The Role
At Upstatement, we believe project management and engagement is all about optimizing creative excellence. As a Project Manager, you will serve as the connective tissue between Upstatement’s craft, business performance, and client experience. More specifically, this fully remote position will…
- Set projects up for success via thoughtfully crafted scopes, schedules, and teams.
- Lead client and team communication throughout the entire project.
- Own and adapt the tools, processes, and systems we use to do the work.
- Collaborate with other project leadership to shape the project, guide the team, solve problems, and ensure high-quality work.
- Build and maintain healthy client relationships that inspire continued work together.
- Collaborate on and own account relationships with an eye towards growth and strategy for our clients.
Last but not least: People who succeed here are empathetic teammates who are candid, kind, caring, and embody our core values. We believe that diverse, inclusive teams make the most impactful work. Upstatement is deeply invested in ensuring that we have a supportive, growth-oriented environment that works for everyone.
Why Upstatement
Upstatement is a digital product studio with an editorial mindset. We use the tools of design, engineering, and journalism to enrich lives and create a more just society. Our 40-person team works with established leaders (MIT, ESPN, PBS, Microsoft) and emerging companies who are about to change the world. We are members of the kyu Collective and combine the energy of a boutique studio with the business maturity of an established global innovation leader.
- Work with ethical and mission-driven organizations.
- Collaborate in a high-trust environment that empowers creative ownership.
- Build a portfolio you can be proud of.
- Blossom in a small studio culture full of top talent and peers who help you grow.
- Find your path at a place that prizes flexibility: We encourage experimentation, support role switching, and help people balance between maker/manager and lead/support.
What You’ll Do
- Own & adapt process. Apply process with purpose to help your project teams deliver effectively. Be a steward of agile, but also comfortable adapting it to suit your team’s needs. Continuously seek to improve the processes we use to deliver digital work as a studio.
- Align people and teams. Design and facilitate meetings, workshops, and standups that help your client and project team collaborate effectively.
- Strategize about the work. Collaborate with other project leadership like the Product Manager, Creative Director, and Tech Lead to shape the work and make the decisions that keep the project humming.
- Watch for risks and opportunities. Keep a steady eye on the long-term schedule, and anticipate what might be coming down the road. Flag risks, big and small, and apply creative problem-solving to mitigate or course correct.
- Provide an amazing client experience. We believe every member of the team is responsible for communicating openly and kindly with clients. You’ll lead this effort: encouraging direct conversations between experts, clarifying details, and making tough decisions feel easy.
- Grow accounts. Be a confidant to your clients, and find opportunities to continue our work together. Propose extensions, new scopes of work, and drive the execution of contracts.
- Be the heartbeat of our projects. Ensure that everyone is engaged and knows what they need to do. Prioritize work, facilitate communication, and clarify everything. You’ll shape an environment where smart people can do amazing work and reach their full potential.
About You
- You have experience and opinions about how to tackle digital work with agile teams. You’ve helped a variety of teams design, build, and ship digital products. You understand the principles of agile, and feel comfortable adapting methods to fit different teams and types of work.
- You’re autonomous and take initiative. You see problems and get to work solving them. You’re comfortable trying things you’ve never tried before. You know when to ask for help.
- You’re reliable and detail-oriented. You’re a process nerd. You love systems. You pay attention to specifics and don’t let details slip through the cracks. You can manage multiple projects simultaneously and prioritize effectively across them.
- You’re empathetic and comfortable addressing conflict. You challenge directly and care personally. You know how to frame difficult situations to avoid misunderstandings, name problems, and move toward solutions. You bring optimism, clarity, and calm.
- You’re a great communicator. You can answer difficult questions on-the-fly and summarize complex conversations in a few clear sentences. You can help others express their own thinking.
- You’re a leader. You’re invested in understanding the motivations and needs of others, and then meeting those needs. You set the tone by proactively signaling the behavior you want from your peers and teams.
Compensation
Upstatement is committed to helping our people grow and providing transparent salary benchmarks. This job fits two possible levels in our skill progression framework (something we’d love to share during the interview process). The level depends the candidate’s unique qualifications, to be determined during the interview process.
- Level: PM3
- Official Title: Senior Project Manager
- Department: Project Management
- Salary Range: $85,000 - $100,000
- Level: PM4
- Official Title: Lead Project Manager
- Department: Project Management
- Salary Range: $100,000 - $120,000
- Competitive salary
- Experience true life-work balance with a 4-Day Work Week.
- Health, Dental, & Vision Insurance
- Flexible Spending & Health Savings Accounts
- Online Mental Health Therapy with Talkspace & First Stop Health
- Short & Long Term Disability Insurance
- One Medical membership
- Health Advocacy Support
- Gynecology and Family-building Care with Kindbody
- Non-elective 401k company contribution
- $1,000 home office setup stipend
- $1,500 annual professional development budget
- 3 weeks vacation to start, plus company-wide closure between Christmas & New Year’s Day (fully paid)
- 12 weeks paid parental leave, plus 12 additional weeks available as unpaid
- Co-working spaces in New York City, Boston, and Chicago as well as a fully distributed workforce
Interview Process
Our goal is to get to know you in a low-pressure, friendly environment — and to give you ample opportunity to learn more about us, too.
Our typical process includes these types of experiences:
- A resume screen and introductory phone/video chat
- A take-home exercise where you’ll have the opportunity to demonstrate your communication and problem-solving skills
- Additional conversations with potential future team members, the hiring manager, and leadership
Our goal is to create an environment where you can interview at your best. Our interview process is fully remote, conducted via Zoom calls. If we can provide any assistance or accommodations during your time with us, please let us know at [email protected]. All requests are treated as privately as possible and have no impact on candidate eligibility.
Interested in applying?
Send us a resume, cover letter, and anything else that helps us understand what makes you awesome.
Women, people of color, LGBTQIA2S+ individuals, and members of other underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply. Upstatement is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against candidates on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, or veteran status. Upstatement is committed to providing a welcoming and inclusive workplace for everyone — you are welcome here.
FWIW: Worries of “what if I’m not the perfect fit” can sometimes hold us back from applying to jobs. We want to let you in on a secret: there is no perfect candidate. Sure, we’re interested in resumes, but also the narrative beyond that resume—unique backgrounds, experiences, points of views, etc. As such—there is no set of boxes to tick in order to be a good candidate. If this is a job that excites you, we hope you’ll apply.
What We Do
Born in the newsrooms of The New York Times and the Boston Globe, we transform organizations by bringing their stories to life.
Our cross-disciplinary teams work at the intersection of design, engineering, and storytelling, and have a track record for digital innovation—including one of the key moments in media design history. Upstatement launched the first mainstream responsive website for The Boston Globe, proving it could be done at scale and paving the way for a ubiquitous technology. Since then, we’ve shipped software that millions of people use every day.
Our products help people do a lot of different things—stay informed, apply to college, chat about books, and even save lives—but there’s a theme to our work: We choose ethical partners who share our desire to make a positive impact on humanity. Our favorite projects propel meaningful change, like ending gun violence and greening the planet. It’s all unified by strong stories and consistent values
