Founding Managing Director / Program COO

Overview

This opportunity is for a founding Managing Director / Program COO to lead a national-scale education transformation effort in Qatar. The assignment centers on building an AI-enabled EdTech ecosystem that can move from early concept to pilot delivery and, eventually, broad implementation. The work combines curriculum modernization, certification alignment, teacher enablement, and a unified learning platform powered by AI.

The role is being developed for a multinational business with operations across Central America and other markets, in collaboration with ministry-level stakeholders, global curriculum and certification partners, and a founding advisory group made up of education and technology specialists.

Compensation: USD 12,000 to 15,000, plus benefits and bonus.

Mandatory background

This position is restricted to professionals who come from EdTech and have demonstrable experience applying AI in learning or education platforms.

Role summary

The selected leader will convert a strategic vision into a practical operating system that can be executed at scale. This includes coordinating technology, curriculum, partnerships, governance, institutional readiness, and teacher enablement. The position is hands-on and builder-led, not a conventional program management assignment.

As the central execution lead, the Managing Director / Program COO will anchor delivery across systems, stakeholders, and implementation partners.

Key coordination areas

• Chief AI / systems architect
• Curriculum and certification partners
• Technology and platform vendors
• Teacher enablement teams
• Government, ministry, and institutional stakeholders
• Pilot schools and deployment teams

Primary responsibilities

• Design the full implementation architecture from strategy through deployment.
• Bring together ecosystem partners and keep delivery streams aligned.
• Set up and operationalize the Teacher Intelligence Lab.
• Plan and run pilot rollouts with clear execution discipline.
• Coordinate platform, technology, and infrastructure work across vendors and internal teams.
• Prepare the organization and stakeholders for ministry and institutional readiness.
• Build the operating model, team structure, and hiring roadmap from the ground up.
• Establish governance routines, reporting systems, and execution controls.

Ideal profile

The preferred candidate is a technology-oriented education transformation leader with deep implementation strength. A strong academic pedigree from institutes such as IIT, IIM, IISc, NIT, or an equivalent institution is preferred.

The background should include 12 to 20+ years of experience across one or more of the following areas: EdTech or digital learning platforms, AI-enabled education systems, enterprise learning or corporate academies, and large-scale digital transformation programs. Exposure to major global technology or consulting environments such as Microsoft, Google, IBM, Accenture, TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Samsung, or similar is also desired.

Experience should show the ability to lead complex, multi-stream programs at scale, along with familiarity with K–12 systems or teacher enablement platforms.

Core capabilities

• Practical understanding of AI use cases in education and learning workflows.
• Ability to turn strategic direction into execution-ready systems.
• Experience creating operating models from scratch.
• Strong stakeholder handling across government, enterprise, and institutional groups.
• Exposure to disciplined program delivery methods such as PMP or SAFe.
• Comfort working in ambiguity and early-stage environments.
• Ability to use AI fluently in everyday work.

Leadership traits

• Structured and highly execution-focused approach.
• Strong systems thinking.
• Composed under pressure.
• Clear communication with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Entrepreneurial mindset.
• Comfort with building while simultaneously operating.
• Potential to progress into a Group COO role over time.

Not suitable for

• Professionals with only academic experience and no delivery track record.
• Researchers focused on AI theory without implementation exposure.
• Traditional school administrators without strong technology depth.
• Junior program or project managers.
• Consultants whose work is limited to documentation rather than execution.
• Operators of established systems who have not built from zero before.

First 90-day outcomes

• A complete implementation roadmap.
• A partner dependency and integration matrix.
• A working model for the Teacher Intelligence Lab.
• A pilot deployment blueprint.
• An initial organization structure and hiring plan.
• A coordination plan for technology and infrastructure.
• A ministry-ready execution presentation.
• A budget and resource plan for the pilot phase.
• A governance and reporting framework.
• A risk log with mitigation actions.

Additional notes

This is a founding role with substantial ownership over how the program is built and run. The environment is early-stage, multi-stakeholder, and highly ambitious, requiring a leader who can create structure, drive delivery, and sustain momentum across a national transformation agenda.