Program Operations Specialist: Project Administrator

University of Washington Medical Center•Seattle, WA

2d•$55,200 - $69,600•Onsite

About The Position

The University of Washington’s Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies (CICOES) is hiring a Program Operations Specialist for the Global Observations of Biogeochemistry and Ocean Physics (GOBOP) Group at NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL). Reporting to Dr. Jonathan Sharp, the position leads administration and management of PMEL’s Adopt-a-Float outreach program. The program connects regional high school classrooms with Argo profiling floats, helping students explore ocean science, float data, and careers in the field. The role will grow school and partner participation, manage the program budget, organize outreach events, and may support expansion to regional community colleges. The position also supports the GOBOP team’s logistics, reporting, and external communications in support of the Argo mission. Duties include shipping and deployment coordination, purchasing and budgeting, intern coordination, tracking performance metrics, and preparing content for proposals, reports, presentations, outreach stories, publications, and digital platforms. Work is primarily in a professional office setting, with occasional work in the PMEL float lab and semi-regular trips to regional schools. A driver’s license is required; a personal vehicle is not required.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science in Earth Science (such as Oceanography or Atmospheric Science), or a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, Project Management, Marketing, or a similar field; equivalent education and/or experience may substitute where permitted.
12 months of job-related experience; equivalent education and/or experience may substitute where permitted.
Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to manage multiple tasks.
Experience or interest in arranging and running meetings.
Broad basic computer skills, such as using the Microsoft Office suite.
Excellent oral and written communication skills.
Strong organization, self-motivation, attention to detail, and time-management skills.
Experience with or training in project management and handling deadlines.
Experience developing graphical or visual content to communicate information.
Ability to work well in a team and prioritize team success.
Ability to adapt quickly to changing priorities while exercising sound judgment and initiative.
Valid driver’s license for occasional regional school trips.

Nice To Haves

Educational background or interest in ocean or environmental science.
Experience with web design.
Experience with budget management.
Experience developing and/or implementing outreach events.
Experience organizing and leading small groups of people with a common goal.
Ability to occasionally assist in the float lab with unpacking, packing, or testing floats and maneuvering floats or boxes weighing up to 80 pounds with help from another individual.

Responsibilities

Grow, manage, and administer the PMEL Adopt-a-Float outreach program.
Organize and optimize outreach content and materials, coordinate events with regional high school teachers, and develop tools to track outreach engagement.
Manage the budget allocated to the Adopt-a-Float program.
Organize approximately quarterly school visits, carried out by GOBOP team members in collaboration with PMEL and UW colleagues and students.
Assist with shipping, float deployment planning and notifications, budgeting, purchasing, file organization, and intern coordination.
Contribute to developing, managing, and maintaining performance metrics for ongoing hardware, software, and data quality-control efforts.
Assist in drafting textual and visual content for proposals, reports, presentations, outreach stories, publication media, and digital platforms such as the group website.
Complete additional tasks as assigned to support the GOBOP Argo team.