Program Manager, Foundational AI @Unknown

Reporting to: Programs Lead
Location: Africa, remote, with continental and global travel as required
Contract Type: Full time
Compensation: USD 62,400 per annum / USD 5,200 per month (inclusive of applicable
taxes, and subject to statutory deductions)
Benefits: Remote working set-up support
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and we encourage early submissions

About Masakhane
Masakhane is a pan-African initiative aimed at tackling the under-representation of African
languages in natural language processing (NLP) and AI. Our mission is to bring together
researchers, technologists, linguists, and community members from across the continent to
collaborate on AI that is inclusive and representative of Africa’s linguistic diversity. By working
collectively, we are democratizing access to cutting-edge AI research and contributing to the
global growth of African NLP.

About Masakhane African Languages Hub
The Masakhane African Languages Hub (“the Hub”) is a new initiative to address the critical
underrepresentation and misrepresentation of African languages in artificial intelligence (AI).

Anchored by the Masakhane Research Foundation (MRF), the Hub will develop community-
centered open-source datasets, models, and use cases to catalyze innovation in sectors such as

healthcare, education, and agriculture. With a vision to unlock AI’s benefits for over 1 billion
Africans, the Hub fosters community-driven approaches and long-term, sustainable partnerships
across the African NLP ecosystem.
Our goal is to empower one billion Africans by 2029 with locally relevant AI tools and resources,
unlocking opportunities for economic development, local innovation, and the preservation of
Africa’s linguistic heritage.
Position Overview
The Program Manager – Foundational AI leads the delivery and strategic alignment of a portfolio
of foundational AI investments, including datasets, speech technologies, benchmarking, model

development, and related AI research infrastructure. The role ensures that these investments are
technically sound, well coordinated, and aligned with the Hub’s broader strategic objectives.

Operating at the intersection of programme management and technical delivery, the role
provides strategic oversight of assigned sub-awards and builds strong partnerships with technical
awardees and research teams. It facilitates cohort-based approaches to delivery and ensures
projects produce scientifically rigorous, high-quality outputs that advance the Hub’s broader
mission of strengthening African language AI.
While the role is not intended for a primary NLP researcher, the successful candidate must have
sufficient technical fluency to understand, assess, challenge, and guide a highly technical
research portfolio.

Key Responsibilities

1. Portfolio Leadership and Technical Alignment
   ● Lead a portfolio of foundational AI investments, taking full ownership of project delivery
   against agreed objectives, milestones, technical quality standards, and budgets.
   ● Maintain 360-degree visibility over portfolio performance (both technical and
   operational), proactively identifying opportunities, mitigating risks, and driving strategic
   alignment.
   ● Monitor and audit technical development across datasets, benchmarking, and model
   training to ensure compliance with the Hub’s baseline technical standards.
2. Awardee Partnership and Technical Support
   ● Serve as the primary technical and programmatic liaison for assigned sub-awardees,
   cultivating trusted partnerships with research and data science teams to guide projects
   through the entire lifecycle.
   ● Proactively evaluate project health and unblock technical bottlenecks in critical areas
   including data annotation, model training, and evaluation through active collaboration
   with domain experts.

● Coordinate and deploy targeted technical assistance, empowering partners to overcome
implementation barriers and consistently deliver high-performance, high-quality AI
outputs.

3. Cohort Management and Quality Assurance
   ● Pioneer cohort-based management frameworks across data collection and foundational
   AI initiatives, driving peer learning, cross-project problem-solving, and collaborative
   technical delivery.
   ● Architect and continuously refine standardized tools, templates, and quality assurance
   frameworks to ensure seamless interoperability, absolute consistency, and rigorous
   scientific standards across the portfolio.
4. Portfolio Delivery and Risk Management
   ● Audit implementation progress and rigorously verify technical milestones, proactively
   mitigating portfolio risks and orchestrating rapid interventions to overcome emerging
   challenges.
   ● Drive cross-functional collaboration with awardees, consultants, and internal teams to
   resolve complex operational and technical dependencies such as compute bottlenecks
   and data validation hurdles ensuring uninterrupted project velocity.
5. Stakeholder Engagement and Communications
   ● Build and maintain effective relationships with awardees, academic researchers, AI
   engineers researchers, consultants, funders, and ecosystem partners.
   ● Prepare high-quality portfolio reports, presentations, and briefings that communicate
   progress, challenges, lessons learned, and emerging opportunities.
6. Learning and Continuous Improvement
   ● Partner closely with the MEL & Learning Officer to synthesize evidence, capture
   actionable lessons learned, and drive portfolio-wide adaptive management and strategic
   iteration.
   ● Cultivate a vibrant knowledge-sharing ecosystem across the cohort, championing peer
   collaboration, resource exchange, and continuous technical improvement among
   awardees.
7. Strategic and Portfolio Evolution

● Steer the strategic evolution of the Hub’s foundational AI roadmap, injecting deep
technical and programmatic insights to shape long-term research directions and
investment priorities.
● Champion the Hub’s mission as a key representative and thought leader at international
workshops, conferences, and high-level engagements, driving global advocacy for African
language AI and foundational technologies.
Requirements
Fluency in English, as well as one or more African Languages would be considered a strong asset.
Academic Qualifications:
● Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Computational
Linguistics, Information Systems, or a related technical/scientific field,
● Master’s Degree (M.Sc.) in any of the fields mentioned above is preferred
Key Competencies
● Proven ability to manage a diverse portfolio of projects, balancing strategic priorities,
operational delivery, risks, budgets, and stakeholder expectations.
● Proven Ability to build trusted relationships with awardees, researchers, consultants,
funders, and ecosystem partners while working collaboratively across cultures and
disciplines.
● Strong organisational skills with the ability to coordinate multiple concurrent projects,
manage competing priorities, and ensure high-quality implementation.
● Ability to quickly understand AI, NLP, and digital innovation concepts and work
effectively with technical experts, even without being the primary technical specialist.
● Ability to facilitate peer learning, coordinate collaborative approaches, and build
communities of practice across multiple awardees and projects.
● Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to prepare reports,
facilitate meetings, and communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical
audiences.
● Ability to identify implementation challenges early, analyse options, exercise sound
judgement, and recommend practical solutions.
● Ability to work effectively across programmes and functions, collaborating closely with
Finance, Grants, Partnerships & Community, Research, and MEL colleagues.

Values & Mindset
● Deeply aligned with Masakhane’s mission to advance African languages and inclusion in
AI.
● A strategic and systems-minded thinker who translates vision into effective operations.
● Highly organized, proactive, and self-directed, thriving in remote and distributed
environments.
● Transparent, accountable, and process-oriented, with a commitment to excellence and
integrity.
● Collaborative and culturally attuned, able to work effectively across diverse African
contexts.
Why Join Us
● Play a central leadership role in operationalizing one of Africa’s most visible AI research
initiatives.
● Shape the administrative foundations of a growing pan-African research entity.
● Work alongside leading researchers and technologists across the continent.
● Contribute to high-impact work that advances linguistic equity and inclusive AI.
● Grow with an organization entering its next phase of institutional maturity.

Reporting Line
This position reports to the Programs Lead at the Masakhane African Languages Hub.

Application Process
Please submit your CV and a brief cover letter outlining your experience in research
administration or program management, and how you would contribute to strengthening
Masakhane’s operational systems.
Applications should be submitted via the following link