Public Exchange Project Manager (Project Administrator)

USC Dornsife Public Exchange is reimagining how research serves the public. Public Exchange fast-tracks collaborations between academic researchers and partners across the public and private sectors to tackle complex problems together. In 2025, Public Exchange became a national network, launching its second location at Washington University in St. Louis.

USC Dornsife Public Exchange has a Health and Well-being Practice that has built collaborations to address food Insecurity, disaster recovery, healthcare worker and caregiver burnout, homelessness prevention, and more. It also has a Climate and Sustainability Practice that has built large-scale, high-impact collaborations such as ShadeLA and the California Solar Canal Initiative. Across both Practices, Public Exchange projects involve partnering with local government agencies, national non-profits, industry associations, health systems, companies, and more.

The Role

Public Exchange is hiring a Project Manager (PM) to support our growing team, with a portfolio focused within the Health and Well-being Practice. PMs are essential to the Public Exchange model - they help to identify new partners; scope research questions; draft proposals; develop, launch, and manage projects; and create rigorous, actionable, and high-impact deliverables. Ideal candidates will have a demonstrable commitment to social impact, familiarity with social issues of high national importance (particularly related to health and well-being), a high degree of intellectual curiosity, and the flexibility and willingness to learn and take on emerging challenges in new topic areas.

The PM will work closely with the Health and Well-being Practice Director and fellow team members, the Strategy & Operations Team, and a broad array of university partners to develop and execute projects. The PM will be responsible for the success of their projects, leading work across the full project lifecycle: identifying partner and funder opportunities, drafting proposals, managing day-to-day execution, developing stakeholder relationships, monitoring project-level budgets, addressing operational challenges, and ensuring maximal impact.

In addition, the PM serves as the primary student talent coordinator for Public Exchange projects, which frequently include student researchers and volunteers. The PM may also assist with high-priority operations projects across all of Public Exchange's projects and team members. Examples may include: creating, launching, and managing new systems and processes to channel the vast pool of student talent at USC toward maximum social impact in connection with Public Exchange projects, or operationalizing procedures for project budget reporting.

The ideal candidate is:

Committed to working on social impact issues
Candidates should have experience or demonstrable interest in working on social impact issues relevant to the Health and Well-being Practice (e.g., food insecurity, homelessness, affordability, caregiving, environmental health, disaster response and recovery, health innovation). A degree focused in public policy, public health, urban planning, social science, or other related fields is a plus.

Collaborative with an entrepreneurial spirit
PMs at Public Exchange have a bias for action - they are extremely organized, decisive, detail-oriented, strong communicators, diplomatic, and comfortable coordinating across large and diverse teams. Public Exchange is a fast-paced, growing organization. In many ways, we are still at an early stage of our growth. An entrepreneurial spirit, comfort with the unknown, and willingness to pitch in and build things from zero with a small, mighty team is essential.

Experienced in managing projects
Project management is the beating heart that drives Public Exchange, requiring careful organization, tracking, and delivery of tasks on deadlines. Candidates should excel in juggling multiple responsibilities, setting priorities, problem solving, and have experience managing grants or contracts. Project managers should understand the soft skills required to keep a team cohesive and have the emotional intelligence necessary to identify and resolve conflicts when they arise.

Respect for research and academia
Candidates should understand the role and opportunity that data, research, and academic evaluation can play in tackling complex social issues, particularly related to the priority areas of the Health & Well-being Practice (e.g., food and nutrition, healthcare and informal caregiving, homelessness, disaster response and recovery, environmental health, health tech).

Job Responsibilities:

• Project Development: Develop project strategies and scopes of work in consultation with faculty, research partners, partner organizations, and the Public Exchange strategy & operations team to execute projects for maximum social impact;
• Project Management: Develop long- and short-term project plans, including timelines, milestones, and deliverables;
• Daily Workflow: Manage day-to-day workflow of project portfolio and support research teams to execute against the project plans;
• Project Delivery: Lead all project kick-off, routine partner and research team meetings, as well as final presentation meetings;
• Relationship Management: Maintain strong relationships with all project partners, research team members, and key project stakeholders;
• Coordination: Serve as the primary point of contact for project partners, ensuring they remain updated on project progress and that deliverables exceed expectations;
• Issue Spotting and Risk Management: Operate with attention to risk management, information security, contractual compliance, with a keen eye for potential pitfalls or emerging risks;
• Budget: Work with Public Exchange's operations team to manage project finances, ensuring timely transfer of funds to research team members and payment of direct research expenses;
• Communication and Pitching: Lead project communications, coordinating with Public Exchange Communications Manager as well as university and partner communications teams, including developing presentation decks, messaging, press releases, web and social media content, videos, and other materials;
• Project Strategy: Continually seek strategic opportunities to build on project work, deliver for partners, and increase project impact.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree-degrees in public policy, urban planning, social sciences, environmental studies, or other related fields are a plus
• At least 3-5 years experience leading multi-stakeholder, cross-functional projects
• Recent work experience within a company, non-profit, university, or government agency designing products, policies, or programs related to health or well-being issues
• Track record of creative problem-solving and being solution-driven
• Demonstrated capacity to quickly understand and synthesize complex ideas and concepts
• Strong analytical and communications skills-you must be able to quickly and clearly communicate in writing
• Aptitude for learning and using tools that keep our hybrid team working as one unit: Google Workspace, Asana, Slack, Canva, etc. required
• Experience supporting primary or academic research projects is a plus

Minimum Qualifications:

Minimum Experience: 3-5 years, combined education/experience acceptable as substitute for minimum experience

Anticipated Hiring Range:

The annual base salary range for this position is $83,000 - $87,000. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate's work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer alignment, federal, state and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.

This position is funded on gift accounts.

Location:

Hybrid, L.A.-based; approximately 80% remote. Applicants outside of Los Angeles, but open to relocation within three months, encouraged to apply.

Required Documents and Additional Information:

• Resume and cover letter required (may be uploaded as one file). Please do not submit your application without these documents.

• Job openings are posted for a minimum of (5) five business days. This job may be removed from posting boards and filled any time after the minimum posting period has ended, so please apply on the same business day if interested.

• To support the well-being of our faculty and staff, USC provides benefits-eligible employees with a broad range of perks to help protect their and their dependents' health, wealth, and future. These benefits are available as part of the overall compensation and total rewards package. You can learn more about USC's comprehensive benefits here.

• Performs other related duties as assigned or requested. The university reserves the right to add or change duties at any time.