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Location: Raleigh, NC
Essential Job Duties:
As the Project Manager for SPEED (Self-driving Platforms for Expedited Experimental co-Design), an NSF-funded national user facility for remotely accessible autonomous robotic experimentation in chemistry and materials science, you will lead program-wide planning, coordination, and execution across SPEED's scientific, engineering, operational, and infrastructure workstreams. You will manage integrated schedules, milestones, dependencies, risks, and deliverables to ensure progress remains aligned with NSF award commitments, annual objectives, facility deployment, and user-program goals.
You will serve as the central project-management interface among SPEED leadership, scientists, engineers, operations staff, university offices, vendors, and partner institutions, ensuring responsibilities, deadlines, and decisions are clearly defined and followed through. You will also lead NSF reporting and program documentation, supervise program staff, and establish consistent project-management practices across the Center.
Primary Responsibilities
Project Planning and NSF Deliverables
- Develop and maintain SPEED's integrated project plan, including milestones, dependencies, responsible workstream leads, and due dates.
- Establish project timelines and priorities with SPEED leadership and ensure responsible teams follow through on agreed deliverables.
- Monitor progress against NSF award commitments, annual objectives, equipment deployment, facility readiness, and user-program milestones.
- Identify schedule, resource, and cross-workstream risks and lead development of corrective actions with responsible teams.
- Maintain executive dashboards summarizing project status, risks, delays, decisions, and upcoming critical milestones.
- Provide SPEED leadership with clear recommendations when project issues require prioritization, escalation, or resource decisions.
- Manage the NSF reporting calendar and ensure required technical, operational, user, workforce, and performance inputs are complete and submitted on schedule.
- Coordinate and verify milestone evidence, annual-report inputs, site-visit materials, and sponsor-review documentation across SPEED teams.
- Track project metrics and deliverables against the Project Execution Plan and other NSF requirements.
- Maintain centralized records of decisions, action items, risks, completed milestones, and supporting documentation.
- Prepare program summaries, milestone reports, presentations, and review materials in coordination with SPEED leadership.
- Establish consistent documentation and reporting practices that support NSF reviews, site visits, annual reporting, and program accountability.
- Supervise 1-2 program staff assigned to areas such as outreach/user engagement and program or administrative support.
- Set priorities, assign work, review deliverables, and provide regular performance feedback to direct reports.
- Lead project and working-group meetings and document decisions, owners, deadlines, and unresolved issues.
- Manage dependencies across scientists, engineers, operations staff, university offices, vendors, and partner institutions.
- Serve as the central project-management point of contact for SPEED leadership and collaborating teams.
- Maintain the program risk register and require mitigation plans for significant technical, procurement, staffing, schedule, or administrative risks.
- Resolve or escalate resource conflicts and schedule delays with clear options and recommended actions.
- Manage cross-functional timelines for major equipment procurement, installation, commissioning, facilities, IT, safety, and contracting dependencies.
- Coordinate logistics and materials for NSF reviews, advisory-board meetings, site visits, and major program meetings.
- Standardize project-management templates, reporting practices, and accountability processes across SPEED.
Other Work/Responsibilities:
In addition to the core responsibilities of this role, there may be occasional opportunities to take on additional duties. This offers an opportunity to build on your skills, explore new areas, and gain a deeper understanding of the department's operations.
Minimum Experience/Education:
- Bachelor's degree in engineering, science, project management, business administration, or a related field.
Required Qualifications:
- Five or more years of experience managing complex research, engineering, technical, or infrastructure projects.
- Demonstrated experience owning project schedules, milestones, dependencies, risks, deliverables, and executive reporting.
- Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and driving accountability across multiple concurrent projects.
- Experience supervising staff or providing formal project leadership across matrixed teams.
- Strong organizational, analytical, written communication, and decision-making skills.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Managed federally funded research programs, including NSF awards, research centers, or user facilities, with responsibility for milestones, deliverables, budgets, or sponsor requirements.
- Preparation of sponsor reports and milestone reviews, with coordination of deliverables across multi-institutional research programs and university research environments.
- Technical background in scientific research, engineering, laboratory automation, robotics, artificial intelligence, or research infrastructure.
- Management of major equipment, facility, procurement, or commissioning activities, including schedules, dependencies, vendors, and implementation milestones.
- Development and maintenance of executive dashboards, risk registers, milestone reports, and sponsor-review materials to track project status, risks, and deliverables.
- PMP, CAPM, Agile, or comparable project-management certification or training.
Required License or Certification:
N/A
AA/EEO Statement:
NC State University is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive equal opportunities for employment without regard to age, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, and veteran status. The University encourages all qualified applicants, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities, to apply. Individuals with disabilities requiring disability-related accommodations in the application and interview process are welcome to contact 919-513-0574 to speak with a representative of the Office of Equal Opportunity.
If you have general questions about the application process, you may contact Human Resources at (919) 515-2135 or workatncstate@ncsu.edu.
Final candidates are subject to criminal & sex offender background checks. Some vacancies also require credit or motor vehicle checks. Degree(s) must be obtained prior to start date in order to meet qualifications and receive credit.
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