Senior Project Manager II, Client Onboarding & Implementation

Contributor Development Partnership, PBC•Boston, MA

1d•Remote

About The Position

CDP is seeking a Senior Project Manager to join its Enterprise Project Management Office and Client Onboarding Team. The team helps public media organizations adopt the tools, processes, and capabilities needed to strengthen fundraising, deepen audience engagement, and support their communities. In this role, you will guide client stations through onboarding to CDP’s Member Services Bureau, managing complex implementations from onboarding through go-live and post-launch support. You will serve as the primary contact for each engagement, coordinate internal teams and external partners, and maintain ownership of scope, timelines, quality, and client experience. The position requires strategic thinking, adaptability, hands-on project execution, and strong client partnership skills. You will lead integrated plans across workstreams such as data conversion, marketing, operations, and support; manage critical paths and dependencies; facilitate meetings and milestone reviews; provide executive updates; and proactively address risks and blockers. You will guide clients through adoption of tools, platforms, workflows, and business processes, and lead complex conversations and executive-level escalations. You will also maintain risk, issue, decision, and dependency records; drive decisions and issue resolution; and escalate with clear impact assessments, options, and recommendations. Across engagements, you will identify recurring patterns and lessons learned to inform onboarding strategy and improve frameworks and outcomes. The role may also support journey mapping, current- and future-state process mapping, and solution-shaping, while distinguishing individual project issues from systemic product, operational, or organizational needs.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in project management, client onboarding, or SaaS/CRM implementations.
Strong communication and relationship skills, including the ability to influence and present to executive leadership.
Exceptional problem-solving skills and intellectual curiosity, with the ability to learn quickly, adapt, and succeed in unfamiliar territory.
Experience managing several concurrent projects and balancing priorities across a portfolio.
A track record of leading complex, multi-workstream implementations and cross-functional strategic initiatives.
Expertise with project management and collaboration tools such as Smartsheet, Asana, and Microsoft Teams.
Commitment to continuous improvement and operational excellence.
Ability to navigate diverse project environments and apply Waterfall, Agile, or hybrid delivery models as appropriate.
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience preferred.
Inclusive mindset and ability to demonstrate inclusive behaviors.
Strong communication and customer service skills.
Critical thinking, with an interest in finding efficiencies, innovating, and making improvements.
Ability to understand, work in, create, and improve processes.
Collaborative, team-oriented approach and relationship-building skills; willingness to help and share job knowledge.
Eagerness to listen, learn quickly, be resourceful, and accept and grow from feedback.
Proven success in a fast-paced, changing environment, with a strong work ethic and interest in contributing to the organization’s mission.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with Lean and similar continuous improvement methodologies.

Responsibilities

Lead end-to-end project management for multiple complex client implementations, from onboarding through go-live and post-launch support, serving as the primary point of contact.
Coordinate internal teams and external partners to deliver transitions that meet scope, timeline, quality, and client-experience objectives.
Own integrated implementation plans across workstreams, manage critical paths, handoffs, and dependencies, and adjust plans as conditions change.
Facilitate client status meetings, internal check-ins, and milestone reviews.
Provide executive updates on progress, milestones, blockers, and overall status.
Anticipate and resolve risks, issues, and cross-functional blockers before they affect timelines.
Partner with subject-matter experts in technical, data, marketing, finance, and operational areas while retaining overall project ownership.
Build and maintain trusted relationships with client executives throughout implementation.
Lead complex client conversations and executive-level escalations, mitigate risks, and drive resolution while maintaining stakeholder confidence.
Guide clients in adopting new tools, platforms, workflows, and business processes, connecting implementation work to operational outcomes and business objectives.
Identify red flags, assumptions, constraints, dependencies, and readiness gaps before they affect client outcomes.
Lead issue resolution across internal teams, station stakeholders, and external partners; remove blockers and drive decisions to closure.
Maintain current risk, issue, decision, and dependency records, including impact, severity, ownership, mitigation, target dates, and escalation paths.
Escalate issues with a concise problem statement, business and client impact, actions taken, viable options, and a recommendation.
Use implementation trends and lessons learned to strengthen mitigation strategies and prevent recurring issues.
Provide proactive insights and recommendations that influence onboarding strategy and client outcomes.
Frame problems, assess impact, engage appropriate partners, and develop options and a recommended path forward.
Support journey mapping, current-state and future-state process mapping, and solution-shaping sessions when appropriate.
Distinguish project-specific issues from systemic patterns that may require broader product, operational, or organizational solutions.