — generous health insurance package upon hiring.

• Regular 1:1 meetings with the leadership team to discuss career and personal goals, job progress and any questions and concerns.