Project Manager (part-time)

Organization Description

The Sustainable Progress and Equality Collective (SPEC) is an open learning organization that helps individuals and communities become catalysts for positive change. SPEC's mission is to empower people to become globally-minded change agents by helping them learn the essential skills required to build sustainable careers and make a positive impact in their communities. SPEC achieves this aim through research, mentorship, training, paid work experiences, service-learning, and hosting events for people from underrepresented backgrounds, underserved communities, non-traditional educations, and allies to the causes of environmental sustainability and social justice.

SPEC is organized as an open collective, a collaborative group that has a shared mission, which raises and spends funds transparently to achieve goals. SPEC is fiscally sponsored by the Open Collective Foundation 501(c)(3) (OCF), which enables SPEC to accept tax deductible donations, and pay its team. SPEC is hosted on Open Collective, an online funding platform that provides groups with the tools for raising and sharing their finances in full transparency.

Job Description

SPEC is run by a small and 100% distributed team of contributors and volunteers. We come from different social identities, backgrounds, and perspectives. Our core team leverages a mix of educational backgrounds and professional experience in the humanities, social sciences, and STEAM discipline to support our purpose of creating sustainable progress in the world. We are researchers, writers, designers, technologists, analysts, and engineers who work on everything from hardware engineering to building social media campaigns.

We're looking for part-time project manager(s) to help lead research and development initiatives at SPEC. You'll manage projects through all phases of the project life-cycle. You'll work with our core team and external stakeholders to support execution of all our projects. This is an exciting opportunity to help build an organization and project management framework from the ground up. We are looking for someone with the expertise to establish new processes and documentation for reuse and training. You will report directly to SPEC’s co-founders and work closely with SPEC’s core team and external stakeholders.

Responsibilities

  • Lead research and development projects from ideation to release including design, review, content development, engineering, quality assurance, release, monitoring and maintenance

  • Evaluate the scope and phase projects and set expectations with project stakeholders

  • Document project process, build timelines, and schedule meetings and execution of work

  • Run meetings to keep stakeholders in sync, taking clear notes and documenting action items

  • Leverage project management tools and workflows to ensure project teams are delivering within the time and budget constraints, adjusting plans and communicating expectations to stakeholders along the way

  • Identify and assess potential risks and problem solve by providing solutions

  • Partner with co-founders to establish new processes and documentation for the organization

  • Coordinate work and communication across time zones using software including Trello, Slack, Google Docs, and new tools SPEC may adopt in the future

  • Align collaboration and project execution with SPEC’s core values and operating principles

  • Ensure effective prioritization and allocation of resources across projects

  • Hold retrospective meetings to collect process-related feedback

Skills & Qualifications:

Required

  • Experience in project management ideally in the digital, creative media, or educational spaces

  • A solid understanding of fundamental project management tools and process

  • Experience developing and documenting new processes and workflows

  • Experience with project management tools (like Trello or Jira) or building and managing projects with spreadsheets and documents

Preferred

  • Experience working in human resources and diversity, equity, and inclusion

  • Experience working on projects with large institutional stakeholders

  • Knowledge of and experience with educational technology and course development

Compensation

As a collective under the fiscal sponsorship of Open Collective Foundation (OCF), SPEC contributors are legally classified as 1099 independent contractors rendering services for OCF. Compensation for the project manager role will be determined based on project requirements and contributor level. SPEC's compensation structure seeks to making a living wage a baseline for contributor pay, and works with contributors to find equitable work agreements.

SPEC contributors receive compensation by submitting expenses through SPEC's Open Collective portal. Expenses submitted must follow SPEC's expense policy and be approved one of SPEC's administrators. SPEC contributors receive their payments from OCF and are paid out the bank account of their choice.

Application Process

Please send a cover letter and your resume to info@specollective.org. Your information will be reviewed by our core team and co-founders. We will contact you to let you know if you have been selected for an interview.

Additional Information

SPEC is proud to be an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship SPEC makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.

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