Special Projects Manager

Overview

As we celebrate our Centennial year, we invite you to join us in shaping the next century of impact. Be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives as we remain devoted to a future of health and hope for everyone, everywhere. At the American Heart Association, your contribution matters, and so does your career.

The Special Projects Manager for the American Stroke Association team will provide leadership and oversight for initiating, planning, executing, and evaluating stroke warning signs educational campaigns for under-resourced and rural populations, according to timelines and budgets at the American Stroke Association division of the American Heart Association.  The location for this position is remote and flexible.

***This is a full-time, benefits eligible grant funded position.  Current funding is approximately through June 2027.***

Reporting into the Vice President of the ASA division, the Special Project Manager owns and drives momentum for all day-to-day results as the primary point of contact for highly visible and high-priority public health campaigns. The Special Project Manager works closely with internal teams and partners to ensure that project goals are accomplished on time and that expectations are surpassed. The ideal candidate will be highly flexible, organized, diligent, willing, and eager to learn, comfortable with change, and able to juggle multiple projects simultaneously. Duties will involve defining project scope and outcomes, leading scoping sessions, prioritizing work, aligning resources against project needs, working with internal partners and resources to provide ongoing analysis, complete and deliver projects and conduct after-action reviews, as applicable.

The Association offers many resources to help you maintain work-life harmonization through your changing needs and life situations. To help you be successful, you will have access to Heart U, our award-winning corporate university, as well as additional training and support, locally.

#TheAHALife is our company culture, our way of life, reflecting our diversity, equity & inclusion, our focus on work-life harmonization and our Guiding Values. Discover why you will Be Seen. Be Heard. Be Valued™ at the American Heart Association by following us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and at heart.jobs.

Responsibilities

• Oversee grant-funded project from start to finish, facilitating kickoff meetings, scope discovery sessions, check-ins, retrospectives, after-action-reviews and more.
• Act as Subject Matter Expert to support development of new, culturally appropriate in-language stroke warning signs campaigns, in collaboration with MarCom, Science, Community Impact and other necessary colleagues.
• As the primary contact for project implementation, the Special Project Manager will work together with national, regional and local Association teams to communicate project statuses, blockers, deadlines, and wins.
• Partner with internal teams to ensure project deliverables are on strategy, on time and on budget.
• Facilitate the development/transcreation of new resources (videos, survivor stories, etc.) in multiple languages (languages still TBD).
• Work across all teams required for project execution to clearly communicate project requirements and deadlines and to ensure flawless execution.
• Invest in preliminary research and preemptively problem solve to mitigate potential challenges.
• Develop detailed project plans in collaboration with various stakeholders or team members, working with owners to establish SMART goals, manage changes, identify risks, and provide mitigation recommendations; raise issues as appropriate.
• Liaise with other internal partners and transcreation vendors to ensure accurate and relevant translation and transcreation. Coordinate reviews for select transcreations and translations and with cross-functional teams to maintain consistent messaging while adapting it to various cultural nuances and preferences.
• Support the execution of the Association’s enterprise-wide multicultural stroke initiatives, inclusive of MarComm tactics that will garner coverage of the American Stroke Association’s priorities in targeted multicultural digital and media platforms and will amplify the ASA’s life-saving mission among patients, consumers, volunteers, internal stakeholders and external partners in targeted communities.
• Identify and help secure community and media partnerships to support the multicultural strategy for stroke.
• Develop timelines for all project components: planning, creative development, review & approval processes, and quality control processes.
• Provide timely and accurate information and status updates to functional leader.
• Organize, facilitate, and drive status meetings. Develop meeting agendas, highlight key project dates, drive issue resolution, and keep track of follow-up items. Summarize and communicate meeting outcomes and actions to all internal partners.
• Work with analysts to monitor performance, recommending changes as needed.
• Coordinate with cross-discipline team members to make sure that all parties are on track with project requirements, deadlines, and schedules.
• Conduct post-project evaluation, including after-action-reviews to identify successful and unsuccessful project elements and plans for future executions, if applicable.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required with concentrated study in Public Health, Marketing, Communications, or related area.
• Three (3) to five (5) years of project or program management experience, preferred.
• Exhibits strong project management skills by managing the following effectively: project timelines, deliverables, budget, team accountability, issue and risk management, status updates among partners and key stakeholders, and project objectives.
• Basic analytics and reporting skills, required.
• Ability to work with project teams of various sizes and see them through to completion on time, on budget, and with maximum efficiency.
• Experience working with diverse, under-resourced communities, preferred.
• Experience working with project management and collaboration tools, preferred.
• PMP certification a plus.
• Proficient in all Microsoft Suite products including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, required.
• Strong verbal/written communication and listening skills, required.
• High-energy, positive attitude with the clarity, drive, and passion to deliver exceptional work.
• Exceptional communicator & relationship builder with ability to positively influence stakeholders.
• Highly organized, detail focused, goal-oriented, accountable with the ability to handle stress and last minute, urgent requests.
• A proactive and creative team player, who can multitask easily, possesses strong interpersonal, priority-setting, problem solving and strategic skills and the ability to ‘think and lead swiftly.’
• Requires strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to thrive in fast-paced, dynamic environment and to adjust to new priorities as required.
• A deadline-driven, no-task-is-too-small mentality.
• Flexibility to work in an interactive environment with a high tolerance for ambiguity and change.
• A self-starter who can operate independently and take the initiative to start, own, and refine projects versus limiting the scope to reporting on and tracking projects.

Compensation & Benefits

Expected pay range will be $65,000 to $70,000. Pay is commensurate with experience; geographic differentials to the pay range may apply. The American Heart Association reserves the right to pay more or less than the posted range.

The American Heart Association invests in its people. Here are the main components of our total rewards package.  Visit Rewards & Benefits to see more details.

• Compensation – Our goal is to ensure you have a competitive base salary.  That’s why we regularly review the market value of jobs and make adjustments, as needed.
• Performance and Recognition – You are rewarded for achieving success by merit increases and incentive programs, based on the type of position.  
• Benefits – We offer a wide array of benefits including medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance, along with a robust retirement program that includes an employer match and automatic contribution.  As a mark of our commitment to employee well-being, we also offer an employee assistance program, employee wellness program and telemedicine, and medical consultation.
• Professional Development – You can join one of our many Employee Resource Groups (ERG) or be a mentor/mentee in our professional mentoring program.  HeartU is the Association’s national online university, with more than 100,000 resources designed to meet your needs and busy schedule.
• Work-Life Harmonization – The Association offers Paid Time Off (PTO) at a minimum of 16 days per year for new employees.  The number of days will increase based on seniority level.  You will also have a total of 12 paid holidays off each year, which includes several days off at the end of the year.
• Tuition Assistance - We support the career development of all employees.  This program provides financial assistance to employees who wish to further their education and career in relation to their current duties and responsibilities, or for potential future positions in the organization.

The American Heart Association’s 2028 Goal: Building on over 100 years of trusted leadership in cardiovascular and brain health, by 2028 the AHA will drive breakthroughs and implement proven solutions in science, policy, and care for healthier people and communities. The greatest discoveries in health must reach everyone where they are.

At American Heart Association | American Stroke Association, our mission is to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, religion, age, language, sexual orientation, national origin and physical or cognitive abilities. We're committed to ensuring our workforce, workplace culture and mission have a shared impact across a diverse set of backgrounds.This position not a match with your skills?  Click here to see other opportunities.

In accordance with local and state laws where applicable, qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment.

EOE/Protected Veterans/Persons with Disabilities