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Program Manager - Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA, United States
Who We Are:

At TPL, we're a team of outdoor advocates who believe in connecting everyone to the outdoors. As an ethos, we believe access to the outdoors is a fundamental human need and essential to our health and well-being. ​We're committed to creating more places that bring us outside—parks, trails, playgrounds, and public lands—and making them available and welcoming to everyone, everywhere, regardless of ZIP code. We also understand that land has meaning; it tells the story of our history. That's why, through our Black History and Culture initiative, we're working to preserve sites that more fully represent the Black American experience; and we're an ally and partner to Tribal and Indigenous communities, working in partnership to reconnect them with their ancestral lands.

One hundred million people, including 28 million children, don't have nearby access to a park within ten minutes of their home. We're determined to change this outdoor equity gap–and as a result, nine million people and counting now have access because of our work. We have miles to go and a plan to get there. We're inclusive change-makers who believe in connecting everyone to the outdoors. We inspire by paving the way forward and strengthening our connection to nature. Join us! 

Position Summary:  

The Program Manager is responsible for managing all phases of park, schoolyard and trail development projects in Philadelphia. This includes partnerships with the School District of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Water Department, Parks and Recreation, and others. The Program Manager will lead community engagement and manage outside consultants who will develop all technical design documents.  The program manager will also manage the construction of these projects.

Critical aspects of the position involve maintaining close coordination with public agencies, community partners, and internal staff to ensure all legal, financial, and regulatory guidelines are followed, that projects are completed on or under budget, and that community needs are met.

TPL has been transforming parks and schoolyards in Philadelphia since 2012. The Pennsylvania program is currently expanding to other municipalities in the state. The Program Manager will report to the Pennsylvania Program Director, and join a team of committed, passionate, and collaborative people working to deliver our mission.

Essential Functions:
85%        Program Management
  • Manage all aspects of the park/schoolyard/trail development process including oversight of design consultants, engineering firms, environmental consultants and construction contractors. 
  • Lead community engagement and participatory design processes. For schoolyard projects, participatory design includes working directly with school children to teach the necessary skills to design their own schoolyard.
  • Take primary responsibility for project design, schedules, budgets, bidding and day-to-day project oversight.
  • Maintain and build partnerships with government agencies and non-profit organizations.
  • Manage public grants.
  • Support other park, trail or schoolyard projects across the state.
15%      Program Advancement
  • Support Program leadership in planning the growth of the Pennsylvania Program.
  • Seek and apply for public grant funding and occasional fee-for-service work.
  • Work with the Program Director and Philanthropy team to build philanthropic support for the program.
  • Help identify new projects and partnership opportunities.
  • Work with other programs and staff in other TPL offices to help advance urban park and schoolyard projects across Pennsylvania and nationwide.
This position requires occasional ‘off-hours’ work including weekend and evening meetings and events. The Pennsylvania Program Team is based out of our Philadelphia office; The program manager will engage in work across the City of Philadelphia and occasionally in other parts of the state. Therefore, access to reliable transportation is required.

Qualifications:
  • Strong commitment to TPL’s shared values (Belonging, Creativity, Collaboration, Impact, and Hope) to effectively work across the organization.
  • Minimum 5-7 years relevant experience.
  • Experience managing design and construction projects.
  • A degree from an accredited university in Landscape Architecture, Architecture, Construction Management, or similar fields is preferred
  • A critical mass of the essential and desirable skills and experience described below
Skills and Experience:
  • Experience managing projects with deep community engagement.
  • Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with people of diverse cultures, backgrounds, and communities, and understanding of environmental justice issues in low-income, urban communities.
  • Ability to manage complex projects from start to finish with a low level of supervision.
  • Experience hiring and managing design professionals and construction contractors.
  • Experience working with community-based organizations and public agencies, ideally within Philadelphia.
  • Experience with project approval processes, ideally within Philadelphia.
  • Experience working within public schools, ideally within Philadelphia.
  • Ability to collaborate and negotiate with diverse groups and interests.
  • Ability to multi-task, meet schedules, budgets, and achieve long term goals.
  • High degree of creativity, vision, flexibility, and resourcefulness.
  • Excellent oral, written and graphic communication skills.
  • Basic computer and graphic design skills: Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite
  • Understanding of horticulture and/or urban ecology
  • Fluency in Spanish or other languages besides English is a plus.

Compensation:
Trust for Public Land is a hybrid work environment, and this role will ideally be located near a Trust for Public Land office. As a full-time employee, you will be eligible for the Trust for Public Land’s comprehensive benefits program which includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, vacation and sick pay plus holidays, a year end office closure, and a 403(b)-retirement plan, currently with up to a 7% company match. We offer competitive salaries commensurate with experience; the anticipated hiring range for this position is $82,500-93,000.

The Trust for Public Land is committed to cultivating a diverse staff that is representative of the communities we serve.  As the organization actively works to eliminate racial and other disparities it welcomes candidates with diverse backgrounds and/or multicultural skillsets. We are open to the possibility that a great candidate for this job may not precisely meet all the above criteria; if you believe you are the right person for this job and can persuasively make that case, we encourage you to apply.
 
www.tpl.org/careers

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