Volunteer Project Manager

Vexnovate Ventures is seeking a proactive and highly organized Volunteer Project Manager to lead our engineering team in developing Blue Sentinel. This innovative platform aims to transform marine intelligence, satellite/environmental data, and ecosystem protection.

In this crucial volunteer role, you will be instrumental in coordinating the initial development phase. Your responsibilities will include building a structured sprint roadmap for our target launch, fostering team accountability, conducting targeted research, providing strategic operational insights, and serving as the main point of contact before issues are escalated to the CTO. As a lean startup, you will also have opportunities to contribute to shaping project management frameworks across our other sustainable and climate-tech initiatives as we scale.

We are looking for a project manager who can provide direction, structure, and clarity to complex initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

Your main duties will include:

• Engineering Team Leadership & Coordination: Manage and guide the volunteer engineering team, acting as their primary point of contact and direct lead for technical and structural blockers before escalation to the CTO.
• Sprint Planning & Product Launch (Target: October): Design, organize, and execute a structured sprint plan using ClickUp to ensure the successful launch of Blue Sentinel V1 by the target date.
• Standups & Operations: Facilitate regular standup meetings, manage daily asynchronous check-ins, track task completion, and proactively address day-to-day team blockers.
• Developer Accountability: Establish clear deliverables, hold developers accountable for deadlines, ensure active participation, and maintain high standards of delivery.
• Research & Insight Generation: Conduct operational research to clarify project scope, refine feature requirements, and provide actionable insights for decision-making.
• Project Tracking & Communication: Develop, update, and share project timelines, milestones, dependencies, and status reports. Own and manage projects throughout their entire lifecycle.
• Process & Communication Management: Maintain smooth team operations, organize technical documentation, enforce clear communication schedules, and manage team workflows via Slack and ClickUp.

Qualifications

To succeed in this role, you should possess:

• Experience: Minimum of 2 years of experience in project management, technical program management, or Scrum Master roles, preferably in a tech or software engineering environment.
• Demonstrated ability to manage sprint planning, backlog grooming, and agile execution with a focus on meeting launch deadlines.
• Proficiency in task prioritization, time management, and independent work.
• Excellent interpersonal, conflict-resolution, and leadership skills, with a firm, accountable, yet empathetic management style.
• Ability to translate requirements between technical engineers and leadership, managing developer inquiries and filtering concerns before escalation.
• Strong hands-on experience with project management tools (e.g., Jira, Trello, Asana) and team communication platforms (e.g., Slack).
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to conduct independent research and extract business or technical insights.
• Availability: Prompt communication is essential. Responses to messages must be provided within 48 hours (2 days) at most. Extended periods offline (over 5 days) without prior notice are not permitted.
• Autonomy: Ability to work independently in a fully remote environment without micromanagement.

Benefits & Recognition

As a volunteer with Vexnovate Ventures, you will receive:

• 100% Remote & Asynchronous: Work from anywhere globally with flexible hours.
• High Impact: Contribute directly to building and launching a platform that protects critical marine and coastal ecosystems.
• Networking Opportunities: Collaborate closely with engineering and environmental domain experts at Vexnovate Ventures.
• Performance Recognition: Opportunities for recognition including LinkedIn/Upwork recommendations, a formal certificate of completion, a company email address for professional references, and a feature on the company's website.
• Potential for Future Engagement: This is a volunteer position. Future engagement, if offered and based on performance, would be compensated solely through equity.