Project Manager for Strategic Initiatives

Universities of Wisconsin • Madison, WI

2d • $80,000

About The Position

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is a pre-eminent center for discovery, learning, and engagement, fostering an inclusive and empowered community while preparing current and future generations to lead meaningful and ethical lives. In partnership with the state and colleagues worldwide, UW-Madison faculty, staff, and students address some of the most urgent and complex global challenges. As one of the nation's leading research institutions, UW-Madison boasts a research enterprise exceeding $1.7 billion in annual expenditures. Ranked 6th among 920 public and private universities in the National Science Foundation's annual ranking, the university submits over 4,000 proposals each year, seeking more than $2.5 billion in funding, and receives over $1.5 billion in sponsored project awards. The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP) manages approximately 15,000 active projects valued at more than $4 billion. The Project Manager for Strategic Initiatives provides leadership and coordination for a portfolio of strategic and operational initiatives within Research & Sponsored Programs (RSP). This role ensures that projects aligned with RSP’s strategic plan and continuous improvement efforts are effectively scoped, prioritized, executed, and delivered. Working across RSP’s functional team and external partners, the Project Manager brings structure, transparency, and accountability to complex, cross-functional work. The position plays a key role in strengthening execution, aligning efforts with organizational priorities, and ensuring sustained progress in a dynamic and high-demand environment.

Requirements

• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent projects with competing priorities
• Experience developing and maintaining project plans, timelines, and risk/issue tracking
• Strong organizational, communication, and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to facilitate meetings, drive decision-making, and hold teams accountable to deliverables
• Proficiency with project management tools (e.g., Smartsheet, Asana, MS Project, Jira, or similar)
• Bachelor’s degree is required.

Nice To Haves

• 3-5+ years of project management experience leading complex, cross-functional initiatives is strongly preferred
• Experience working in higher education, research administration, or similarly regulated environments with high operational complexity and ambiguity
• Familiarity with sponsored programs lifecycle (pre-award, post-award, compliance, contracting)
• Experience supporting strategic planning execution or portfolio/program management
• Demonstrated analytical skills, including use of data, to inform decisions and track performance
• Experience building or improving project management frameworks, tools, or governance structures
• Experience working with or alongside IT, data/reporting, or system implementation teams (e.g., Workday, CRM, or enterprise systems)
• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, public administration, project management, or related field is strongly preferred.
• Project Management certification (PMP, CAPM, Agile, or similar) is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Manages the activities of outside contractors to ensure they are integrated into the project and that the organization receives satisfactory standards of service
• Facilitates the estimation of project costs, resources, and time required to complete the assigned phase of a project and monitors activities, negotiates for resources, and assigns tasks to ensure these targets are met.
• Follows established change control processes if targets can no longer be met
• Creates a project plan, monitors progress and performance against the project plan, and identifies, resolves, or escalates risks and issues
• Prepares regular reports to communicate the status of the project within and beyond the project team
• Sets priorities, allocates tasks, and collaborates with project staff to meet project targets and milestones

Benefits

• This position will receive a comprehensive benefits package, including generous paid time off, competitively priced health/dental/vision/life insurance, tax-advantaged retirement savings accounts, and participation in the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) pension fund.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level