Senior Technical Project Manager — Client Delivery (Contract, US-based)

Cognativ is an AI-first software development and architecture consultancy serving SMEs in healthcare, fintech, manufacturing, and logistics. Small firm, senior team, founder-led. You'll work directly with the founder/architect — he owns the client relationships and the technical design; you own execution. The role starts at full speed. You'll step into two active client engagements that are building momentum toward delivery. This is a hands-on start — your first 30 days are spent driving execution and carrying that momentum through to launch, working directly with the founder. There is no extended onboarding or discovery period; we're looking for someone whose strength is taking ownership of in-flight work quickly and delivering from week one. What you'll do: Listen — to clients and to our engineering team — and turn what you hear into organized, sequenced, owned tasks Ensure requirements are actually understood on both sides before work starts, not discovered broken at delivery Drive execution daily: chase action items, surface blockers, hold engineers accountable to their own estimates Own operational client communication: status updates, meeting notes, follow-ups. Calm, clear, and constant Make decisions within your scope — fast — communicate them immediately, and own the outcome With remaining capacity, drive internal business projects (marketing initiatives, operations improvements) What you won't do: Write code or make architecture/design decisions — that's the founder Own the client relationship commercially — clients are already directly connected to the founder Wait for permission Who you are: Senior PM from a dev shop, agency, or consulting environment — you've spent years around software teams, you understand how systems get built, and engineers can't snow you (no coding required) You've inherited troubled projects mid-stream and landed them Writing is a strength: your status emails get read and your task breakdowns get followed US-based, US business hours, fluent client-facing English, comfortable on camera How we operate: We run on RAPID, our decision-making methodology. You'll be expected to make calls within your scope, communicate them immediately, and own the results. Waiting to be told is the one way to fail here. Engagement: ~25–30 hrs/week to start, contract via Upwork, immediate start. Structured ramp: weeks 1–4 paired with the founder and current delivery lead on both accounts; expanding ownership as trust is earned. Strong possibility of long-term fractional engagement for the right person. To apply, answer the four questions below. Applications without answers will not be reviewed.