Project Manager

Basic Function

The Project Manager serves at Buckner Children and Family Services in leading the planning, execution, monitoring, reporting, and continuous improvement of domestic and international Missions projects. This role ensures projects align with approved strategic objectives, intended outcomes, budgets, timelines, and grant requirements. The Project Manager oversees project management systems, project intake, prioritization, risk management, impact measurement, and compliance while providing leadership with visibility into project performance, capacity, and organizational priorities.

Primary Responsibilities

• Manage the Missions project portfolio and ensure projects align with approved strategy, intended outcomes, budgets, and organizational priorities.
• Facilitate project intake, evaluation, prioritization, and capacity planning to ensure resources are directed toward the highest-impact initiatives.
• Ensure each project has defined goals, intended outcomes, timelines, budgets, deliverables, success measures, and assigned ownership consistent with guidance from Program Development & Design (PDD) and Missions leadership.
• Serve as the primary manager of post-award grant administration and coordinate compliance activities with Finance, Development, PDD, and project owners to ensure all reporting and contractual requirements are fulfilled.
• Serve as the departmental administrator and champion for the project management software, maintaining project visibility, accountability, workflow consistency, and documentation standards.
• Monitor project progress, milestones, deadlines, risks, dependencies, and resource constraints and proactively intervene when projects fall behind schedule.
• Develop and maintain systems and processes that support the collection, analysis, reporting, and use of project performance and impact data.
• Coordinate impact measurement activities and ensure project outcomes are accurately tracked, analyzed, and reported according to established frameworks.
• Produce accurate internal and external reports that communicate project performance, outcomes, lessons learned, and recommendations for improvement.
• Monitor project budgets, financial performance, grant requirements, and funding restrictions and recommend corrective actions when necessary.
• Provide routine portfolio-level reporting, risk assessments, and project recommendations to the Director of Missions and departmental leadership.
• Maintain portfolio-level visibility of project performance and proactively address issues to reduce administrative burden on program leaders and the Director of Missions.
• Serve as the Missions liaison to Program Development & Design regarding project portfolio management, impact measurement, continuous improvement, and organizational standards.
• Coordinate with Finance, Development, Program Development & Design, Volunteer Engagement, Communications, and operational teams to support successful project implementation.
• Support grant proposal development by providing project plans, budgets, impact data, reporting information, and operational input.
• Promote effective integration and use of organizational systems.
• Identify and implement process improvements that strengthen accountability, efficiency, risk management, reporting, and organizational effectiveness.
• Support responsible implementation of approved technology, automation, analytics, and AI tools that improve project execution and departmental performance.
• Provide support on complex or high-priority mission experiences and projects as assigned.

Other Responsibilities

• Maintain compliance with all Buckner policies, procedures, and requirements. Maintain knowledge of and compliance with all state and federal laws and regulatory requirements.
• Manage program resources to ensure they are used efficiently and appropriately aligned with approved business objectives.
• Responsible for supporting and representing Buckner at special events, activities, and other assigned functions.
• Attend and participate in meetings and training as required; facilitate meetings regularly as define by the communication framework and training as required.
• Develop emerging leadership through professional growth and development.
• Work successfully as a part of a team and responsible for developing and maintaining strong working relationships with co-workers.
• Perform special assignments, projects, and other duties as required.

Education and Licensing Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in project management, Business Administration, Nonprofit Management, International Development, Public Administration, Finance, Data Analytics, Organizational Leadership, or a closely related field is required to perform essential job functions. Master's Degree preferred.
• Requires a minimum of five years of progressive experience project management, program operations, portfolio management, grants management, organizational effectiveness, or a related field. Requires experience with project portfolio management, project intake processes, prioritization frameworks, resource planning, and organizational capacity management.
• Requires demonstrated experience leading multiple concurrent projects, managing competing priorities, and coordinating cross-functional teams to achieve organizational objectives. Requires demonstrated ability to create and manage project budgets, analyze financial information, monitor expenditures, and identify financial risks and variances.
• Requires experience coordinating program evaluation, impact measurement, monitoring, and reporting activities. Requires experience developing and maintaining project reporting systems, dashboards, performance metrics, and data-driven decision-making processes.
• Requires advanced knowledge of project management methodologies, project governance practices, risk management, and continuous improvement principles. PMP, PMD Pro, CAPM, Agile, Lean, or similar certification preferred.
• Requires proficiency with project management, collaboration, reporting, and data-analysis software. Experience; Asana experience is strongly preferred. Experience with SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Power BI, Virtuous, Financial Edge NXT, or similar enterprise systems is preferred.
• Requires experience in diverse and international settings. Latin American experience preferred.
• Requires experience in cultivating donor relationships.
• Requires knowledge of grant administration, compliance monitoring, reporting requirements, budget controls, and grant closeout procedures.
• Experience working in nonprofit, humanitarian, ministry, community development, international development, or related mission-driven environments preferred.

Other Requirements

• Requires ability to read, write, speak, and understand English sufficiently to perform the essential functions of the position, including communication with clients, volunteers, and community partners, documentation, and collaboration with staff. Spanish language proficiency preferred to support effective communication with Spanish-speaking clients and families.
• Requires in-depth knowledge of social development and social change theory and practice.
• Requires demonstrated ability to identify project risks, evaluate impacts, develop mitigation strategies, and communicate recommendations to leadership.
• Requires ability to lead meetings, facilitate planning discussions, document decisions, and maintain accountability for commitments and deadlines.
• Requires strong analytical and critical-thinking abilities, including the ability to interpret complex information, identify trends, solve problems, and develop practical recommendations.
• Requires exceptional organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities while consistently meeting deadlines and maintaining attention to detail.
• Requires ability to work effectively with individuals across multiple departments and organizational levels while maintaining positive and productive working relationships.
• Requires excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills, including the ability to prepare reports and communicate complex information clearly to a variety of audiences.
• Requires ability to work independently, exercise sound judgment, maintain confidentiality, and make informed decisions with limited supervision.
• Requires ability to adapt to changing priorities, manage ambiguity, and perform effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Requires ability to travel to various geographic locations, both domestic and international, and some overnight stays. Requires ability to obtain and maintain the necessary documentation to travel internationally.
• Requires jobholder to work before and after normal business hours, some nights and weekends, as needed to meet client and business needs including promptly responding to phone calls, text messages and emails.
• Requires ability to drive assigned vehicle(s) or personal vehicle, with an appropriate state license, following all laws applicable; must provide proof of liability insurance and must be eligible to be insured under Buckner’s insurance policy. Requires the ability to rent vehicles both domestically and internationally using required documentation. Must be age 21 or older to drive on behalf of Buckner.
• Requires ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Proficient working knowledge and ability to accurately and timely operate and perform computer-related tasks with specific equipment and software applications, including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, required.
• Requires recognition that the organization is a faith-based organization operating with a commitment to Christian principles.
• Requires ability to use up to 50 pounds of force occasionally and/or up to 20 pounds of force frequently and/or 10 pounds continuously to move objects.
• Requires ability to walk frequently; occasionally stand for prolonged periods of time; occasionally required to squat, climb stairs, kneel and twist. Required to sit for prolonged periods of time, including extensive airline travel.
• Requires ability to speak clearly and make self-understood in face-to-face interactions; to articulate with extreme accuracy and precisions to give directions, speak on the phone, etc.
• Requires ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing.
• Requires sufficient good health to properly discharge duties. Employees shall not be permitted to work who have infectious disease or skin lesion for the duration of the communicability.

Buckner Children and Family Services complies with all the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act.