Strategic Projects Coordinator

Goodwill Industries of Central Texas • Austin, TX

2d • $74,508 - $88,908

About The Position

The Strategic Projects Coordinator leads the planning and execution of assigned strategic initiatives and expansion projects from approval through operational handoff. This role translates strategic priorities into clear project plans, coordinates cross-functional owners, manages timelines, budgets, risks, and dependencies, and ensures projects meet established readiness criteria and decision gates. The manager owns the project management process while functional leaders retain responsibility for technical decisions and deliverables within their areas. The Project Coordinator owns the planning, coordination, reporting, and escalation processes for assigned initiatives, while project sponsors and functional leaders retain decision authority for strategy, resources, compliance, and functional deliverables.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, public administration, education, organizational leadership, project management, or related field.
• Three years of progressively responsible experience in project management, program management, strategic operations, organizational implementation, or related field.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex projects through the full project lifecycle, including scope development, planning, execution, monitoring, handoff, and evaluation.
• Experience managing multiple workstreams, timelines, budgets, risks, dependencies, and stakeholder commitments.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate and influence cross functional teams without direct supervisory authority.
• Experience developing project plans, readiness tools, dashboards, executive updates, and decision materials.
• Ability to analyze information, identify risks and barriers, develop solutions, and escalate issues requiring leadership decisions.
• Strong written, verbal, facilitation, and executive communication skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and project management platforms.
• Valid driver’s license and ability to travel periodically to campuses, partner locations, and potential expansion sites.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in business administration, public administration, education leadership, organizational leadership, project management, or related field.
• Project Management Professional certification or comparable project management credential.
• Experience leading new school openings, site launches, charter expansion, or organizational growth initiatives.
• Experience working in public education, charter schools, nonprofit organizations, government, or another regulated environment.
• Experience coordinating projects involving facilities, finance, technology, talent, compliance, communications, and external partners.
• Experience managing vendors, contracts, procurement activities, or project budgets.
• Experience preparing materials for executive leaders, governing boards, authorizers, funders, or regulatory agencies.
• Experience developing repeatable playbooks and systems for multi-site growth.

Responsibilities

• Draft project charters for Senior Director approval that define scope, outcomes, owners, timelines, resource requirements, budgets, and success measures.
• Build and maintain integrated project plans across all workstreams.
• Develop and maintain project governance structures, reporting cadence, decision points, and escalation protocols approved by the Senior Director or designated project sponsor.
• Maintain risk, issue, dependency, and decision logs.
• Coordinate the due diligence, documentation, workstream inputs, and timelines required for expansion initiatives to move through established approval gates, including opportunity assessment, greenlighting review, business case development, and implementation following approval of agreements and expansion requests.
• Coordinate regulatory milestones for assigned projects, including charter amendments, renewals, authorizer visits, and required submissions. Functional leaders retain responsibility for legal interpretation and content approval.
• Coordinate due diligence across finance, facilities, talent, technology, academics, student supports, governance, compliance, safety, and communications.
• Lead integrated planning and readiness for new school openings.
• Track progress against expansion and opening criteria and identify gaps requiring leadership decisions.
• Plan and facilitate project specific site visits, readiness reviews, and implementation assessments.
• Document corrective actions agreed upon by the Senior Director or appropriate functional leader, confirm owners and deadlines, monitor completion, and escalate delays.
• Coordinate safety readiness for new campuses and facility projects in partnership with the designated safety leader.
• Lead project closeout, operational handoff, and evaluation.
• Convene assigned project teams, establish deliverables and deadlines in coordination with the Senior Director and functional leaders, and document clear ownership for each workstream.
• Monitor commitments and escalate barriers, competing priorities, and resource constraints.
• Coordinate working level communication, project deliverables, and timelines with Goodwill shared services, external partners, vendors, authorizers, funders, and community stakeholders, while the Senior Director retains responsibility for executive relationships, negotiations, and organizational commitments.
• Develop communication, stakeholder engagement, training, and implementation plans that support successful adoption.
• Coordinate required project reporting to partners, funders, authorizers, and regulatory agencies.
• Maintain a portfolio view of assigned expansion and strategic projects and identify capacity needs, competing deadlines, risks, and dependencies to inform leadership decisions about priorities and sequencing.
• Develop dashboards and progress reports for the Senior Director, Cabinet, and Board.
• Prepare decision materials that identify options, implications, and risks to support recommendations and decisions by the Senior Director and other designated leaders.
• Track project budgets, contract milestones, and resource use in partnership with functional owners, and escalate variances or decisions requiring leadership action.
• Evaluate project results against approved outcomes and success measures.
• Maintain expansion playbooks, project templates, readiness tools, and standard processes.
• Document lessons learned and incorporate them into future project planning.
• Identify opportunities to improve the efficiency and consistency of expansion efforts.
• Develop repeatable systems that support growth across regions and partnerships.
• Ensure completed projects are transferred to clear, sustainable operating ownership.
• Support preparation of reports as requested for Board meetings.
• Serve as a member of the Implementation Committee to support project planning for proposed systems.
• Comply with policies established by federal and state law, including, but not limited to, State Board of Education and local Board policy.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Comprehensive Health Coverage: We provide top-tier medical, dental, and vision insurance to ensure you and your family stay healthy and happy.
• Generous Paid Time Off: Recharge with our generous PTO policy, which includes vacation days, personal days, and company-wide holidays.
• Teacher Retirement System & 403b Participation
• Paid Parental Leave: We understand the importance of family. We offer a generous parental leave policy to support you during this significant life event.
• Professional Development Opportunities: We believe in continuous growth! Take advantage of our access to workshops and online courses & tuition/certification support.
• Wellness Programs: Prioritize your well-being with our wellness initiatives, including gym memberships and free mental health support.
• Employee Recognition Programs: We celebrate our team members’ achievements with recognition awards.
• Diverse and Inclusive Culture: Join a workplace that values diversity and inclusion, with regular team-building activities and events that foster a sense of belonging.

What This Job Offers

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