Project Manager (Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring)

UMass Boston; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

UMass Boston seeks a Project Manager for Connected Futures to lead day-to-day implementation across four campuses, coordinating staffing, training, and communications for a multi-campus mentoring initiative.

The role emphasizes project coordination, data handling, and collaboration with researchers and campus partners to support student retention and academic progress.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required with 3+ years of professional experience in project coordination or similar role.
• Master's degree may substitute for one year of experience.
• Experience coordinating complex projects with multiple stakeholders and timelines.
• Experience with participant-facing or student-facing functions is a plus.
• Experience supporting research, evaluation, or data collection activities.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate day-to-day implementation across four UMass campuses, ensuring timelines and deliverables meet grant milestones.
• Collaborate with project leadership to align activities with priorities and university expectations.
• Recruit, onboard, train, and supervise project staff, student employees, fellows, and volunteers.
• Coordinate communication among internal and external partners and stakeholders.
• Manage workflows for participant intake, outreach, onboarding, and ongoing support.
• Assist with IRB documentation, compliance coordination, and data-sharing processes.
• Support setup with platform/tech partners, including data imports and reporting tools.
• Monitor participation and progress; prepare summaries and updates for leadership and partners.
• Maintain organized records of operations, staffing, communication, and reporting.

Skills

Project coordination

Communication

Collaboration

Organizational skills

Detail-oriented

Problem-solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in psychology, education, public health, sociology, higher education, public administration, or related field

Tools

Spreadsheets

Reporting systems

Project tracking tools

Data platforms

Job description

General Summary:

The Project Manager, Connected Futures, is a full-time grant-funded, professional staff position in the Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The incumbent will lead day-to-day implementation of a multi-campus peer mentoring and navigational support initiative designed to improve retention, belonging, help-seeking, and academic progress among transfer and first-year students across UMass Boston, UMass Amherst, UMass Dartmouth, and UMass Lowell.

Working closely with the Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator, campus coordinators, and project partners, the Project Manager will oversee implementation planning, staffing support, project coordination, student-facing workflows, training logistics, communication processes, reporting, and coordination with research, compliance, and technical teams. The position is well suited to a candidate with strong project management and research coordination experience, especially in participant-facing, student-facing, public-serving, health, mental health, or higher education settings.

Examples of Duties:

• *Coordinate day-to-day implementation of Connected Futures across four UMass campuses, including planning, launch, ongoing operations, and monitoring of project timelines and deliverables.
• *Work closely with project leadership to ensure that implementation activities remain aligned with grant milestones, operational priorities, and university expectations.
• *Support the recruitment, onboarding, training, and supervision of project staff, student employees, fellows, research assistants, volunteers, and campus-based personnel, as assigned.
• *Coordinate communication among internal and external partners, including campus student success offices, advising leaders, institutional research personnel, research staff, and technical partners.
• *Manage operational workflows related to student or participant intake, outreach, onboarding, communication, and ongoing support.
• *Support implementation of peer mentor training and program procedures, including guidance related to proactive outreach, student engagement, escalation pathways, and technology use.
• *Coordinate project logistics for meetings, trainings, evaluation activities, surveys, focus groups, and partner communications.
• *Assist with IRB-related documentation, compliance coordination, and data-sharing processes in collaboration with project leadership and campus partners.
• *Work with platform and technical partners to support implementation setup, student import processes, workflow troubleshooting, and reporting tools.
• *Monitor participation, implementation progress, and engagement data, and prepare summaries and operational updates for leadership and project partners.
• *Maintain accurate and organized records related to project operations, staffing, communication, reporting, and implementation activities.
• *Assist in the preparation of reports, presentations, briefing materials, and other internal and external communications.
• *Help identify implementation barriers and operational challenges and support problem-solving across campuses.
• *Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in psychology, education, public health, sociology, higher education, public administration, or a related field and a minimum of three (3) years of progressively responsible professional experience in project coordination, research coordination, student support programming, health services operations, or a related field required; Master's degree may be substituted for one year of experience.

• *Demonstrated experience coordinating complex projects with multiple stakeholders, timelines, and structured processes or protocols.
• *Experience managing participant-facing or student-facing functions such as recruitment, screening, intake, onboarding, enrollment, outreach, or ongoing support.
• *Experience supporting research, evaluation, quality improvement, or structured data collection activities, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, or trial implementation.
• *Demonstrated experience supervising, training, or coordinating staff, fellows, research assistants, volunteers, or student employees.
• *Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• *Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• *Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with interdisciplinary teams and diverse constituencies.
• *Ability to use spreadsheets, reporting systems, project tracking tools, and data platforms effectively in support of operations and decision-making.
• *Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and student or participant well-being.

Preferred Qualifications:

• *Experience coordinating randomized controlled trials, pilot studies, longitudinal studies, or other structured evaluation projects.
• *Experience in higher education, academic medicine, behavioral health, community mental health, or other complex mission-driven institutional settings
• *Experience facilitating or supporting virtual or in-person groups, trainings, workshops, or focus groups.
• *Experience collaborating with data, analytics, or evaluation teams to support data cleaning, reporting, qualitative review, or interpretation of findings.
• *Experience with student-facing, patient-facing, or participant-facing service models that require high levels of follow-up, communication, and relationship management.
• *Record of professional presentation, poster development, publication, or other dissemination activity.

This is a grant-funded position. The grant funding is expected to end June 30, 2029.

Salary Ranges for the appropriate Pay Grade can be found at the following link:

Grade: 29

Salary Ranges

This is an exempt union position. This is a grant funded position with a current end date of June 30, 2029, subject to renewal contingent on funding and university needs.

All official salary offers must be approved by Human Resources.

UMass Boston is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, we will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations for the hiring process. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact [e-mail] or 617-287-5150.