The New School offers this position will be based at the Tishman Environment and Design Center, a university-wide center housed at The New School that brings an interdisciplinary and environmental justice (EJ) approach to contemporary environmental challenges. The Center’s mission is to integrate bold research, design, policy, and social justice approaches to tackle the climate crisis and advance environmental justice. The Center provides technical, research, and movement-building support to the climate and environmental justice movements. We do this through collaborative partnerships grounded in the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing using community-based participatory research and critical action-oriented research methods.
The Tishman Environment Design Center seeks a dedicated and experienced Project Manager to serve as the primary representative of the Center within the United Network for Impact, Transformation, and Equity in Environmental Justice Communities (UNITE-EJ). This consortium, led by the Climate Justice Alliance (CJA), plays a pivotal role as a national pass-through grantmaker for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program (TCGM). UNITE-EJ is the National-West grantmaking partner in the TCGM program and will support EPA Regional GrantMakers (RGMs) for regions 8, 9, and 10 and co-coordinate TCGM nationally with the National-Center and National-East partners. This program is crucial in transforming disadvantaged and underserved communities into healthy, thriving ones by moving unprecedented resources to grassroots organizations and making federal funding accessible to historically underfunded and hard-to-reach communities.
The Unite-EJ Project Manager will oversee the Center’s responsibilities in coordinating UNITE-EJ’s evaluation, tracking, and reporting processes. This includes leading and guiding decisions regarding the monitoring and assessment/improvement of the consortium’s activities, strategies, and systems, as well as overseeing the project’s evaluation, tracking, and reporting to the EPA during the three years of the program’s activities. The position is offered as a fixed-term three-year grant funded contract under the EPA Thriving Communities Grant (TCGM) program. Funding beyond the three year term will be dependent upon continued grant funding for the program.
The New School is strongly committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and particularly seeks applications from members of underrepresented groups and candidates who share this commitment.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Evaluation, Tracking, & Reporting (ETR):
- Manage the evaluation, tracking, and reporting processes of UNITE-EJ activities to monitor and document the progress of its subrecipients and guide RGMs and other national grantmakers on their processes.
- Provide input to the UNITE-EJ partners on creating and implementing evaluative and tracking systems for the consortium that incorporate feedback loops to improve systems, communications, and overall program efficiency.
Common Reporting System Design & Implementation:
- Co-design and implement a standardized reporting system for UNITE-EJ and the three RGM that evaluates progress toward outcomes and outputs of subrecipients nationally, aiming for cross-regional adoption.
- Identify system strategies and methods to accommodate organizations with limited resources or English proficiency and include various submission methods (platform/electronic, written, telephone/video).
Performance & Grantmaking Outputs and Outcomes Monitoring:
- Co-develop and design a tracking system with other partners to assess UNITE-EJ’s performance as the West-National Coordinator/Grantmaker.
- Coordinate with the consortium to collect and report on feedback from national subrecipients, partners within the consortium, and Regional GrantMakers (RGMs), and self-evaluation to ensure efficient co-governance with EPA and effective outreach and engagement efforts.
Subrecipient Reporting:
- In coordination with other partners in the Consortium and a Data Analyst, collate report data from evaluative monitoring systems to develop quarterly summary reports of subrecipient activities, including outputs and outcomes, and share findings with RGMs, UNITE-EJ partners, and EPA.
- Coordinate with other consortium partners to include grantmaker outputs and outcome metrics in the reports submitted to the EPA, reflecting on program challenges, successes, and recommendations for future improvements.
Data Management and Supervision:
- Supervise a Data Analyst responsible for building reports and collating data to support the evaluation, tracking, and reporting processes.
- Monitor data to ensure the data analysis and reporting are accurate and complete in a timely fashion to facilitate informed decision-making and program improvements.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Master’s degree in Environmental Studies, Public Administration, or Program Evaluation or related field with a minimum of 5 years of experience in program evaluation, preferably in environmental justice, community development, or related sectors.
- Demonstrated experience in managing large-scale, multi-regional projects involving diverse stakeholders.
- Strong analytical skills with experience in evaluation, tracking, and reporting processes.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work collaboratively across teams and with partners at all levels.
- Proven experience in supervising data analysis and reporting tasks.
- Ability to lead initiatives, manage complex projects, and adapt to changing circumstances.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Knowledge of environmental justice issues, projects, and programs.
- Experience with federal grant management, reporting, and processes is highly preferred.
- Knowledge of the EPA’s grantmaking systems and programs is also highly desirable.
- Experience working with community-based organizations on social justice issues.
WORK MODE
Hybrid – Employees hired for this position primarily work remotely with the occasional on-campus presence required with advanced notice. Employees in this role will also be expected to use their best judgment to be on campus when necessary in order to best fulfill the responsibilities of their job descriptions. #LI-Hybrid
SALARY
$80,000 – $95,000
We look forward to receiving your application!