Program Manager — Client Delivery & Account Development (Contract) (berkeley)

Description

Summary: Seeking an experienced independent consultant to own client delivery of AI programs, translate complex challenges, and build scalable delivery systems for a Berkeley-based applied AI company. Highlights: 1. Own client delivery and build scalable delivery systems for applied AI programs. 2. Translate brand challenges into AI programs and coordinate technical teams. 3. Focus on high ownership, structured thinking, and commercial awareness. We are a Berkeley-based applied AI company working at the intersection of behavioral science and generative AI. Our platforms help some of the world's largest consumer brands understand what actually drives purchase decisions and design products, messaging, and pricing around it. Our clients are global CPG, beauty, food & beverage, and retail companies. We are a small, senior team. Company name and details shared with candidates who advance to first conversation. ENGAGEMENT SUMMARY This is a contract engagement, not a staffing placement. We are bringing on an experienced independent consultant to own client delivery on live engagements and, in parallel, build the delivery system we run on after the contract ends. You will take ambiguous brand challenges, scope them into deliverable AI programs, coordinate scientists and engineers to execute, and make sure the work lands with senior client stakeholders. You will also leave behind playbooks, templates, and process documentation that outlast your engagement. We are hiring for judgment and ownership, not hours. ENGAGEMENT TERMS • Initial term: [3 / 6] months, with extension by mutual agreement • Structure: 1099 independent contractor or through your own entity • Location: Remote with some onsite • Travel: None • Rate: hourly or monthly retainer — tell us which you prefer and why • Possible conversion to a permanent role if it is a fit on both sides, but this engagement is scoped and paid to stand on its own • You carry your own taxes, insurance, and equipment WHAT YOU'LL OWN • Live client engagements end to end — kickoff through delivery, readout, and renewal • Turning vague brand briefs into structured, scoped, deliverable programs • Translation between commercial stakeholders (CMOs, insights leads, innovation teams) and technical teams (AI engineers, research scientists, linguists, data scientists) • Project plans, timelines, and deliverable specs that survive contact with real clients • Client communication: status, expectations, scope changes, and difficult conversations • Preparing and helping present findings and recommendations to senior brand stakeholders • Identifying expansion opportunities inside existing accounts and moving them forward • Input on proposals, SOWs, and pricing structures for new and repeat work WHAT YOU'LL LEAVE BEHIND These are engagement deliverables, not nice-to-haves. We will scope them explicitly in the SOW. • A documented delivery playbook — how an engagement runs from signature to readout • Reusable scoping, SOW, and deliverable templates • QA standards for client-facing output • Structured engagement data and tracking that survives your handoff • A written handoff that lets the next person run this without you WHAT THIS ENGAGEMENT IS • Client ownership and trust building • Structured problem solving under ambiguity • Commercial and technical translation • Cross-functional program coordination • Process and system building in a young company • End-to-end ownership of live, revenue-generating work WHAT THIS ENGAGEMENT IS NOT • Cold calling or quota-driven outbound sales • Ticket-shuffling or status-meeting administration • A staff-augmentation seat taking direction task by task • A strategy deck with no delivery attached • Writing prompts all day • Passing work along without ownership WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE • Engagements ship on time, with fewer surprises and less rework • Clients renew, expand, and refer • Scientists and engineers spend more time on science and less on scope confusion • Findings land with senior stakeholders and drive client decisions • Delivery is repeatable rather than heroic — documented, not in your head • We are measurably better at this after you leave than before you arrived WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR Any of the following backgrounds map well: • Independent consultant with a delivery or engagement-management track record • Program / engagement manager from an AI, data, or analytics company • Client-facing PM from a consultancy, insights firm, or market research agency • Fractional delivery or ops lead who has built process at early-stage companies • Account or delivery lead from a CPG-serving vendor (insights, innovation, sensory, packaging) • Technical account manager or solutions consultant • Brand-side innovation or consumer insights leader now consulting independently CORE TRAITS (NON-NEGOTIABLE) • High ownership — finishes what they start • Structured thinker — creates clarity from ambiguity • Proactive — does not wait for perfect inputs or perfect briefs • Credible in front of senior clients — composed, prepared, direct • Detail-oriented without losing pace • Strong written and verbal communicator • Calm under pressure and honest about risk early • Commercially aware — understands value, scope, and margin • Systems-minded — thinks in workflows, data, and repeatability • Documents as they go, because the handoff is part of the job AI CAPABILITY (REQUIRED MINDSET) • Understands what GenAI can and cannot promise a client • Comfortable with structured data and how clean inputs enable scale • Curious about applied behavioral science, consumer behavior, and sensory science • Uses AI tools daily to do their own work better • You do not need to code. You do need to understand what you are selling and shipping. TOOLS & ENVIRONMENT • Project and delivery tracking tools • Client-facing decks, readouts, and written recommendations • Proprietary internal AI platforms • Cross-functional work across AI engineering, research science, linguistics, and design • Engagements with global brands, often multi-phase and multi-stakeholder THIS WON'T WORK IF YOU • Need fully defined instructions before acting • Are uncomfortable owning a client relationship, including the hard conversations • Are juggling so many clients that we cannot get responsiveness during our hours • Optimize for billable activity over delivered outcomes • Want to advise rather than execute • Are uncomfortable with data, systems, or process improvement • Resist change, new tools, or a category that is still being invented WHY THIS ENGAGEMENT MATTERS We are a small team doing genuinely novel work for very large brands. The science is the hard part we have already solved. The leverage now comes from delivering it cleanly, repeatedly, and in a way that makes clients want more. Done well, this engagement raises retention and deal size, protects the team's focus, and leaves us with a delivery engine we can scale on. HOW TO APPLY Send: Your background — resume, LinkedIn, or consulting site Your rate and preferred structure (hourly vs. monthly retainer) Your availability — start date and hours per week A short response, max 200 words: describe a time a client gave you an unclear or unrealistic ask and you had to turn it into something scoped and deliverable. What did you change, and what did you tell the client? Applications missing the written response will not be reviewed. FINAL STATEMENT We are not looking for a pair of hands to fit into an existing process. We are hiring someone to own live client work, ship it well, and build the system that lets us do it ten times over.