Project Manager

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Job Category:

Employment Type:

Job Profile:

Job Summary:

This position is responsible for leading project management efforts for two UWMadison initiatives: the Deliberation Dinners program (80%) and The Discussion Project (20%). The role focuses on program coordination student engagement event execution communications and operational management to support high-quality student deliberations and professional learning experiences for UW-Madison instructors.

Deliberation Dinners Responsibilities (80%)

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Deliberation Dinners a program that will be in its fourth year brings together ideologically diverse undergraduate students to engage in structured high-quality discussions on contemporary political issues building skills for respectful and meaningful dialogue and deliberations with people who have different views from their own.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead end-to-end project management including annual planning timelines and milestone tracking
• Oversee program budget and manage purchasing processes (materials catering space reservations incentives) in alignment with WCER systems
• Supervise and coordinate a team of undergraduate student employees and a graduate project assistant
• Plan and execute all Deliberation Dinner events including logistics materials AV communications and on-site facilitation (evening events required)
• Design and implement a large-scale student recruitment strategy to engage 375 ideologically diverse undergraduates including survey development outreach and partnership with campus offices
• Serve as liaison with key campus partners (e.g. Registrars Office Data Academic Planning & Institutional Research)
• Manage participant communications including onboarding expectations incentives permissions and ongoing engagement (email calendar Canvas)
• Administer program operations including payments stipends tracking participation and documentation (e.g. completion and recognition letters)
• Partner with the Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative to support program evaluation efforts and data sharing
• Develop and maintain program communications and outreach materials (website updates flyers presentations media coordination)
• Collaborate with curriculum and facilitation teams to organize and update program content including discussion materials and facilitator training
• Co-plan and co-facilitate facilitator training sessions
• Prepare annual reports and contribute to program scaling and administrative support as needed
• Represent the program through presentations to faculty students and university stakeholders

The Discussion Project Responsibilities (20%)

The Discussion Project is a professional course for UWMadison and UW System instructors focused on improving classroom discussion practice that has been offered since 2017.

Key Responsibilities:

• Support course implementation including materials preparation and organization
• Assist with administration of The Discussion Project Classroom Discussion Survey
• Coordinate participant recruitment and communications including mass emails and outreach to campus partners
• Manage participant enrollment tracking and communications (welcome messages scheduling calendar invites)
• Process purchasing and travel arrangements for instructors
• Maintain and update program website and participant database
• Support presentations and outreach related to The Discussion Project
• Maintain office organization supplies and inventory

Anticipated Start Date: July 1st 2026

Key Job Responsibilities:

• Facilitates the estimation of project costs resources and time required to complete the assigned phase of a project and monitors activities negotiates for resources and assigns tasks to ensure these targets are met. Follows established change control processes if targets can no longer be met

• Prepares regular reports to communicate the status of the project within and beyond the project team

• Creates a project plan monitors progress and performance against the project plan and identifies resolves or escalates risks and issues

• Sets priorities allocates tasks and collaborates with project staff to meet project targets and milestones

• Manages the activities of outside contractors to ensure they are integrated into the project and that the organization receives satisfactory standards of service

Department:

School of Education / Wisconsin Center for Education Research

Compensation:

$75000 ANNUAL (12 months)

Commensurate with qualifications and experience. This position offers a comprehensive benefits package including generous paid time off competitively priced health/dental/vision/life insurance tax-advantaged savings accounts and participation in the nationally recognized Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) pension fund.

Required Qualifications:

• Demonstrated ability to plan coordinate and execute complex projects with multiple components timelines and stakeholders (e.g. large-scale events programs or initiatives)
• Ability to manage logistics for events or programs including coordination of space materials communications and participant experience
• Experience using spreadsheets (e.g. Excel or Google Sheets) to organize analyze and present data including basic data visualization and database management
• Experience with digital tools and platforms such as Google Workspace Microsoft Excel Adobe Acrobat or similar systems
• Experience developing or supporting communication campaigns (e.g. email marketing tools such as Eloqua or similar platforms)
• Strong written communication skills including the ability to draft clear professional emails reports and program materials for diverse audiences
• Ability to organize and manage detailed information including tracking data timelines and deliverables using spreadsheets or similar tools
• Experience collaborating with or coordinating teams to produce shared deliverables (e.g. documents curriculum communications or program materials)
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to engage effectively with and present to students faculty and campus or community partners
• Demonstrated ability to learn and navigate organizational systems policies and procedures

Schedule Requirement: Working evening events (all Deliberation Dinners) at a designated campus location

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience supporting or managing program budgets including tracking expenses and processing purchases or payments
• Experience designing or supporting recruitment outreach or engagement efforts for programs or events
• Experience working within higher education or familiarity with Universities of Wisconsin systems policies or processes
• Experience supporting public-facing communications outreach or program promotion efforts

Education:

Bachelors Degree

How to Apply:

Please go to the Apply Now area and select your current UW Employment Status. There is one upload areainWorkday but you can upload multiple documents to your application. Incomplete application packages that do not includeall the requested documentation will not be considered.The application screening will begin around May 10 2026. Please expect to be notified by May 25 2026.

Contact Information:

Lynn Glueck

Program Director The Discussion Project

Institutional Statement on Diversity:

Diversity is a source of strength creativity and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity culture background experience status abilities and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching research outreach and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students faculty and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal OpportunityEmployer.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to including but not limited to race color religion sex sexual orientation national origin age pregnancy disability or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgroundsand encourage all qualified individuals to apply. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website.

To request a disability or pregnancy-related accommodationfor any step in the hiring process (e.g. application interview pre-employment testing etc.) please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR)in the division you are applying make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you.

Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct including sexual violence and sexual harassment.

The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7).

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