Project Manager

A2 Innovation Lab; On; On-site; EUR 6,900 - 10,000; Full time

Job summary

NAAMII is seeking a Project Manager to lead end-to-end planning, coordination, and reporting for the UDAAN project funded by the European Union. You will oversee AI curriculum, partnerships, onboarding, cohort rollout, and platform readiness, ensuring alignment with grants and timelines.

You will coordinate with consortium partners and internal teams to ensure high-quality delivery, effective stakeholder engagement, and timely progress reporting across the project lifecycle across four years.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in management, education, development studies, information technology, or related field.
• ≥4 years of experience in project or program management, preferably in digital skilling, innovation, or technology projects.
• Demonstrated ability to manage cross-functional timelines, multiple stakeholders, and implementation reporting.
• Strong written communication skills for formal documentation, progress reporting, and stakeholder coordination.
• Experience using structured planning and tracking tools for workplans, action logs, and reporting.
• Ability to work across both operational detail and higher-level coordination.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end program planning and delivery tracking across streams.
• Maintain integrated workplans and translate targets into monthly/quarterly plans.
• Coordinate with trainers, staff, and partners for timely delivery.
• Run weekly implementation meetings and manage risk logs.
• Ensure compliance with donor requirements and grant timelines.
• Oversee documentation, reporting, and knowledge management.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder coordination

Written communication

Attention to detail

Problem solving

Planning & organizing

Education

Bachelor’s degree in management, education, development studies, information technology, or related field

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

Planning & tracking tools

Job description

• Financial & Administrative Coordination

Application Deadline: October 10, 2026

Role

Position: Project Manager

Duty Station: Kupondole, Lalitpur, Nepal, with travel as required

Employment Type: Full-Time, fixed-term, project-based role

Reports to: Project Lead, with a matrix reporting relationship to the Executive Director

Position Summary

The Project Manager will lead end-to-end program planning, coordination, delivery tracking, and reporting for the UDAAN project supported by the European Union through Youth Innovation Lab.

The role oversees program delivery across AI curriculum design, partnerships, student onboarding, cohort rollout, platform readiness, and communications, ensuring alignment with approved targets, timelines, and grant requirements.

Working closely with consortium partners and internal teams, the Project Manager will ensure high-quality implementation, effective stakeholder coordination, compliance with donor expectations, and timely progress reporting throughout the project lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities

• Program Planning & Workplan Management
• Own and maintain the integrated project workplan across curriculum development, hiring, partnerships, platform setup, training delivery, reporting, and communications.
• Translate approved annual targets into detailed monthly and quarterly implementation plans, including cohort forecasts, delivery calendars, and resource requirements.
• Define milestones, dependencies, and delivery sequencing across AI Native, AI Foundation, and AI Deep Learning streams.
• Ensure alignment of all implementation activities with the approved grant scope, timelines, and annual workplans.
• Implementation Coordination & Delivery Oversight
• Lead day-to-day coordination of all project components to ensure timely and high-quality delivery across partners and teams.
• Convene and run weekly implementation meetings, cross-functional reviews, and delivery check-ins.
• Maintain risk, issue, and decision logs, and proactively elevate delivery constraints when needed.
• Monitor progress against Year 1–Year 4 targets for cohorts, learners trained, and delivery outputs.
• Team Coordination & Resource Management
• Coordinate onboarding, deployment, and performance management of trainers, community-facing staff, curriculum contributors, and platform support roles.
• Ensure role clarity, reporting lines, and coordination mechanisms across the delivery team.
• Support workforce planning and sequencing to match delivery phases and cohort timelines.
• Stakeholder & Consortium Coordination
• Act as the primary coordination focal point between NAAMII, Young Innovations, consortium partners, and relevant EU stakeholders on implementation matters.
• Ensure timely sharing of implementation updates, action trackers, and follow-ups with external stakeholders.
• Support alignment between partner roles, responsibilities, and delivery expectations.
• Documentation, Reporting & Knowledge Management
• Ensure comprehensive project documentation is maintained, including SOPs, TORs/JDs, meeting notes, trackers, and implementation records.
• Prepare and consolidate weekly, monthly, and periodic progress updates for management and donor reporting.
• Maintain accurate partner, cohort, and delivery records to support audits, learning reviews, and reporting needs.
• Financial & Administrative Coordination
• Support payment approval workflows and ensure required documentation for consultants, trainers, and implementation costs is complete and compliant with internal controls.
• Coordinate with finance and procurement teams to ensure timely processing aligned with workplans and budgets.
• Platform & Delivery Readiness
• Oversee readiness for both offline and course-platform-supported delivery models, ensuring technical, logistical, and facilitator preparedness.
• Lead contingency planning for delivery shifts, disruptions, or implementation risks.
• Ensure smooth handoffs between curriculum design, platform mapping, and training delivery phases.
• Quality, Inclusion & Compliance
• Ensure that inclusion, ethical AI principles, data protection, and learner safeguarding considerations are embedded in delivery processes.
• Monitor delivery quality and consistency across cohorts and partners, and initiate corrective actions when required.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in management, education, development studies, information technology, or a related field; master's degree preferred.
• At least 4 years of experience in project or program management, preferably in digital skilling, innovation, or technology projects.
• Demonstrated ability to manage cross-functional timelines, multiple stakeholders, and implementation reporting.
• Strong written communication skills for formal documentation, progress reporting, and stakeholder coordination.
• Experience using structured planning and tracking tools for workplans, action logs, and reporting.
• Ability to work across both operational detail and higher-level coordination.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with partners and external stakeholders.
• Experience in digital learning, workforce development, or AI literacy initiatives.
• Familiarity with Nepal's higher education or training ecosystem.

Competencies

• Planning and execution
• Stakeholder management
• Structured communication
• Problem solving and escalation management
• Attention to detail
• Ownership and follow-through

About The Organization

NAAMII is a profit-not-distributing AI Center of Excellence founded by Nepali researchers with a broader vision: to build a self-sustaining AI ecosystem from Nepal that can generate world-class knowledge, prepare people for a rapidly changing future, and translate AI into meaningful social and economic impact.

NAAMII Builds This Ecosystem Through Three Connected Pillars

Knowledge Generation: Advancing frontier AI research and working on high-impact problems across areas including computer vision, natural language processing, healthcare, computational genomics, climate systems, agriculture and food systems, and the social dimensions of AI.

Knowledge Dissemination: Making rapidly evolving AI knowledge understandable and useful across education, government, industry and society through initiatives including the Annual Nepal AI School and other AI education and outreach programs.

Translation and Innovation: Turning research and talent into real-world value through industry R&D, startup building and incubation, while contributing evidence and expertise to wider conversations on responsible AI, policy and governance.

About The Project

The UDAAN (Unleashing Digital Acceleration and Ambition of Nepali Youth) project, led by Youth Innovation Lab together with Heifer Project Nepal, NAAMII, and Women In Animation and supported by the European Union, is a nationwide initiative aimed at empowering young women and men across Nepal with the skills, opportunities, and resources needed to thrive in the digital economy.

Implemented over four years, the project focuses on advancing digital literacy, fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, and creating pathways to employment through training programs in AI, coding, and creative technologies, as well as internships, fellowships, and innovation hubs in partnership with local governments, academic institutions, and the private sector.

With a strong commitment to gender equality and social inclusion, UDAAN prioritizes marginalized and underrepresented youth, contributing to a more inclusive, resilient, and future-ready workforce in Nepal.

The Action Is Implemented Through Four Interconnected Components

PATHSHALA — Digital Skills Development: Builds future-ready digital skills through AI, Coding, and Animation schools. Using tiered, hybrid learning, it prepares young Nepali women and men for jobs, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the digital economy.

KARYASHALA — Innovation and Experimentation: Transforms youth skills into real-world digital solutions through hackathons and bootcamps. It nurtures innovation with mentorship and incubation, turning ideas into scalable impact.

KARMASHALA — Employment and Career Pathways: Connects young Nepali youth to real-world work experience through internships and fellowships. It bridges skills to careers by placing youth in government and private sector roles, building employability and professional confidence.

NITISHALA — Policy and System Strengthening: Strengthens youth participation in digital governance through policy dialogues, innovation hubs, and civic engagement. It connects youth, communities, and local governments to institutionalize inclusive and sustainable digital transformation.