About the Opportunity
Summary
Working up to 20 hours per week within the Project Management Office (PMO), the Part-Time Project Manager provides project management expertise and leadership for mid-size to large scale projects across the university's academic, administrative, and research functions. This flexible position is designed for experienced project management professionals with a background in higher education, with work hours varying based on the number, size, and complexity of assigned projects.
This role requires close collaboration with stakeholders to define project objectives, scope, timelines, and budgets, while coordinating with teams to document, prioritize, and execute project tasks effectively.
The ideal candidate is a proactive self-starter who excels in fast-paced, dynamic environments. They bring exceptional organizational and coordination skills, can manage multiple projects concurrently, and adapt seamlessly to changing priorities with minimal supervision.
This position offers the flexibility of remote work.
Key Responsibilities
- Partner with project sponsors, owners, and stakeholders to align project business cases with university, divisional, or department objectives, ensuring clear success criteria are defined at project outset.
- Build and develop the project team to ensure maximum performance by providing purpose, direction, and motivation, supporting on time delivery of project milestones.
- Lead projects from initiation through close out, managing the full project life cycle and delivering against agreed scope, schedule, and budget.
- Define project objectives, scope, and deliverables in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, establishing measurable metrics to track progress against plan.
- Decompose complex projects into phases that prioritize outcomes, facilitate decision making, and are clearly articulated in project documentation, with milestone tracked at each phase.
- Track and monitor project progress, regularly reporting performance using appropriate tools and techniques.
- Manage changes to project scope, schedule, and budget using formal change control processes, keeping scope creep and variance within approved thresholds.
- Proactively identify and mitigate project risks, escalating issues to stakeholders when necessary, and maintaining a documented risk mitigation log across open risks.
- Ensure timely, on budget, and within scope project delivery for all assigned projects.
Required Qualifications
- Proven expertise in creating and managing project documentation, including project charters, project plans, status reports, risk assessments, success metrics, and change control logs.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, demonstrated through agenda creation, meeting facilitation, meeting notes, action items, risk analysis, and stakeholder engagement.
- In depth understanding of project management concepts, practices, and procedures, particularly in educational or startup environments.
- Strong organizational skills, with attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple tasks concurrently.
- Proficiency in project planning and tracking tools, including Smartsheet and other relevant software.
- Bachelor's degree.
- A minimum of three years of experience leading complex projects, in an academic or higher education setting.
- Project Management Professional (PMP) certification required.
Position Type
TemporaryAdditional Information
Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.
Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as well as commuting & transportation. Visit https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/ for more information.
All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
This job is for a current or anticipated job vacancy.
Pay Rate:
$40.00 - $70.00Skills Required
- Proven expertise in creating and managing project documentation (charters, plans, status reports, risk assessments, change logs).
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including meeting facilitation, notes, action items, and stakeholder engagement.
- In-depth understanding of project management concepts, practices, and procedures, particularly in educational or startup environments.
- Strong organizational skills with attention to detail and ability to manage multiple tasks concurrently.
- Proficiency in project planning and tracking tools, including Smartsheet.
- Bachelor's degree.
- Minimum of three years of experience leading complex projects in an academic or higher education setting.
- Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
Northeastern University Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Northeastern University and has not been reviewed or approved by Northeastern University.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Paid time off is described as extensive, including 22–26 vacation days, 12 sick days, 13 holidays, and paid parental leave for birth/adoption. Additional paid leave is also outlined, including up to 26 weeks of paid medical leave and up to 12 weeks of paid family leave for eligible employees.
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Retirement Support — Retirement support is positioned as a standout, with an employer contribution described as 10% when an employee contributes 5%, alongside immediate vesting once eligible. This is presented as unusually generous relative to typical employer retirement offerings.
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Parental & Family Support — Family-oriented benefits are emphasized through tuition assistance for employees and dependents and access to backup childcare and family-care resources. Tuition remission/discount structures are highlighted as a major value driver, especially for employees with children and for long-tenured staff.
Northeastern University Insights
What We Do
Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university with a distinctive, experience-driven approach to education and discovery. The university is a leader in experiential learning, powered by the world’s most far-reaching cooperative education program. We integrate classroom study with opportunities for professional work, research, service, and global learning in more than 100 countries. The same spirit of collaboration guides a use-inspired research enterprise focused on solving global challenges in health, security, and sustainability. Northeastern offers a comprehensive array of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees through the doctorate in nine colleges and schools, and select graduate programs at campuses in Boston, Charlotte, N.C., San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Toronto. Campuses in Burlington, MA, and Nahant, MA, are home to research institutes for homeland security and coastal sustainability, respectively
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