Project Manager – AI & Automation leads artificial intelligence projects and process automation initiatives, requires a CS, IT, or Engineering Degree and 4+ years project management experience. Full-time role in Nairobi.
About the role:
You will lead projects for AI and automation – taking
new AI agents from idea to launch, then handing them over to run.
We have 10+ AI projects live or in build across
Telesales, Customer Care and loan issuance: AI voice agents, a WhatsApp chat
agent, IVR self-service, AI quality assurance and AI checks in our Sales App.
Most are built with external vendors.
Project is done when an agent is stable, handed over
and both Operations and QA have accepted it. Then you move on to the next one.
AI and automation is the core of the role. As
business priorities evolve, you will also lead other CXE projects, such as the
rollout of our new customer engagement platform.
This is a process-heavy role. You turn new ideas into
clear steps, standard templates and repeatable cycles that other teams can
follow.
Key
Responsibilities
Project planning and tracking
One plan
per project – milestones, owners, dates, dependencies – rolled into one
portfolio view, updated weekly
Spot
slippage early and escalate with a proposed fix, not just a red flag
Weekly
status to the Head of CXE: TL;DR, red/amber/green per project, decisions needed
Vendor management during build
Run the
weekly vendor rhythm for projects in build: syncs, open issues, next steps,
written follow-ups
Hold
vendors to scope, timelines and quality; keep a record of every commitment
Coordinate
contracts, NDAs and onboarding with Procurement, Legal and IT
Structure
vendor demos and evaluations against clear criteria
Build and initial testing
Work with
the vendor and the operations team on call flows, knowledge base, edge cases
and handover-to-human rules
Own the
API side of each project: test our APIs yourself, document them and share them
with vendors. IT and the Head of CXE support you, but you drive it
Coordinate
other departments on their inputs, e.g. knowledge base content, product rules,
compliance sign-off
Run
internal testing and limited live tests with success criteria, kill criteria
and a decision date
Work side
by side with QA during ramp-up: review calls together, log issues, push vendor
fixes and retest
Launch and handover
Manage
phased rollouts (e.g. 10% to 20% to full volume) and prepare go/no-go decisions
Make sure
agents, team leads and supervisors know what is changing before it goes live
Agree
handover criteria with Operations and QA before launch, not after
Set up a
standard, repeatable cycle for data updates – call lists, knowledge base
changes, reporting – so the agent keeps running on current data after handover
Hand over
with SOPs, training (with L&D), a named operational owner and a baseline
for QA to measure against
Present
the launch readout to management: what was built, AI vs human results in
testing, what’s next
New ideas
Spot what
could be improved or automated next – new agents, new components, new projects
Bring
each idea with a short case: what it replaces, who uses it, how we will know it
worked
What this role is not
Not
running live agents. Once handed over, Operations runs the agent and QA
improves it. You step back in only for major changes or new call types.
Not a
strategy or product vision role. Priorities are set by the Head of CXE. You
make them happen.
Not an
engineering role. Vendors and IT build. You make sure what they build works in
our operation.
How success is measured
% of milestones hit on time, time from kickoff to
launch, number of agents launched and handed over, issues found after handover
(fewer is better), and feedback from Operations and QA leads.
Requirements
4+ years
in project management, with at least 2 years delivering technology projects
with external vendors
Working
understanding of APIs. You can test API and compare and document its answer.
Process-minded.
You naturally turn messy work into clear steps, templates and standard cycles
A track
record of shipping. Be ready to walk us through 2 projects you took from
kickoff to live – what went wrong and what you did about it
Relentless,
structured follow-up. Comfortable chasing vendors and senior colleagues without
damaging the relationship
Curious
and creative. You bring ideas, not just execute tasks
Clear,
short written updates
Comfortable
with data: Excel, reading dashboards, basic analysis
Strong plus
Contact
center or BPO operations experience – you know how a queue works and what AHT,
containment and handover mean
Sales or
Customer Journey mapping experience
Experience
with conversational AI, voicebots, chatbots or IVR
Contact
center platforms (Webitel, Genesys, Five9 or similar)
Customer
engagement or marketing automation platforms (MoEngage, CleverTap, Braze or
similar)
Fintech,
lending or financial services in Kenya or East Africa
Experience
setting up a project tracking tool (Jira, Asana, Monday or similar)
