ABOUT US

The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization whose purpose is to ignite human potential to build understanding and create new possibilities for a better world. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve society’s greatest challenges. It is headquartered in Washington, DC and has a campus in Aspen, CO, as well as an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

COLLEGE EXCELLENCE PROGRAM

The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program (CEP) aims to strengthen higher education leadership and practice to improve student outcomes—with the ultimate goal of advancing economic mobility and developing talent for the good of each individual and society as a whole. We support this mission through multiple programs, including the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the American Talent Initiative, the Aspen Presidents and Rising Presidents Fellowships, Unlocking Opportunity, and a range of transfer initiatives designed to improve bachelor’s attainment for students who start in community college. Each year, our work engages hundreds of college leaders at universities and community colleges that educate millions of students nationwide. For more information, visit highered.aspeninstitute.org or find us on LinkedIn.

ABOUT THIS ROLE

The College Excellence Program seeks a program manager to support our Leadership and Field Engagement (LFE) division. In this role, you will oversee the day-to-day management of major projects and workstreams, with a focus on CEP’s Unlocking Opportunity network. Unlocking Opportunity intensively engages community college leaders and teams over multiple years to develop and enact bold reforms aimed at increasing the number of students entering and completing high-value community college programs. The project's central goal is to ensure that more students complete programs that lead directly to jobs that pay a sustaining wage or to transfer and completion of a bachelor’s degree. Fifty-five community colleges recently joined to expand the Unlocking Opportunity network, bringing the total number of network colleges to 65 with an aggregate objective of impacting at least 100,000 students within the next three years.

Our ideal candidate is passionate about impacting lives through higher education. Our ideal candidate can also demonstrate – through examples from previous employment – an approach to work that is strategic, thoughtful, resourceful, and characterized by a proactive mindset and consistent follow-through to achieve results. Qualified candidates will have at least five years of experience as a project or program manager, preferably in the nonprofit sector working with leaders and senior teams in higher education. Experience must show an ability to drive complex project assignments such as (1) working closely with your supervisor and other colleagues to develop and deliver high-quality project materials in a timely manner; (2) collaborating with team members to draft and execute project plans for in-person and virtual events; (3) working with hotels and vendors to plan and deliver in-person events; (4) managing communications for internal and external audiences; and (5) supporting the evaluation of project workstreams.

This position is based in the Aspen Institute’s Washington, DC office with a minimum of 40% in-person work (two days per week), up to four weeks of travel per year, and a target salary range of $85,000 - $100,000. This position will report to CEP’s Assistant Director for LFE.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Manage multiple workstreams within major CEP projects

• Develop a plan for managing all aspects of the project work, with an appropriately detailed project schedule and a realistic project budget.
  • Project alignment: Support the maintenance of a project alignment memo outlining the outcomes, approach, and deliverables to satisfy project goals and stakeholder expectations.
  • Project planning: Create a management plan with approaches for stakeholder engagement and communications; team, staff, and resource management; project evaluation; procurements and vendor management; risk and issue management; and quality management.
  • Project scheduling: Develop and maintain a project schedule (using enterprise tools such as Asana) that defines milestones, activities, dependencies, and staff assignments. Deconflict the project schedule against other CEP commitments.
  • Project budget: Collaborate with CEP’s finance manager and LFE Assistant Director to maintain a project budget based on the awarded funding of individual grants that support total project funding.
• Manage project execution according to the project plan, schedule, and budget to ensure high-quality performance that satisfies project goals and stakeholder expectations.
  • Quality: Control quality in every aspect of CEP’s work by scheduling adequate time for regular quality reviews and feedback from multiple layers of the organization.
  • Collaboration: Use a collaborative approach that optimizes performance and efficiently produces results on time and within budget.
  • Communications: Manage stakeholder engagements based on expectations and with a focus on building trust, creating transparency, and reflecting the quality of the Aspen/CEP brand.
  • Monitoring and control: Identify and manage any deviations between planned and actual results – including schedule and budget – and assess the impact of these deviations with the LFE team.
  • Schedule updates: Maintain an accurate schedule that reflects current progress, any variance against planned dates, adjustments to the levels of effort required, and any impacts on the critical path of activities.
  • Financial updates: Ensure good fiscal management by reviewing actual income and expenses against plans, updating forecasts to address surplus or deficits, and controlling all future costs within budget.
  • Reporting: Support the development and submission of interim and final grant reports, as necessary.
• Upon completion of a project (or associated grant), help verify that it has met all obligations of the award, archive project documentation and data, and reflect on any lessons learned.
• Work with team members and external collaborators to develop internal and external-facing case-making assets, slide decks, memos, and other materials to advance project goals.

Provide hands-on support for project operations and logistics

• Communicate with executive-level offices, senior leaders, and practitioners in higher education, including through email correspondence, virtual meetings, and phone calls.
• Ensure internal collaboration with CEP’s curriculum and research teams to create high-quality content for events, engagements, and external communications.
• Liaise with key partners and vendors to advance projects, including developing scopes of work for major contracts and subawards.
• Schedule meetings, appointments, and other engagements with a flexible approach that can seamlessly accommodate unexpected conflicts and shifting priorities.
• Support logistics for in-person and virtual events with college leaders and practitioners including participant registration, tracking, vendor management, and hotel contracts.
  • Assist with aspects of events and convenings, including but not limited to logistics planning, preparations, and bookings; contracts facilitation; event registration and tracking; event documentation (e.g., summary reports, debriefings with follow-up actions); and post-event expense processing, invoice tracking, and contract closeout.
  • Assist with aspects of meetings, including but not limited to gathering documents for the meeting, virtual meeting creation (e.g., Zoom) and logistics, in-person room reservations and logistics, audio-visual requests and configuration, catering, and meeting documentation (e.g., minutes, summary reports).
  • Support the collection, organization, and production of meeting and presentation materials including printing, copying, and shipping.
• As needed, support a variety of recurring administrative duties such as preparing, reconciling, and submitting expense reimbursements, vendor payments, and honoraria in a timely and accurate manner.

Support project escalations and other organizational duties, as needed

• Manage multiple, concurrent tasks and requests with the capacity to adapt for changing deadlines and priorities.
• Proactively communicate with the LFE Assistant Director to ensure transparency around any project risks, urgent requests, or late adjustments.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO THRIVE

• A bachelor’s degree is required. Additional certification or training in project management (e.g., PMP) is preferred.
• At least five (5) years of relevant experience as a project or program manager is required with roles in the planning and execution of in-person events, managing priorities with complex project timelines and deliverables, managing partner and vendor relationships, and managing process implementation.
• Experience in a hybrid work environment is required.
• Experience in the nonprofit sector and in higher education is preferred, particularly with knowledge of or exposure to community colleges.
• Experience with enterprise systems for project management (e.g., Asana), grants management (e.g., Airtable), and customer relationship management (e.g., Salesforce) is preferred.
• Comfort with ambiguity and an ability to respond adeptly to rapidly changing priorities.
• Comfort working with tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong writing, verbal communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Self-directed learner who possesses a growth and collaborative mindset.
• Strong customer service orientation: patience, listening, resourcefulness, and responsiveness.

HOW TO APPLY

All interested applicants must submit the following for full consideration:

1. A one-page cover letter. CEP prefers cover letters that describe what motivates you and how you understand and relate to our mission rather than a narrative version of your resume. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.
2. Resume/CV.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Aspen Institute offers a generous benefits package including health, dental, vision, and prescription benefits, retirement benefits, and paid leave.

The Aspen Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all District and federal laws. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or protected veteran or disabled status and will not be discriminated against.

The Aspen Institute welcomes individuals with disabilities to participate in its programs, including the interview process. If you would like to request accommodations or have questions about accessibility, please email hrsupport@aspeninstitute.org or call 202-736-2127 in advance of your visit. Requests for ASL or CART services should be made at least two weeks in advance when possible. We will make every effort to fulfill requests, subject to availability.