Project Manager - International Engagement
This position offers options for in-person (in the District of Columbia (DC) metropolitan area), hybrid or remote (within the US) work
Company Description
Gryphon Scientific is a small, growing consulting business with a unique focus on physical and life sciences, public health, and program management and evaluation. We capitalize on our staff’s rich, past experience in the laboratory, in policy shops and from the field, combined with literature-based research and interview data collection, to tackle projects with complex technical challenges. Our projects drive policy changes in security, preparedness, and science policy at the highest levels of US government. Abroad, we collaborate with international partners to address daunting public health challenges. Gryphon strongly encourages collaboration across disciplines, throughout the company, and between junior and senior staff, including a large cadre of PhD scientists. Personal and professional development are actively supported through opportunities to work across a wide range of projects. The energy of our small business environment, as well as our commitment to technical excellence, attracts staff with interesting and impressive backgrounds as well as recent graduates seeking a challenging and rewarding career. Gryphon boasts a friendly work environment, a comprehensive employee benefit package, and places an emphasis on work-life integration, which has afforded us excellent employee retention. Gryphon strives to maintain diversity, equity, inclusion, and sense of belonging in our daily work. We are committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff and will honor your experiences, perspectives and unique identity.
Job Description
Gryphon Scientific’s International Engagement practice area is seeking a Project Manager to support a portfolio of projects, primarily focused on global health systems strengthening and laboratory biosafety and biosecurity. This Project Manager will work closely with Principal Investigators, financial and administrative staff, and senior research staff to ensure that projects run smoothly, on-time, and on-budget. This position requires organizational, communication, and critical thinking skills to develop and implement innovative, collaborative, and sustainable solutions to challenging health and security problems worldwide. Our projects seek to strengthen health and laboratory systems, improve cross-sector and regional collaboration, and address emerging threats. This role primarily will support projects in Gryphon’s International Engagement practice area, but you may have the opportunity to work on exciting projects in other practice areas. (Note, you will not be involved in laboratory work; there is no lab on the premises.)
Duties:
- Lead development and tracking of project schedules for multiple projects at a time.
- Coordinate medium-to-large workshops and training events, which are primarily held in international locations. Coordination includes meeting logistics, participant recruitment, and preparation and compilation of workshop and meeting materials.
- Manage project budgets, including making recommendations for how to allocate funds, with input from the Principal Investigator and Technical task leads.
- Serve as the primary logistical point of contact for international project partners (subcontractors and consultants), participants, and other international stakeholders, while proactively building relationships with these stakeholders.
- Understand the project team’s objectives and capabilities (including those of Gryphon and external project partners) and task interdependencies
- Proactively advise on project priorities, identify potential risks, and suggest potential mitigations.
- Improve the quality and efficiency of project work by helping project leadership set clear outcomes, and find ways to efficiently allocate effort across projects that might have similar tasks
- Coordinate reviews of project documents by project team members (internal and external), clients, and external stakeholders.
- Lead project reporting, including drafting elements of reports and integrating inputs from technical task leads, and collaborating with Gryphon’s Accounting department on financial reporting.
- Edit and review written products to ensure work products are high-quality and have consistent style and voice.
- In support of the above tasks, lead the creation and management of project management systems.
- This position involves occasional work at non-standard hours to participate in early morning or evening calls with international partners in other time zones.
Requirements
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
- At least 2 years’ experience managing multi-task, multi-stakeholder projects
- U.S. citizenship is required due to government client requirements.
- Must have a valid passport or be willing to obtain one.
- Employees must be up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccinations to enter Gryphon’s Takoma Park office (have received all doses in the primary series and all recommended boosters, when eligible). Please see the CDC webpage for additional details: Stay Up to Date with Your COVID-19 Vaccines | CDC.
Required Skills:
- Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
- Experience working in diverse teams and cultivating relationships with external stakeholders
- Ability to craft clear, concise, and respectful communications for external stakeholders
- Experience developing realistic project schedules and milestones, and accurately monitoring project progress
- Ability to proactively identify and manage project risks
- Proven organizational skills
- Keen attention to detail
Additional Skills and Experience:
- Global health security or public health knowledge and/or educational credentials (e.g., Master of Public Health)
- Experience working with international partners, particularly from the Global South
- Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) or Project Management Professional (PMP) certification
- Experience creating and/or monitoring project budgets
- If you have any foreign language skills, please let us know!
Travel Requirement:
- This position requires international travel 2-3 times a year, for approximately a week each time, to implement in-person engagements involving international partners. Travel may be required to countries with vaccination requirements for entry.
Gryphon is seeking applicants from diverse backgrounds and communities, including those who can demonstrate the above skills and abilities developed through non-traditional work history, experiences, and education. While all the required skills/abilities above are important for the work we do, we are happy to discuss how your non-traditional experiences can support our work.
Benefits
Gryphon Offers:
- Fully paid health insurance for staff, and discounted rates for family members
- Dental, disability, and life insurance
- Flexible working hours
- Options for in-person (in the District of Columbia (DC) metropolitan area), hybrid or remote work (within the U.S.)
- Paid time off, in addition to 10 paid holidays
- Continuing education benefits (after 6 months of employment at the beginning of the year)
- Generous year-end profit sharing and performance bonuses
- Wellness benefits (funds gym memberships, exercise classes, etc.)
- Up to 12 weeks leave, per the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- Parental leave
- Flex spending account (FSA)
- 401K with 3% match (after 6 months of employment)
- Bereavement leave
Salary Range: $65,000 - $80,000