Strategic Project Manager, Higher Ed Operations

HU101 The Howard University; United States; On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

Paid time off

Flexible work arrangements

Job summary

Howard University’s Talent Acquisition and Office of Business Optimization seek a Project Manager/Coordinator to drive planning, governance, and execution of enterprise initiatives. The role coordinates governance meetings, prepares briefs, maintains documentation, and tracks milestones across multiple units to ensure timely delivery.

Responsibilities include managing project intake, developing schedules, and reporting progress to leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Higher Education Administration, Management, Organizational Leadership, Project Management, or related field.
• 3–5 years of progressively responsible experience coordinating projects, programs, operations, or organizational initiatives in higher education or a similarly complex organization.
• Experience supporting cross-functional projects involving multiple stakeholders and organizational units.
• Experience developing project plans, tracking deliverables, coordinating meetings, and preparing project documentation and executive reports.
• Strong organizational and time management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively across all organizational levels.
• Ability to work collaboratively, manage competing priorities, and adapt to changing organizational needs.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate governance meetings, steering committees, and project working groups, including scheduling, agenda development, meeting materials, documentation, and follow-up actions.
• Manage project intake processes, maintain project documentation, and support prioritization of enterprise initiatives within the Office of Business Optimization.
• Develop and maintain project plans, implementation schedules, milestone tracking, action item logs, and status reports to support successful project execution.
• Coordinate communications across project workstreams to ensure stakeholders remain informed of project status, risks, decisions, and next steps.
• Support coordination with external vendors, consultants, and implementation partners to facilitate project activities and monitor deliverables.
• Prepare executive briefings, presentations, dashboards, and other materials for University leadership, governance committees, and project sponsors.
• Maintain project repositories, governance documentation, project records, and other official documentation to support transparency, continuity, and institutional knowledge.
• Monitor project risks, issues, dependencies, and implementation progress, escalating concerns to project leadership as appropriate.
• Provide day-to-day operational support for the Office of Business Optimization, including coordination of meetings, calendars, reporting, and administrative activities that support the Office's enterprise portfolio.
• Support the implementation of enterprise initiatives, including the Process Optimization Initiative, Workday Governance, Centers & Institutes, Research Administration, Development and Alumni Relations, and other University business optimization efforts.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Skills

Project coordination

Communication

Stakeholder management

Governance

Analytical thinking

Problem solving

Documentation

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration / Public Administration / Higher Education Administration / Management / Organizational Leadership / Project Management

Tools

Microsoft Office

Project management tools

Job description

Howard University’s Talent Acquisition and Office of Business Optimization seek a Project Manager/Coordinator to drive planning, governance, and execution of enterprise initiatives. The role coordinates governance meetings, prepares briefs, maintains documentation, and tracks milestones across multiple units to ensure timely delivery.

Responsibilities include managing project intake, developing schedules, and reporting progress to leadership.