Public Exchange Project Manager (Project Administrator)

University of Southern California • Los Angeles, CA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

USC Dornsife Public Exchange is seeking a Project Manager (PM) to support its growing team, with a portfolio focused within the Health and Well-being Practice. Public Exchange is dedicated to fast-tracking collaborations between academic researchers and partners across public and private sectors to address complex problems. The Health and Well-being Practice has a history of building collaborations to tackle issues such as food insecurity, disaster recovery, healthcare worker burnout, and homelessness prevention. The Climate and Sustainability Practice has led initiatives like ShadeLA and the California Solar Canal Initiative. Projects involve partnerships with local government agencies, national non-profits, industry associations, health systems, and companies. The PM will be instrumental in identifying new partners, scoping research questions, drafting proposals, managing projects from development to launch, and creating high-impact deliverables. Ideal candidates will demonstrate a commitment to social impact, familiarity with critical social issues (especially health and well-being), intellectual curiosity, and adaptability to new challenges. The PM will collaborate closely with the Health and Well-being Practice Director, the Strategy & Operations Team, and university partners. Key responsibilities include managing the full project lifecycle, from identifying opportunities and drafting proposals to overseeing day-to-day execution, managing stakeholder relationships, monitoring budgets, and ensuring project impact. The PM will also serve as the primary coordinator for student talent involved in projects and may assist with high-priority operational projects across the organization, such as developing systems for student talent engagement or operationalizing budget reporting procedures.

Requirements

• Minimum Experience: 3-5 years, combined education/experience acceptable as substitute for minimum experience
• Minimum Education: Master's degree, Combined experience/education as substitute for minimum education
• Minimum Field of Expertise: Directly related education and project administration experience in specialized field represented by project.
• At least 3-5 years experience leading multi-stakeholder, cross-functional projects
• Recent work experience within a company, non-profit, university, or government agency designing products, policies, or programs related to health or well-being issues
• Track record of creative problem-solving and being solution-driven
• Demonstrated capacity to quickly understand and synthesize complex ideas and concepts
• Strong analytical and communications skills—you must be able to quickly and clearly communicate in writing
• Aptitude for learning and using tools that keep our hybrid team working as one unit: Google Workspace, Asana, Slack, Canva, etc. required
• Experience supporting primary or academic research projects is a plus
• Commitment to working on social impact issues
• Familiarity with social issues of high national importance (particularly related to health and well-being)
• High degree of intellectual curiosity
• Flexibility and willingness to learn and take on emerging challenges in new topic areas
• Collaborative with an entrepreneurial spirit
• Extremely organized, decisive, detail-oriented, strong communicators, diplomatic, and comfortable coordinating across large and diverse teams.
• Comfort with the unknown, and willingness to pitch in and build things from zero with a small, mighty team is essential.
• Experience managing grants or contracts.
• Understand the soft skills required to keep a team cohesive and have the emotional intelligence necessary to identify and resolve conflicts when they arise.
• Understand the role and opportunity that data, research, and academic evaluation can play in tackling complex social issues.

Nice To Haves

• A degree focused in public policy, public health, urban planning, social science, or other related fields is a plus
• Degrees in public policy, urban planning, social sciences, environmental studies, or other related fields are a plus
• Experience or demonstrable interest in working on social impact issues relevant to the Health and Well-being Practice (e.g., food insecurity, homelessness, affordability, caregiving, environmental health, disaster response and recovery, health innovation).

Responsibilities

• Develop project strategies and scopes of work in consultation with faculty, research partners, partner organizations, and the Public Exchange strategy & operations team to execute projects for maximum social impact.
• Develop long- and short-term project plans, including timelines, milestones, and deliverables.
• Manage day-to-day workflow of project portfolio and support research teams to execute against the project plans.
• Lead all project kick-off, routine partner and research team meetings, as well as final presentation meetings.
• Maintain strong relationships with all project partners, research team members, and key project stakeholders.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for project partners, ensuring they remain updated on project progress and that deliverables exceed expectations.
• Operate with attention to risk management, information security, contractual compliance, with a keen eye for potential pitfalls or emerging risks.
• Work with Public Exchange’s operations team to manage project finances, ensuring timely transfer of funds to research team members and payment of direct research expenses.
• Lead project communications, coordinating with Public Exchange Communications Manager as well as university and partner communications teams, including developing presentation decks, messaging, press releases, web and social media content, videos, and other materials.
• Continually seek strategic opportunities to build on project work, deliver for partners, and increase project impact.
• Serve as the primary student talent coordinator for Public Exchange projects.
• Assist with high-priority operations projects across all of Public Exchange’s projects and team members, such as creating, launching, and managing new systems and processes to channel student talent, or operationalizing procedures for project budget reporting.

Benefits

• USC provides benefits-eligible employees with a broad range of perks to help protect their and their dependents’ health, wealth, and future. These benefits are available as part of the overall compensation and total rewards package.

What This Job Offers

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