Project Manager

Title: Project Manager

Salary: $90,000 annually

Classification: Exempt

Location: Virtual with roots in/connections to any of the following states: AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, OK, TN, TX, VA, WV

Travel: 25% (About once a quarter)

WHO WE ARE

At NDS, we are building a coalition across the South that centers the needs and daily experiences of disabled people. Our mission is to improve the lives of disabled people and build strong disability justice and rights movements in the South. We do this by:

• Organizing our communities around the most critical issues we face 
• Tracking legislation and policy that directly affects disabled people and educating our communities on its impacts
• Advancing legislative priorities that center our wellbeing and liberation
• Leading research on key issues 
• Changing media and social narratives about disabled people
• Building community and power outside of the systems that govern and oppress

Through this work, we impact the allocation of resources in our states, increase our collective power, and make this country a better place for us to live. We do this all with the lives and experiences of disabled people at the center (nothing about us without us).

Per our 2023-2025 Strategic Plan, we are centering 4 strategic priorities to advance our mission: Poverty & Care, Criminalization, Democracy, and Technology.

ROLE OVERVIEW

We are seeking an experienced Project Manager to oversee and coordinate all aspects of project planning, execution, and completion. The Project Manager will work closely with internal teams, external stakeholders, vendors, and other stakeholders to ensure that projects are completed on time, within scope, and within budget. This role requires excellent leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills, along with a deep understanding of project management methodologies and best practices.

WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR

We are looking for an experienced project manager to report directly to the Executive Team who will manage, oversee, and support the completion of all work moving across 3 departments (Communications, Organizing, Research) and our C4 in partnership with the department heads. This is a new role in a fast-growing startup, and your role and work will be dynamic and evolving along with the organization, with you co-creating with leadership as we go! You will not supervise the Directors rather the work and serve as a critical link between the departmental leadership and the organizational leadership. You are passionate about ushering projects through from vision to completion with a hawklike attention to detail and superior communication skills. You are skilled at managing up, down, and sideways; anticipating needs, bottlenecks, and roadblocks; delivering and receiving feedback in the spirit of collaboration and support; and getting complex projects and deliverables over the finish line. You are a lifelong learner, always seeking to integrate new strategies and information into your practice and approach. You enjoy working with a team while also being able to be the leader of your own deliverables. You are committed to social justice and are a student of the disability justice (DJ) movement. You believe that the solutions lie in centering the voices and experiences of the multiply marginalized (BIPOC, LGBTQ+, native/indigenous, immigrant, etc.) and understand the importance of an intersectional lens and approach.

The Project Manager will be responsible for the following priorities…

• Work with Directors on their department projects moving, helping to refine the scope, objectives, and deliverables with a focus on alignment with the organizational strategic plan and ROI/impact
• Effectively manage multiple competing projects and shifting priorities
• Proactively communicate to the Operations (Ops) and Executive (E) team, giving regular updates on project status, maintaining accurate and sufficiently detailed projects in Asana
• Support in upskilling department heads on their use of Asana and other project management tools and best practices; be an internal resource and champion for effective project management
• In partnership with Ops and E-team, oversee resource allocation, suggesting revisions and pivots as needed 
• Ensure team members are clear on their roles, responsibilities, and deadlines and that there is a clear and defined MOCHA for every project/POP for meeting as needed
• Support team leads on interdepartmental collaboration, including admin piece and communication
• Identify potential risks, create mitigation strategies, and proactively resolve issues that could impact project success
• Monitor project budgets and ensure financial efficiency. With department heads, track expenses and control costs to stay within budget; identify potential resource constraints
• Conduct post-project evaluations on all projects with an eye toward data tracking and assessment and a focus on lessons learned to continuously iterate and improve project processes
• Run ad hoc reports and develop standard reports to establish metrics for teams and to ensure performance against metrics is measured and tracked on a regular basis
• Analyze trends and consolidate data/information for review with primary stakeholders to drive data-based decisions
• Maintain detailed project documentation, including progress reports and meeting minutes
• Act as the escalation point for projects that are failing or struggling and communicate such details proactively to Ops/E-team
• Work collaboratively with all teams to ensure workload is appropriately assigned in keeping with our 4-day, 32-hour workweek, daily meeting limits, and organizational values around sustainability; be able to identify upfront and flag when workload goes beyond these boundaries
• Collaborate with department and organizational leadership to maintain and refine processes and support in the iteration and evolution of projects as new priorities are identities; provide expertise and support in navigating change management
• Regularly provide feedback and make recommendations on process improvements, technology/tools needs, training requirements, etc.

Requirements

SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

The Project Manager will possess the following experience, knowledge, and attributes…

• 3-7 years of experience in project management
• Strong knowledge of project management methodologies (Agile, Scrum, Waterfall, etc.)
• Experience with Asana or other project management tools 
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple, complex projects simultaneously
• Exceptional leadership, organizational, and time management skills
• Demonstrated ability to align priorities, communicate needs and issues proactively, and bridge gaps
• Demonstrated problem solving skills
• Certification such as PMP (Project Management Professional) or PRINCE2 is a bonus
• Experience working in a startup environment is a bonus

Benefits

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

We offer…

• 4-day, 32-hour workweek (Fridays off!) with flexibility to work how, when and where you want
• Open Paid Time Off/Sick Leave policy 
• Platinum Medical Insurance (100% of premium covered for employees; 50% of premium covered for dependents)
• Dental, Vision, Life Insurance (100% of premium covered for both employees and dependents)
• $1,000/year professional development stipend
• $200 Work from home stipend
• $75 monthly Internet + phone stipend
• Parental Leave: NDS will pay 3 months Full Time off with Full Time pay and another 3 months Part Time hours with Full Time pay
• Medical Leave: We cover the salary differential for either Short Term Disability or Long Term Disability for 3 months or until the conclusion of the leave, whichever is shorter
• 2 months paid sabbatical after 4 years of service to NDS 
• Over 3 weeks in organization-wide office closures, including a two-week winter break and 1 week summer break

HOW TO APPLY

Please submit the following via the Workable platform:

• Your resume and cover letter
• Respond to our screening question on the Workable platform

We will begin interviewing in November/December 2024, with the process continuing once we return from Winter Break in January. Our target candidate start date is late February.

DO YOU THINK THIS MIGHT BE YOU?

If you see yourself in this job description but don’t feel like you meet every single criteria, we encourage you to apply anyway! Research shows that individuals from historically marginalized groups tend to self-select out of opportunities at higher rates. We take a holistic approach to all of our hiring practices and want to hire those who best align with our mission and goals.

New Disabled South is an equal opportunity employer to all regardless of race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, marital status, disability, religious or political affiliation, actual or perceived gender  identity, age or sexual  orientation. We encourage those who identify as disabled to apply.

OUR NON-NEGOTIATION POLICY

New Disabled South is committed to paying competitive wages and upholding sustainable equity practices. Due to the ways in which salary negotiations perpetuate existing structural inequities, NDS as a practice does not participate in a salary negotiation process for any candidate. We will make our best offer, and it will be the same regardless of the candidate.