The Program Manager in the U.S. Program (USP) Office of the President will serve to facilitate and support cross-cutting programmatic and/or operational initiatives. This role will contribute to the improved alignment and execution of the division’s strategies in education and economic opportunity and its core business processes.
The Program Manager will serve as both a project manager of integrative work spanning across program strategies focused on early learning, K-12 education, higher education and economic mobility; as well as key business processes. This role will provide process & project management and analytic capability to support the scoping, management and definition of cross-cutting work across the division. The Program Manager will support and work in partnership with program staff to improve the coordination and integration of related program efforts and facilitate the development and alignment of work across multiple program teams.
- Works in collaboration with programmatic and/or operations staff to develop and define project objectives and parameters of the effort;
- Responsible for coordinating program activities related to program definition; supports the management of cross-cutting teams; provides integrated project management, and resource planning;
- Gathers and synthesizes relevant information (both internal and external), provides analytic contributions and surfaces key strategic questions, develops processes and procedures for soliciting feedback and input to advance the alignment of interests across multiple partners; and produces key findings and recommendations in consultation with senior staff.
- Creative, analytical, self-starter (ambitious with only high-level direction), highly collaborative, strong writing/ presentation skills;
- Exemplary written and verbal communication skills; ability to effectively facilitate, manage and summarize divergent points of view to advance the thinking of the group, synthesize and extract meaning from complex bodies of work and effectively communicate key takeaways for diverse audiences;
- Strong facility in visually presenting information (e.g., comfort and familiarity with PowerPoint or other presentation software) and producing clear & cogent presentation materials & deliverables;
- Demonstrated program management skills and a successful track record of leading multiple projects at a time. Provides thought partnership on project definition, planning / scoping the work, organizing and designing appropriate solutions.
- Excellence in using informal influence and non-positional leadership to accomplish work, ability to build trust, is a team leader and player who motivates and educates other team members and understands the value of interpersonal relationship building.
- Quick study, ability to delve into new subject matter and come up to speed in a relatively brief period; comfortable working in support role to subject matter experts;
- Strong leadership skills, initiative, persistence, tact, pragmatism, and flexibility.
- Excellent management skills, consistent strategic and tactical focus, and initiative.
- Ability to reconcile multiple diverse viewpoints and often to negotiate across internal partners.
Education and Experience
- Advanced degree with 5+ years of experience, or equivalent experience.
- Preferred backgrounds in education or related field; not required