Manager, Strategic Projects

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $75,000 – $85,000

position Summary

Reporting to the Director, Strategic Projects, the Manager, Strategic Projects oversees processes related to the planning, coordination, and execution of assigned presidential initiatives and priorities. The Manager provides high level operational and analytical support to senior leadership, exercising discretion and independent judgment while maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and confidentiality.

Responsibilities

• Provides managerial oversight for assigned presidential initiatives, committees, task forces, and strategic projects from planning through implementation, developing project plans, timelines, deliverables, and success measures to meet University priorities.
• Develops executive level briefings, correspondence, presentations, and decision materials for senior leadership, synthesizing complex information into actionable options and recommendations aligned with University standards.
• Conducts independent research and analysis for presidential initiatives, compiling information from multiple sources, assessing implications, and recommending approaches to advance strategic goals.
• Serves as committee administrator for assigned presidential committees, coordinating agenda development, facilitating meeting preparation, and driving follow-through on action items and deliverables in partnership with key stakeholders.
• Responsible for the development of committee reports and related deliverables, including establishing documentation standards, validating sources, and producing high quality narrative and visual materials that support leadership decision making.
• Establishes and maintains recordkeeping systems for presidential initiatives, including decision logs, documentation repositories, contact lists, archives, and project tracking tools to ensure continuity and audit ready records.
• Leads the coordination of virtual and in person meetings and project workstreams, resolving routine issues independently, escalating risks as appropriate, and ensuring cross unit alignment to achieve outcomes.
• Represents the Director in cross University interactions related to assigned initiatives, building relationships, coordinating input, and advancing decisions consistent with established priorities.
• Develops and maintains progress reporting tools, dashboards, and summaries to monitor outcomes, identify risks, and recommend corrective actions to ensure initiatives remain on track.
• Performs additional duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent.
• Minimum three years of related experience.

Additional Position-Specific Minimum Qualifications

• Strong time management and the ability to complete multiple tasks with competing priorities in a face-paced, results-oriented environment.
• Strong verbal, writing and computer skills including proficiency with Microsoft Office and comfort learning project management tools.
• Confidentiality and good judgement are required.
• Experience interacting with senior management preferred.
• Must be able to work early mornings, evenings, and weekends, as needed

Preferred Requirements

• Prior experience supporting an executive level office strongly preferred.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.