Senior Manager, Special Projects

Common Cause is seeking a proactive, highly organized Senior Manager, Special Projects to shepherd critical, high-priority cross-departmental initiatives. As our first dedicated project management lead, you will build and drive the systems that position Common Cause to achieve ambitious, long-term strategic goals. In this role, you will serve as the connective tissue between departments, ensuring complex projects—including our strategic priorities—stay on track, within budget, and aligned with our mission. This is a full-time role reporting to the Senior Vice President, Strategy & Impact; this role is based in Washington, DC with an expectation to come into our office at least two days per week. We hope our new Senior Manager will start in December.

Responsibilities

Cross-functional project management & execution

Serve as the lead project manager for cross-departmental working groups, driving progress on organizational goals and high-visibility strategic priorities

Translate strategic goals into detailed workplans, schedules, and task assignments, monitoring day-to-day progress to ensure teams consistently hit key milestones

Track inputs, deadlines, and deliverables across internal teams to maintain momentum on complex, multi-stakeholder projects

Cultivate strong working relationships with leaders across the organization

Build and track project budgets, monitoring resource allocation and billed hours against project scopes

Handle sensitive organizational data and strategic conversations with deep discretion, sound judgment, and a high standard of confidentiality.

Risk management & systems building

Proactively identify project dependencies, potential bottlenecks, and risks early, working with teams to navigate delays and keep work on schedule

Develop, implement, and invest stakeholders in standardized project management templates, intake workflows, and KPI tracking dashboards using tools like Asana

Maintain clear communication across project teams and executive leadership, providing transparent, regular updates on project health, milestones, and strategic priority progress

Team meeting facilitation & operations

Design agendas, schedule, and facilitate effective cross-functional project meetings—from initial brainstorming and alignment sessions to post-launch retrospectives

Provide project management support to convenings and retreats as needed

Execute necessary project-related administrative tasks and perform other duties as assigned to support organizational efficiency

Other duties as assigned