Project Manager

Job Description

The Project Manager (PM) will play a crucial role in providing operational support to 5-10 individual research projects in the field of magnetic confinement fusion. The PM will work closely with technical leads and fiscal officers (FOs) to monitor, track, and assist with the adjustment of project scope, resources, and schedule in alignment with industry sponsors to ensure compliance with contractual obligations. The PM will engage with internal and external stakeholders, with assistance from and oversight by the Program Director, to anticipate and preempt issues, when possible, and to navigate and resolve them when not.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

• Implements and oversees day-to-day operational activities for multiple projects within the Magnetic Fusion portfolio, including any combination of administration, finance, IT, compliance, communications and outreach, and other functions.
• Support PIs with day-to-day project management on their portfolio of research projects.
• Work with PIs to prepare and maintain research project scopes, schedules (WBS or Gantt charts), budgets, and deliverables for each project.
• Work closely with PIs and PSFC fiscal officers to allocate, track, and maintain up-to-date personnel level of efforts, including communication of such to faculty, staff, and students.
• Support meetings, including scheduling, preparing agendas, and tracking action items.
• Assist in preparing project reports, presentations, and documentation for internal and external stakeholders in compliance with federal and sponsor-specific requirements.
• Monitor project milestones, contractual obligations, and sponsor requirements.
• Track project budgets and support basic financial reporting in collaboration with department administrators.
• Provide administrative support to Technical Leads and the Program Director as needed.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of project management practices within the program.
• Other duties as needed or required.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Physics or Engineering or a closely related scientific field.
• Minimum 3 years of related work experience in Project Management or Program Management.
• Strong organizational skills with detail-oriented mindset.
• Strong written and verbal communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to translate complex technical milestones into clear progress reports for non-technical industry sponsors.
• Ability to context-switch rapidly between different technical domains.Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to work as part of a diverse team of graduate students, postdocs, research staff, and the ability to promote collaboration and cooperation among teams.
• Time management and planning skills.
• Strong problem-solving skills.
• Strong computer experience with Microsoft Office suite.
• Deals with confidential information and/or issues using discretion and judgment.
• Experience with plasma physics and fusion research (experiment, modelling or simulation).
• Experience with entrepreneurial enterprises.
• Experience with project management tools such as Smartsheet, Jira, or Microsoft Project.
• Demonstrated resourcefulness.

Other important information

• This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.
• Employment is contingent upon the completion of a satisfactory background check.