Program Manager, Community Engagement

Public Interest Registry•Reston, VA

About The Position

The Program Manager, Community Engagement is a manager-level role responsible for independently overseeing, organizing, and driving a portfolio of projects that support mission-driven and nonprofit end-user communities and other large scale broader PIR community engagement initiatives as needed. This role leads project planning, manages cross-functional workstreams, and ensures successful delivery of community-focused initiatives. This position requires strong project ownership, proven experience managing complex initiatives, and the ability to guide teams and partners toward clear outcomes. Candidates should bring experience working with nonprofits and comfort managing marketing and events-related workflows.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, public relations or a related field.
8-10 years of project management experience, ideally within nonprofits, NGOs, or mission-driven sectors.
Familiarity with community engagement or nonprofit capacity-building initiatives.
Experience with project management tools (i.e., Monday.com [//Monday.com]).
Experience managing vendors or external partners.
Demonstrated ability to lead and manage complex, multi-stakeholder projects.
Experience supporting or managing event-based and marketing-driven projects.
Strong organizational and communication skills with the ability to drive clarity and structure.
Mission-aligned and grounded in community-centered values
Solutions-oriented with sound judgment and adaptability
Able to build trust and influence without authority

Responsibilities

Lead the planning, execution, and delivery of multiple community-focused projects from start to finish.
Define project scope, objectives, timelines, resource needs, risks, and success criteria.
Make informed decisions, surface risks early, and ensure projects remain on track.
Manage projects that support nonprofit and mission-driven end-user communities across learning, outreach, partnership-driven work, or capacity-building efforts.
Translate community needs and input into organized project plans and actionable deliverables.
Lead project management for virtual and in-person events, workshops, and sector convenings.
Oversee cross-functional workflows with marketing, policy, legal, finance and internal and external events teams to ensure high-quality execution.
Manage timelines, promotional cycles, logistics, and stakeholder alignment.
Coordinate and guide internal teams through project milestones and deliverables.
Facilitate regular project meetings, own status communications, and ensure accountability across contributors.
Manage external vendors or partners when needed.
Develop and maintain project dashboards, status reports, KPIs, and documentation.
Monitor project performance, identify issues early, and recommend solutions.
Support evaluation of project impact, community value, and operational efficiency.