Project Manager (Manufacturing)

We are hiring a Project Manager to lead AI implementation projects for our manufacturing sector customers. Japan is home to some of the world's most sophisticated manufacturing operations, and Sakana AI's nature-inspired models offer unique capabilities for quality control, predictive maintenance, process optimization, and supply chain intelligence. You will manage the end-to-end delivery of these AI solutions from pilot through production deployment.

In this role, you will coordinate between Sakana AI engineering teams and manufacturing partners to deploy AI systems in live production environments — environments where downtime is measured in millions of yen per hour and safety is paramount. You will manage pilot programs with clear success metrics, organize factory site visits and integration testing sessions, oversee production rollouts with careful change management, and ensure our AI solutions deliver measurable ROI.

Day to day, you will maintain project plans and risk registers, run weekly syncs with customer operational teams, coordinate on-site engineering visits, manage UAT (user acceptance testing) processes, and track KPIs that demonstrate the business value of our AI deployments. You will also build institutional knowledge about manufacturing AI deployments that helps us scale our playbook across customers.

We are looking for someone who understands the manufacturing domain — its terminology, constraints, safety requirements, and operational rhythms — and can bridge the gap between cutting-edge AI technology and practical industrial applications. You should be comfortable on factory floors, skilled at managing expectations with operations-focused stakeholders, and excited about seeing AI make a tangible impact in the physical world.

Requirements:

• 3+ years of project management experience in manufacturing, industrial technology, or operational technology
• Understanding of manufacturing processes, quality systems (ISO 9001), and operational technology environments
• Experience managing technology implementation projects in factory or industrial settings
• Strong stakeholder management skills across both technical AI teams and operational manufacturing teams
• Excellent organizational skills with rigorous documentation and change management practices
• Willingness to travel regularly to customer manufacturing sites in Japan
• Experience with Industry 4.0, IoT, or industrial AI projects is a significant plus