Sr. Director of Project Management

Goodwin Living•Alexandria, VA

11d•Onsite

About The Position

As we expand our mission and footprint, we are developing Goodwin House Seminary Road, a $340 million Life Plan Community (LPC). Goodwin Living is seeking a Director of Project Management to own the operational readiness timeline for Goodwin House Seminary Road from planning through completion and to establish project methodologies across all of Goodwin Living’s operating entities. The successful candidate will maintain and drive a master operational schedule, ensure that every internal department and external partner meets their milestones, and give the COO, Managing Director of Real Estate and Strategy Team clear, reliable visibility into progress, risks and upcoming decisions. In addition, this person will seek to bring our existing operations into a system-wide project management model. This position will be charged with assessing the “as is” state and developing the “to be” model for how operations and projects function with the goal of tighter alignment around a unified model.

Requirements

A minimum of 8 years of project management or operational leadership experience, with a demonstrated track record of managing complex, multi-workstream initiatives with hard, consequential deadlines.
Demonstrated ability to drive accountability across peer-level stakeholders without relying on positional authority — the ability to move people and hold timelines without managing them directly is central to this role.
Proficiency with enterprise project management software (Microsoft Project or equivalent) and dashboard or status-reporting tools.
Experience producing structured, executive-level project reporting — status updates, decision briefs, and budget variance reports.
Exceptional organizational discipline and follow-through; a reputation among colleagues for being the person who keeps things on track.
Strong communication and facilitation skills across all levels of an organization, from frontline department coordinators to executive leadership.
Genuine alignment with a mission-driven organizational culture; comfort and conviction working within a nonprofit that serves older adults.
On-site presence and accessibility to internal teams throughout the project lifecycle.

Nice To Haves

Experience opening or supporting the start-up of a Life Plan Community, CCRC, or major senior living or healthcare facility.
PMP certification or formal project management training.
Familiarity with Virginia senior living regulatory requirements.
Experience working in nonprofit senior living operations.

Responsibilities

Develop, maintain, and actively drive the master operational readiness schedule across all departments and workstreams.
Identify delays early and driving resolution rather than simply logging them.
Serve as the organizational authority on what is on track, what is at risk, and what requires executive attention.
Provide the COO and other key stakeholders with regular, structured project status updates including milestone progress, risk flags, and recommended decisions.
Prepare clear, concise briefing materials on operational readiness status, dependencies, and outstanding issues.
Track start-up spending against budget benchmarks and report variances with appropriate context and recommendations.
Facilitate alignment across operations, sales and marketing, HR, clinical services, hospitality, facilities, dining, IT, and finance —ensuring each function understands its timeline obligations and dependencies.
Coordinate with appropriate colleagues on schedule handoffs and milestone sequencing, ensuring operational readiness tracks with physical delivery dates.
Identify and resolve cross-functional conflicts before they become schedule problems.
Lead development and execution of department-level readiness checklists, dashboards, and tracking tools.
Proactively identify risks across all workstreams and recommend mitigation strategies before they affect the schedule.