Project Operations Manager, our client, Across the Aisle

Colleague Executive Search; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Across the Aisle is seeking a Project Operations Manager in Washington, DC, to organize a growing creative team and keep projects on track. The role reports to the Creative Director and collaborates with creative, communications, policy, and operations leaders.

In-office 5 days a week in DC, you will manage intake, pipelines, and process improvements across programs. The ideal candidate has 5+ years in operations or project management, excellent communication, and strong time-management skills,

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in an operations/project manager role.
• Strong organization and attention to detail.
• Excellent communication and ability to work with diverse teams.

Responsibilities

• Oversee project intake and develop a clear workflow for creative initiatives.
• Maintain project pipeline visibility, timelines, and resource needs.
• Coordinate with team members to document requirements and setup standards (Asana preferred).
• Develop scalable processes and SOPs for project delivery and documentation.
• Guide timelines and budgets, plan resources across teams, and ensure on-time delivery.
• Capture action items, run effective meetings, and share clear documentation.

Skills

Project management

Time management

Communication

Stakeholder management

Organizational skills

Tools

Asana

Job description

Across the Aisle - the nonpartisan nonprofit aimed at solving our nation's biggest fiscal challenges

Washington, D.C. (in-office 5X a week)

About the Organization

Since 2016, Across the Aisle™ — a nonpartisan, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization — has been providing young Americans (ages 14 to 35) with opportunities to learn, lead, and find bipartisan solutions to our country’s biggest challenges.

Our client works with experts from both sides of the aisle to empower voters with reliable facts and a framework to make their own informed decisions. Their leadership programs identify and prepare students and early-career professionals from both parties for decision-making positions on Capitol Hill, in the executive branch, and in other public service roles. Their core policy areas include fiscal issues like the national debt and the federal budget, as well as entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare.

Position Description

We’re looking for an organized Project Operations Manager with 5+ years of experience managing competing tasks and workflows, and working with people across functions. In addition to a strong professional project management background, the ideal candidate has a positive attitude, thrives in a fast-paced environment and wants to be an integral part of keeping a growing creative team of designers and communications professionals organized and on track. They will report directly to the Creative Director and will partner with creative, communications, policy, and operations leaders.

Responsibilities

Project Intake & Operational Workflow

• Organize and manage the project intake process for all incoming creative initiatives.
• Oversee the project pipeline, ensuring clear visibility into upcoming work, timelines, and resource needs.
• Lead initial project intake and coordination with team members, ensuring all project requirements are clearly captured and documented.
• Establish and maintain project setup standards within project management platforms (Asana strongly preferred), including timelines, task structures, and team assignments.

Process Development & Optimization

• Develop, document, and continuously refine operational processes that support efficient project delivery across the organization.
• Create scalable workflow frameworks, documentation, and best practices to support a growing internal team.
• Identify inefficiencies and proactively implement process improvements that streamline project execution and communication.
• Own and enforce standard operating procedures for project delivery, communication, and documentation.

Project Management Oversight

• Provide guidance on timelines and budget considerations.
• Support resource planning and allocation — including staffing — across the creative, communications, program, and policy teams.
• Ensure projects stay on schedule, within scope, and aligned with leadership’s expectations.
• Manage relationships and communication with vendors, including with event production vendors
• Develop structured meeting agendas and run project meetings with our teams.
• Capture and distribute clear documentation, action items, and next steps.
• Ensure teams remain aligned and accountable through effective meeting facilitation.

Knowledge Management & Documentation

• Build and maintain a highly organized, shareable repository of project documentation and resources.
• Develop training materials, guidelines, and onboarding resources to support new processes and ways of working, and the training of new employees.
• Lead internal process training and knowledge-sharing sessions to drive adoption across teams.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in an operations/project manager role. Marketing/communications agency experience or strong client services background preferred
• Top-notch project and time management skills — excellent organization, communication, flexibility and a very strong attention to detail
• The ability to anticipate and effectively communicate and solve practical problems or issues
• Professional demeanor; ability to work well with people at all levels and ability to navigate relationships with internal stakeholders and partners
• Awareness of pre-production, production, and post-production processes for various types of creative projects
• Candidates should be motivated, enthusiastic, resourceful, news-aware, hard working and have the ability to switch gears quickly
• Proven success interacting with clients and accurately assessing client needs