The Senior Project Manager (SPM) is responsible for providing project leadership, managing project team members and engaging key partners to ensure our strategy delivers as planned. The SPM combines project and portfolio management skills to drive collaboration across internal and external stakeholders, seeking alignment and decisions as needed. This role includes research and analysis, consultation with Program Officers support to development of investments, and engagement with external partners to communicate and influence strategic decision-making. The successful candidate will be an innovative, sophisticated, and highly creative individual who thrives in a “get it done” environment, with a strong track record of hands-on experience in project management with an emphasis on project leadership, and communication skills.
- Oversee development of all project deliverables including (i) economic, programmatic, and technical analysis, (ii) internal and external communications and (iii) strategy documents to inform leadership engagement for decision-making.
- Ensure execution of all activities to meet the defined scope, schedule, budget and resources.
- Anticipate, identify, and assess key project risks and develop mitigation or contingency plans.
- Serve as thought partner to the Senior Program Officers (SPO) to implement a broad range of activities in support of program goals.
- Manage communications and strategic engagement with external partners
- Engage program teams across a diverse range of functional areas to provide key linkages between different components of a complex strategy
- Mobilize and motivate teams; set direction and approach; resolve conflict; coach performance; deliver tough messages with grace; execute with limited information and ambiguity.
- Plan and facilitate all project meetings (e.g. project review meetings, executive engagements, debriefs) and external convenings of key partners.
- Own project knowledge management (i.e. storage and distribution of key documents and other forms of project information).
We believe that energized people, working well together, fueled by great leadership in an inclusive environment in which they thrive, will do phenomenal things.
Core Knowledge and Skills
- Excellent organizational and communication skills required for extensive interactions with multiple stakeholders and partners.
- Ability to create structures and develop frameworks to increase clarity and transparency of decisions, trade-offs and impact on financial and organizational resources
- Equally comfortable with high level strategic analysis and detail-oriented execution
- Comfort with ambiguity and complexity
- Strong interpersonal skills with polish and presence; ability to influence others at all levels and lead in a highly matrixed organization
- Personal leadership style that inspires trust, confidence, and collaboration
- Passionate, persistent and tenacious. Strong ability to prioritize and operate with a sense of urgency
- Effectively influencing individuals and teams without explicit authority.
- Recognizes complexity and assesses risks and alternatives when faced with competing requirements and incomplete knowledge.
- Ability to act independently to determine methods and procedures on assignments
- Expert knowledge of, and ability to work across multiple data analytics and visualization tools (Excel, PowerPoint, Tableau, etc.).
- Proven ability to quickly earn the trust of sponsors and key stakeholders
- Empathetic and creative manager able to listen to and understand stakeholder interests and concerns and proactively plan to address them.
- A minimum of seven years of professional experience desired, with at least three years in a strategic capacity (preferably leading projects at a top tier strategy consulting firm)
- Demonstrated complex project management skills and a successful track record of leading or managing multiple project simultaneously
- Knowledge of the global health/development landscape, and experience working within the ecosystem preferred.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, ability to effectively synthesize information to reach diverse audiences and improve consensus.
- Ability to effectively lead projects within a matrixed environment (e.g. manage, organize and prioritize multiple projects and meet deadlines within a fast-paced environment with multiple and competing asks).
- Ability to travel up to 10-15% domestically and internationally.