Climate & Sustainability Project Manager
USC Dornsife Public Exchange
Public Exchange (PX) is a dynamic new organization within USC that partners with the public and private sectors to help design solutions to the problems that matter most. Founded in 2020 by USC Dornsife Dean Amber Miller, the central features of the PX model are:
- Partnership: We partner with civic, business and non-profit leaders whose policymaking, products and programs tackle urgent social challenges.
- Academic Expertise: We assemble diverse research teams to deliver actionable insights partners can use to test and sharpen solutions.
- Project Management: We clear roadblocks so partners and researchers can focus on what they do best, and leverage every opportunity to scale impact.
PX is a team of 14 professionals across two dedicated practices in Climate & Sustainability and Health & Wellbeing. The team has led projects with more than 20 partners across the public and private sectors to date.
Launched last year, PX’s Climate & Sustainability Practice builds collaborative research projects tackling our triple planetary crisis: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Projects often cross multiple climate & sustainability issue areas, including: emissions reduction, resilience & adaptation, nature-based solutions, and public action and communications. PX projects have a track record of social impact, our north star, resulting in enhanced climate communications for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the planting of a more equitable tree canopy in Los Angeles, and the development of a physical and augmented reality planning tool for the LA River.
PX is looking for a Project Manager (PM) to support the rapidly growing Climate & Sustainability Practice. PMs are essential to the PX model — helping to identify new partners, scope out research questions, draft proposals, set-up and manage projects, and deliver rigorous and actionable findings on time and budget. Ideal candidates will have a strong commitment to social impact, familiarity with climate & sustainability issues, a high degree of intellectual curiosity, and the flexibility and willingness to take on emerging challenges in new topic areas.
The PM will work closely with the Climate & Sustainability Practice Director and team members, the Strategy & Operations Team, and university partners to deliver high-impact projects. The PM is responsible for the success of their projects from conception to completion, including defining project strategy, scopes, timelines, milestones, deliverables and budgets, and overseeing the day-to-day execution of project plans.
The ideal candidate is:
Committed to working on climate & sustainability issues
Candidates should have experience working on climate & sustainability issues (such as clean energy, transportation, adaptation, community resilience, environmental justice, or similar fields). A degree in public policy, planning, social science, environmental studies, or cognate fields is preferred.
Collaborative with an entrepreneurial spirit
PMs at PX have a bias for action — they are extremely organized, detail-oriented, strong communicators, diplomatic, and comfortable coordinating across large and diverse teams. PX is a new organization and still at an early stage of its growth. An entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to pitch in and work with a small, but mighty team to build from the ground up is essential.
Experienced in managing projects
Project management is the beating heart that drives PX, requiring careful organization, tracking, and delivery of tasks by deadlines. Candidates should excel in juggling multiple responsibilities, and have experience managing grants or contracts. Project managers should understand the soft skills required to keep a team cohesive & aligned, and resolve conflicts when they arise.
Research-oriented
Candidates should understand the role and opportunity that data, research, and evaluation can play in tackling complex social issues, particularly in climate & sustainability.