The Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just, and equitable society. Since its founding in 1949, the Institute has been driving change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the most critical challenges facing communities in the United States and around the world. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Institute has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, and an international network of partners.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

To achieve our mission of a more free, just, and equitable society, we commit to working proactively to advance the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion across our myriad endeavors such as the recruitment, compensation, training, and advancement of staff. The best people-serving institutions make this commitment, and we seek to be a leader in the ways that we do so and learn from others. Visit our website to learn more about our commitment and recent actions taken toward building and nurturing a diverse and inclusive environment.

The Economic Opportunities Program (EOP)
EOP advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy. We recognize that race, gender, and place intersect with and intensify the challenge of economic inequality and we address these dynamics by advancing an inclusive vision of economic justice. For over 25 years, EOP has focused on expanding individuals’ opportunities to connect to quality work, start businesses, and build economic stability that provides the freedom to pursue opportunity.

We collaborate with national and local leaders across the United States – nonprofit leaders, policymakers, labor leaders, business leaders, educators, academics, and more – and we actively seek input and ideas from individuals and communities affected by proposed approaches to address economic opportunity challenges. Through our leadership and fellowship programs; applied research and evaluation; data and analysis; and dialogue with diverse stakeholders, we work at both local and national levels to build understanding and galvanize action to address the challenge of economic opportunity in America.

EOP focuses on two primary areas through which people access economic opportunity in the U.S. –jobs and entrepreneurship/business ownership.  EOP’s  Business Ownership Initiative builds understanding of the role of business ownership as an economic opportunity strategy and EOP’s Job Quality Center of Excellence is a new platform to drive improved job quality and economic dignity for workers through stakeholder engagement, idea generation, and resource sharing to prompt and support effective action toward a world of work that offers all working people economic stability, dignity and respect, and opportunities for mobility.  The Job Quality Center of Excellence brings together the work of several long-standing initiatives including the Future of Work Initiative, Good Companies/Good Jobs, UpSkill America, and the Workforce Strategies Initiative.

Basic Function
The Senior Project Manager will lead and support a range of activities that include applied research, analysis, and organizational practice change strategies, all with an aim toward addressing the job quality crisis and improving the experience of work for working people.  The Senior Project Manager will be involved in engaging and building relationships with employers, business organizations, social impact investors, workforce development organizations, worker advocates, and others.  The Senior Project Manager will center racial and gender equity as an essential component of job quality strategies, ensuring that research, analysis, and organizational practice change strategies are conducted with an equity lens. In addition, the Senior Project Manager will contribute to building awareness of the ways in which job quality strategies can strengthen business performance, and the essential role that good jobs play in advancing a strong economy and thriving society.

The Senior Project Manager will play a key role in a new initiative to be conducted in partnership with the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation that will build understanding within the Chamber’s network regarding the value of designing quality jobs.  The project includes a year of applied research in service of building, testing, and scaling business-facing job quality modules into the Talent Pipeline Management Program (TPM).  The intention is to influence corporate mental models and drive practice changes that improve outcomes for workers and firms.  The project will also promote the work to a broad audience through EOP’s new Job Quality Center of Excellence. 

The Senior Project Manager will also work to identify and highlight businesses that are succeeding by designing good jobs, contribute to the profiles of businesses in the Job Quality Center of Excellence, and identify practices that can be highlighted in the Job Quality Tools Library.  In addition, the Senior Project Manager will contribute to research on how companies invest in the skills of their frontline workers, helping to document those strategies, the influence of those strategies on overall job design, and the ways in which they can improve both business performance and job quality for frontline workers.

The ideal candidate will be an experienced professional in economic development, business development, workforce development, or related area. They and will bring a commitment to addressing racial and gender inequities in employment and helping low-income individuals earn a living in today’s economy. The Senior Project Manager should be prepared to manage a multi-faceted project, facilitate ongoing communication among project contributors, and coordinate the work of internal colleagues and external consultants/experts. The candidate must be comfortable in being both a leader and a learner.  He/she/they should bring an open mind and curious spirit to exploring innovative approaches for improving job quality and advancing racial and gender equity to expand economic opportunity. EOP values creativity, team spirit, integrity, commitment to mission, hard work, work-life balance, and fun. Travel is required.
 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Project Management

• Manage a multi-faceted stream of work that includes internal and external partners.
• Develop project and research plans that include and align multiple work streams, encompassing investigative field work, research report development, organization and execution of public events, and other activities.
• Effectively engage team of staff and consultants to advance project activities, track and share project progress, and identify and communicate any needed adjustments to project timelines or deliverables.
• Identify ongoing project staffing needs and make recommendations regarding the use of outside consultants as needed.

Research, Writing, and Presentation

• Plan and conduct, in collaboration with other EOP research staff, research and investigative activities, such as literature reviews, case studies, field surveys or other approaches.  Case studies may involve site visits, desk research, phone/zoom interviews and other information gathering activities.  
• Coordinate the analysis of project findings, in collaboration with relevant EOP team members and external collaborators, and contribute to the production of various written products, including research reports, blogs, articles, op-eds, which would be useful to communicate findings of the work.
• Share lessons with other Aspen Institute program leaders engaged in job quality and advancement work and provide feedback and input on other program work and products in order to contribute to the work of the program as a whole.
• Engage in ongoing exploration of strategies to improve job quality and worker advancement that have been attempted by employers and a range of local implementing organizations. 
• Identify opportunities to communicate project findings and raise the profile of the work to ensure that information and recommendations reach key audiences. This could include working with local implementers to plan and support public events, presenting at conferences, contributing blogs and op-eds to appropriate outlets, and other efforts.

Network Development and Relationship Management

• Maintain, nurture, and establish relationships with a variety of external partners and stakeholders including businesses, business associations, workforce development organizations, labor organizers and worker advocacy organizations, and others. 
• Represent the work of the program at key conferences, meetings, and events.
• Ensure regular communication with key project funders regarding project progress, accomplishments and lessons learned. Contribute to the development of new project ideas and the crafting of proposals.

Skills, Education and Experience

• Three to five years of experience in business development, organizational consulting, workforce program design, economic development, economic policy advising or related work.  
• Strong project management skills including experience establishing project plans, timelines, and management systems to ensure projects stay on schedule and in line with project goals.
• Ability to manage a multi-faceted stream of work that includes internal and external partners.
• Demonstrated capacity to build and sustain a productive working relationship with business organizations and firms.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and analytic ability with strong verbal communication skills.
• Familiarity with business metrics and measures to identify job quality and good businesses.
• Knowledge of systems that influence businesses’ attention to job quality – such as social impact investors and public or private sector procurement systems.
• Ability to collaborate with research team staff and engage the talents of colleagues who bring varied experience levels and expertise to the project.
• Ability to build productive professional relationships with external partners and colleagues.
• Ability to conceptualize and draft a variety of written products for multiple audiences.
• Ability to work both autonomously and as part of a close-knit team.
• Flexibility to adapt to changing program priorities.
• Enthusiasm for the ongoing work of the program.
• Master’s level education in a relevant business, public policy or social science discipline or equivalent understanding/expertise gained through work-based training and experience.
• Experience working with philanthropic investors, worker advocacy and labor organizations would be a plus, but is not required.  

Principal Interactions
Works directly with EOP program staff and consultants. Has routine interaction with project partners and constituents, grantees, funders and other EOP and Aspen staff.

Travel
Position requires travel. Amount of travel varies depending on time of year and requirements of specific projects.

Salary Range:
$95,000 - $105,000, depending on experience and qualifications.

To Apply:
Please visit the Aspen Institute’s career page and follow the instructions. Cover letter should highlight applicant’s interest and specific qualifications for this position. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered. The Aspen Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all District and federal laws.

Job Location
This position reports to the Washington, DC, US office. Applicant must be willing to travel to the Washington DC office as needed.

Position Type
Full-time /Regular

The Institute has implemented a mandatory COVID vaccination policy for all employees who will work at one of our physical locations, attend any of our in-person events or travel on behalf of the Institute. Staff unable to be vaccinated may request an exemption under certain circumstances.

The Aspen Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all District and federal laws. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or protected veteran or disabled status and will not be discriminated against.