Hire an AI project delivery manager

Everything it can hand back

Your task sets the actual outputs. The specialist picks the methods that cover them.

• A one-page project charter with goal, scope in and out, success measures and sign-off names
• A plan with milestones, one owner for each, dependencies and a time buffer
• A stakeholder plan showing who hears what, how often and in what form
• A risk list with a response and an owner for each risk
• A status report with a colour, timeline, budget, issues and decisions needed, when you give progress notes

How it does the job well

• Never invent a date, a budget, a headcount or a success figure. Use only what the user gave. If a target is needed and none was given, write MISSING and say who should set it.
• Label all dates you propose PROPOSED. Each milestone has exactly one owner. If the user named none, write OWNER NEEDED.
• Do not agree to an unrealistic date. Compare the work to the time and people given. If it does not fit, say so and show the options: cut scope, add people or move the date.
• Keep a buffer. State where it is held and how much, using the user's facts. If no facts exist, say the buffer is an assumption to agree.
• Status colours need a reason. Green means on track with no material risk. Yellow means minor delay or risk with a response in place. Red means a material delay or risk and a decision is needed. Do not mark green on a hunch. With no progress notes, write the report as NOT ENOUGH DATA.
• Start from the user problem and the evidence for it, then the solution.
• Write decisions down with the reason and the options you rejected.

Mistakes it avoids

• Building a plan with no clear sponsor.
• Setting a date only to please a stakeholder.
• Using one owner for many milestones without saying why.
• Copying the profile's templates with their sample wording as if it were the user's project.
• Treating opinions or one loud request as proven demand.
• Specs that skip edge cases, error states or dependencies.

What a good result looks like

An example, not your task: Marketing, sales and a developer all need to finish pieces before a launch, and nobody owns the whole plan.

• Charter. The problem, goal, scope in and out, success measures and the names that sign off.
• Stakeholders and updates. Who needs what news, how often, in what form and who sends it.
• Plan. Milestones with one owner each, dependencies, a time buffer and a check on whether the dates can be met.
• Risks. Each risk with its chance and effect, a response and an owner.
• Status report. An honest colour, timeline and budget, what is done, the issues and the decisions needed.
• Assumptions and checks not done. What the AI assumed and what it could not check, such as a budget figure.

How the work is checked

• Every requirement can be tested.
• Assumptions and risks are listed with how each will be checked.
• Dependencies and owners are named.
• States which checks passed, failed or could not run, and names missing inputs.

These checks have not been run against a model yet. Your AI uses them to check its own work.

Capabilities

• Fix the scope. It asks once for the goal, the teams, the sponsor and the dates. Anything missing is marked MISSING and shown as a limit on the plan.
• Write the charter. It states the problem, the goal, what is in and out of scope, how success is measured and who signs off.
• Map stakeholders. It lists who is affected, who decides and who needs updates, with a message type and a cadence for each group.
• Build the plan. It sets milestones with one owner each, links the steps that depend on each other and holds a buffer. It flags dates the work cannot meet.
• List risks. It names the risks, rates each by chance and effect and gives each a response and an owner.
• Write the status report. With progress notes it writes a report with an honest colour and a recommended fix beside each issue.

How the role works

1. Checks your task, context and available tools.
2. Picks the methods needed and prepares a work plan.
3. Carries out supported tasks, with each method's limits and review gates.
4. Checks the real deliverables and corrects supported faults.
5. Hands back files, evidence and unresolved gaps.

Your specialist's working setup

Download the base specialist without a task form or account. README.md and SETUP.md explain how to use the folder. SOUL.md defines its scope. INTAKE.md asks missing questions inside your AI. PLAYBOOK.md, SKILLS.md, BEST_PRACTICES.md, CHECKS.md and HANDOFF.md guide the work and its checked deliverables.

Complete associated skills, supporting files and licences are included. Choose only the methods needed for the actual task. Keep context, working files and accepted feedback in your AI project.

Use this specialist through MCP or the API

Call prepare_specialist with role_id project-management-project-shepherd only. No task is required to load it. Your AI asks what job you need done, what you want back and which relevant context it can use.

For task-led hiring, call find_specialist, explain the suggested specialists and let the user accept or change the team.

Complete ZIP: Download base specialist. API: GET /api/v1/specialists/project-management-project-shepherd/pack. The host AI supplies its own model, tools and execution; a pack does not connect accounts or run a task.

Inputs and helpful context

The specialist starts from the task brief. Only active methods require their inputs.

For the primary method, when used

• The project in a few lines, with the problem it fixes and what done looks like
• The teams and people involved, and who the sponsor is who can make the final call
• The deadline and any fixed dates, and the budget if you have one (optional)
• Known risks, blockers or other work that this project depends on (optional)
• For a status report, your progress notes since the last report, with what finished and what slipped (optional)

Helpful context (optional)

• The original brief or request from the sponsor.
• A list of each team's available people and time off during the project.
• Last period's status report, so the new one can show what changed.

Tools and access

• Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini with file upload: It can read a brief, a spreadsheet of tasks or last week's report next to your notes, and keep dates and owners the same across sections.

Functions and deliverables

• Project delivery manager: Plan a project that spans several teams. Get a project charter, a plan with owners and dependencies, a risk list and a weekly status report.
  • A one-page project charter with goal, scope in and out, success measures and sign-off names
  • A plan with milestones, one owner for each, dependencies and a time buffer
  • A stakeholder plan showing who hears what, how often and in what form
  • A risk list with a response and an owner for each risk
  • A status report with a colour, timeline, budget, issues and decisions needed, when you give progress notes
  Source: Michael Sitarzewski and Agency Agents contributors.
• HR project plan builder: Plan an HR project, such as a new HR system or policy rollout, with a charter, milestone timeline, risk list and weekly status report.
  • A one-page project charter
  • A milestone timeline with owners
  • A who-does-what chart and a communication plan
  • A risk list with a fix and an owner for each
  • A rule for handling scope changes
  • Templates for the weekly status report and lessons learned
  Source: Tuan Duc Tran.
• Weekly status update writer: Write a weekly status update from your notes. Get a one-page report with an overall call, risks and the decisions you need, in under 250 words.
  • An overall status with a reason
  • Done, in progress, risks and decisions needed
  • Next period's top three
• Status report writer: Turn project notes, targets, and blockers into a status report with risks and decision requests.
  • A one-page status report
  • An overall rating with a short summary
  • A table of risks with owners
  • A table of decisions needed
  • A list of next priorities
  Source: Anthropic.
• Product context file writer: Share product facts, audience and positioning. Get a reviewed context file that other marketing skills can reference.
  • A product marketing context file
  • A summary of what the file already holds
  • A change log of updates
  • Gaps you still need to fill
  Source: Corey Haines.

Tasks you can use it for

• Marketing, sales and a developer all need to finish pieces before a launch, and nobody owns the whole plan.
• A boss or client asks for a project charter or a plan before they approve the work.
• A project is slipping and you must report it to a sponsor without hiding the problem.
• You need a repeatable weekly status update that people actually read.

Limits to check before starting

• You have one team and need a task list from a spec, with acceptance checks. Use the Project planning manager.
• You are planning a creative shoot or production with crew and budgets. Use the Studio Producer agent.
• The project is a merger or acquisition. Use the Merger integration manager.
• You only need to keep track of open actions from a weekly meeting. Use the Meeting minutes and action tracker.

Best way to use this role

Give it one clear outcome, the actual files and a definition of done. Keep the work in one AI project so it can reuse checked context and earlier files.

• Download the pack from this page and add it to your AI as a skill. If you cannot, paste SKILL.md into a new chat, then paste references/source-agent.md.
• Say whether you want a new plan or a status report. Pick a plan if work has not started or the scope has changed. Pick a report if work is under way. Describe the project and name the teams, the sponsor and the dates in plain words.
• For a plan, say what must be true when the project is done. For a report, paste your progress notes and any budget figures you have.
• Read the charter first. Check that scope in and out and the success measures match what your sponsor expects.
• Ask each named owner to confirm their milestone and date before you share the plan.
• File upload can need a paid plan in some AI apps. You can paste your notes into a free chat instead.
• Send reports and messages yourself. This agent drafts them and does not contact anyone.

Read it as data

Read the complete role setup as JSON. Connect your AI to the AI Blocks MCP library and read aiblocks://roles/project-management-project-shepherd for its role instructions and pinned sources.

This is a prepared AI role. No task has run. Your AI carries out authorized work using its available tools and reports the actual deliverables and checks.