Senior Project Manager

Introducing Zinc Network. For over fifteen years, Zinc Network has been helping governments and businesses navigate the world's most complex challenges using communications, technology, and behavioural science. We work on some of the toughest briefs: protecting children online, strengthening democratic resilience, and championing purpose-driven technologies and organisations. Working in partnership with a global network of media outlets, communities, and influencers, we help clients understand complex issues, design and deliver behavioural interventions, create compelling campaigns, activate trusted grassroots networks, and evaluate impact. We're now building Kora - our AI-powered platform that systematises this expertise into scalable technology, enabling clients to work faster, more impactfully, and more cost-effectively. We're looking for people who want to operate at the intersection of geopolitics, security, and technological disruption, and who are committed to building a safer, more secure world.

Role Purpose

The Senior Project Manager provides project leadership and coordination for Zinc projects. The post-holder is responsible for managing day-to-day delivery across workstreams, maintaining delivery discipline, tracking timelines, budgets, risks, deliverables, compliance, and reporting, and coordinating across internal teams, partners, and clients to ensure activities are delivered to a high standard, on time, and within budget. The Senior Project Manager represents Zinc professionally in client meetings and partner engagements, contributes credible technical and delivery insight, and escalates strategic, contractual, commercial, or high-stakes issues to the Project Director or designated programme lead with clear recommendations.

Core Responsibilities

• Project Delivery and Quality Assurance: Manage and coordinate the day-to-day delivery of project activities, translating strategic and client requirements into practical workplans, activity trackers, and deliverable schedules, and ensuring alignment with programme strategy, deadlines, budget, and quality standards. Oversee project timelines, milestones, budgets, and deliverables, tracking progress and ensuring internal, client, and donor requirements are met. Lead regular client and donor reporting, including quarterly and annual reports, collating evidence of results, risks, adaptation, and learning for internal reviews and client-facing updates, in coordination with MEL and other teams. Maintain project documentation and compliance records, including deliverables, decision logs, risk trackers, partner records, approvals, and evidence of progress, ensuring lessons learned are properly captured. Support quality assurance of client-facing reports, deliverables, and communications before senior review and sign-off, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and delivery quality.
• Client, Partner and Stakeholder Leadership: Manage day-to-day client, partner, and stakeholder engagement, ensuring clarity on responsibilities, expectations, deadlines, deliverables, and follow-up actions. Act as a key point of contact for project logistics and coordination with partners and internal teams. Represent Zinc professionally in client meetings and partner engagements, building trusted operational relationships and escalating strategic or high-risk matters to the Project Director. Prepare briefs, meeting notes, and follow-up materials for client, partner, and high-level stakeholder engagements. Ensure external engagement reflects Zinc Network's values and sustains client and partner confidence through disciplined delivery, responsive coordination, and professional representation, reinforcing Zinc's reputation for quality, integrity, and responsible delivery.
• Commercial, Contractual and Risk Management: Track project budgets and financial information in coordination with the Project Director, finance, and operations colleagues, helping ensure activities remain within agreed budgets. Support operations team members in procurement, contracting partner logistics, travel arrangements, and other operational processes in line with Zinc and donor requirements. Identify safeguarding, security, or reputational risks early and propose practical mitigations, integrating them into project risk management processes. Understand the commercial and contractual requirements governing each project, including scope, deliverables, invoicing, procurement, and wider compliance. Escalate material budget, compliance, procurement, partner-performance, or delivery issues to the Project Director with clear evidence and recommended next steps.
• People Leadership and Team Integration: Coordinate the day-to-day work of multidisciplinary project teams and external partners, ensuring colleagues understand priorities, responsibilities, deadlines, and dependencies. Enable effective collaboration between researchers, analysts, strategists, creatives, MEL specialists, operations staff, technical specialists, and region.