Program Manager, Strategic Initiatives

Description

Why is this a great job? (From the hiring manager) “LPHI’s Managers are foundational members of project teams, leading the forward movement, expansion, and overall success of LPHI’s programs and initiatives. The Manager will have the opportunity to support multiple projects and processes related to business development and strategic projects across the organization, gaining valuable insight and experience in multiple topic areas. LPHI is committed to an organizational culture that embraces innovation and creativity, incorporates equity into practices, and prioritizes the success and growth of all its employees.”

ABOUT US
The Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI) is a statewide, non-profit organization that has been promoting the health and well-being of Louisianians since 1997. Our 65+ employees work alongside 500+ partner organizations at the local, state, and national levels to leverage our broad expertise in public health to achieve our mission of ensuring that everyone has fair and just opportunities to be healthy and well.
Our strategic plan priority areas include Health Equity, Partnerships and Collaboration, A Healthier Louisiana, and A Thriving Organization. To learn more, visit www.lphi.org. 

POSITION DETAILS

Job Title: Project Manager, Strategic Initiatives
Salary: $67,367 - $81,689 (Professional 2)

• Salary is based on various factors unique to each candidate, including skill set, experience, qualifications, and other job-related reasons

Work Schedule: 40-hour work week

• LPHI offers traditional (M-F, 8 am-5 pm), flexible (for example, M-F 10 am-7pm), and compressed work schedules (for example, M-Th 8 am-7 pm). Schedule details finalized between employee and manager. 

Location: This is a remote position with occasional (<10%) travel required.

• LPHI maintains an office in New Orleans if the employee prefers to be fulltime in-office

Team: Strategic Initiatives 

Reports To: Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives 

Supervises: none

Benefits:

• LPHI contributes 7% of pre-tax salary to the employees’ 401k per pay period regardless of employee contribution, after six continuous months of employment
• 100% paid premiums for employee health (Core plan), dental, short-term disability, long-term disability and term life insurance beginning on the first day of the month, on or following one month of full-time employment
• 100% paid Employee Assistance Program
• 100% paid parking at 601 Tchoupitoulas Parking Garage
• Traditional, flexible, or compressed work schedules
• Resources committed to professional development
• Holidays, Vacation and Sick Days:
• 15+ paid holidays per year that includes Thanksgiving Break and Winter Break 
• 10 vacation days accrued per year, years 0-2
• 15 vacation days accrued per year, years 3-5
• 20 vacation days accrued per year, year 6+ 
• 3 personal days
• 1 floating holiday (employee’s choice)
• 12 sick days

ABOUT THE POSITION

A successful candidate will possess exceptional organizational and process management skills; thrive in both team environments and self-directed tasks; exhibit excellent communication and customer service skills; exercise discretion and diplomacy in complex and confidential situations; have the ability to proactively anticipate and manage challenges; and have strong time management skills. 

Day-to-day responsibilities include: developing and monitoring project timelines and project plans; drafting, editing, and organizing reporting documents; meeting management; responding to emails and phone calls; crafting communications to assigned leads and staff; staff training; systems optimization; operations and developmental tool development and deployment; monitoring of funding opportunities; grant writing and development; development of standard operating procedures; document management; researching best practices, and other duties as necessary. The Project Manager will also be responsible for building and maintaining good working relationships with team members across the organization, serve on a variety of committees and workgroups, and leads the development and maintenance of external partner relationships in collaboration with the Senior Director.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities 

Strategy and Business Development

• Lead the onboarding, optimization, and integration of a grant seeking software leveraged to identify tailored funding opportunities to advancing the strategic priorities of the organization.
• Create and distribute bi-weekly grant opportunities to all staff, tailored to LPHI’s strategic priorities and identify organizational leads to take action on each opportunity. 
• Develop and maintain funder tracking sheet to provide timely prompts to Business Development team of forecasted opportunities and to monitor funder outreach and engagement activities.
• Streamline business development processes, including training opportunities to staff on grant seeking and development process, tools, and protocols.
• Manage the development and coordination of business development materials, meetings, and additional duties as needed. 
• Integrating of grant development process in alignment with Finance, including training, monitoring and refinement.
• Design and manage grant writing process including the determination of proposal teams, designation of tasks, file sharing, project management support, narrative and budget templates, and review process. 
• Write and contribute to design of proposals, scopes and budgets.
• Develop partner profiles, including environmental scans, strategy development, stakeholder matrix and related.
• Manage pre and post communications with external stakeholder groups.
• Lead the development of and maintain new and existing external partnerships to advance strategic opportunities of the organization. 
• Provide recommendations of funding opportunities and partnership development to senior leadership. 

Operations

• Develop organizational standards, including documentation management, for capturing inputs and outputs of the org-wide teams.
• Contribute to service line development efforts, including packaging, pricing, stakeholder scan, and outreach strategy.
• Serve as resource support for staff on operational questions and guidance, including process fidelity.
• Manage special projects by implementing and managing change activities, high-impact initiatives, and connections across strategy and operations for the organization. Ex. Documentation management.
• Contribute to development of processes and develop tools to improve operations and optimize efficiency in project execution; support continuous process improvement across teams.
• Support org-wide reporting and communications in alignment with Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning and Communications.
• Develop and lead the procurement, onboarding, and optimization of systems to improve operations at the organizational level including accounting systems, grant tracking systems, and project management systems. 
• Develop and launch Request for Proposals system to support organizational and operational needs including but not limited to pay equity consultants, financial assessment, and additional financial support. 
• Provide recommendations to senior leadership for organization wide opportunities to improve operational efficiencies and greater impact. 
• Develop project management standards and templates for programmatic team use. 

Administration and Communications

• Prepares, proofreads, and edits outgoing correspondence to both internal and external stakeholders.
• Organize, manage and lead dissemination efforts for internal and external partners. 
• Develop an understanding of the programmatic areas and stakeholders to support operational improvements through staff feedback.
• Support development, population, and auditing of document management system, including uploading and organizing historical and developed plan documents.
• Responds to inquiries. Schedules meetings with internal staff and external partners. 
• Serve as support and provides input to Communications team as it relates to operational priorities and announcements.
• Promotes continuous improvement by developing efficiencies and implementing enhanced processes.
• Support the creation of marketing materials to develop new external partnerships and funding opportunities. 
• Design, launch, and analyze annual Operations and ITS staff survey.
• Plan and implement operational improvements to support organizational success that are informed by the findings of the annual Operations and ITS staff survey. 

Project management and coordination  

• Lead organizational onboarding, training, and optimization of project management software. 
• Design and lead project management templates, standards, and tools to support high quality project management practices across the organization.
• Support staff in enhancing operational efficiencies through process improvement, creation of workflows, and development of standard operating procedures. 
• Monitor roles and responsibilities of leads and staff in advancing operational and programmatic efforts.
• Conducts quality checks and internal audits to ensure operational efficiencies and impact for LPHI programs and cross organization initiatives.
• Serve as resource to identified team members on advancing strategic plan and integration of business processes, may include research best practice, deliverables development and general support to activities.
• Monitor and report out programmatic risks.
• Develop and integrate project tools, including staff training. 

ABOUT YOU

Position Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience required. 
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification preferred.
• 5+ years relevant experience required including providing range of complex administrative support services to leadership-level staff.
• Advanced knowledge of project management software and tools, Microsoft Office Suite (including Word, Excel, power point) and Microsoft Outlook. 

Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities 

• Strong project management skills, including design and utilization of tools.
• Ability to collaborate effectively and build strong, positive relationships with colleagues and partners, both internally and externally.
• Exceptional emotional intelligence, including interpersonal skills and experience working with individuals and groups from diverse backgrounds. 
• Experience with developing and creating surveys/polls and using polling software. 
• Proficiency in setting up and running video conference software (such as Teams, GoToMeeting, Zoom) for large and small group meetings/events. 
• Exercises confidentiality and discretion at all times when communicating with or in regard to external partners. 
• Exhibits a courteous, professional demeanor at all times.
• Engages in professional development activities to improve job-related skills and knowledge.
• Proven ability to anticipate needs and problem solve.
• Outstanding organizational skills, ability to be flexible and multi-task with demonstrated resourcefulness in setting priorities.
• Excellent verbal and written communication (i.e. professional correspondence, proofreading, editing) skills.
• Ability to effectively present information and respond to high level inquiries from LPHI’s senior leadership team, staff, community partners, stakeholders, and members of the community.  

Your Impact at LPHI
The work you do at LPHI supports the organization’s ability to operate effectively and serve its mission. Your role contributes to how work gets done across teams—helping ensure efforts are organized, responsive, and aligned to organizational priorities that improve and advance health equity. 

We value collaboration, respect for lived experience, and continuous learning, and we strive to create an environment where every team member can contribute fully to advancing Health Equity, strengthening Partnerships and Collaboration, building a Healthier Louisiana, and supporting a Thriving Organization. 

How We Work

Work Environment & Physical Considerations: 

We operate in a flexible work environment that includes both hybrid and fully remote roles, depending on position responsibilities and organizational needs. Our approach emphasizes trust, accountability, collaboration, and clear outcomes.

In all roles, employees can expect:

• Clear goals, priorities, and performance expectations
• Regular communication with supervisors and colleagues to support alignment and progress
• Thoughtful use of technology to enable effective collaboration and productivity
• Shared responsibility for maintaining a consistent organizational voice and upholding our values

Some positions require a hybrid schedule, with periodic onsite presence to support collaboration, relationship-building, and key meetings. Other positions are designated as fully remote. Work arrangements are determined by role requirements and may evolve over time based on operational needs.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Statement: Louisiana Public Health Institute is committed to accessibility and inclusion by providing reasonable accommodations and, when appropriate, flexible work arrangements, for qualified individuals with disabilities to support the job application process and performance of essential job functions consistent with applicable laws and organizational requirements. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at HumanResources@lphi.org. 

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Statement: Louisiana Public Health Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race (including hair texture and natural hair styles), color, religion, religious creed (including religious dress and religious grooming practices), sex (including pregnancy, perceived pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), gender, gender identity (including transgender identity, status and transitioning), gender expression and sex stereotyping, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, legally protected medical condition or information (including genetic information), family care or medical leave status, military caregiver status, military status, veteran status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, enrollment in a public assistance program, engaging in protected communications regarding employee wages, requesting a reasonable accommodation on the basis of disability or bona fide religious belief or practice, or any other basis protected by local, state, or federal laws. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any of these factors.

*As with all positions at LPHI, this position is funded through grant and/or contract funding, which is renewed under the provisions of the grantor of the contract. Positions are contingent upon the continuation of grant/contract funding.