Senior Program Manager

Company Description

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Job Description

Job Summary:

The National Preparedness Leadership Initiative at Harvard University is a leading and internationally recognized program on crisis leadership. Established shortly after 9/11 at the request of the federal government, the program conducts research on crisis leadership, provides continuing education seminars devoted to crisis leadership, and advises leaders in times of crisis. NPLI faculty published one of the field's primary texts, “You’re It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When It Matters Most.” Given the tension between the federal administration and the university, the NPLI has shifted its focus from engagement with federal government agencies toward work with corporate, humanitarian, state, and local governments.   

Job-Specific Responsibilities:

The Senior Program Manager for NPLI serves as a senior client-facing program and operations lead responsible for managing NPLI’s residential and custom program engagements from inquiry through delivery and follow-up. Working closely with the Founding Director, faculty, external clients, and Harvard administrative partners, this role helps translate client needs into clearly scoped program objectives, project plans, deliverables, timelines, and administrative requirements.

This position is central to the successful operation, growth, and sustainability of NPLI. The Senior Program Manager serves as a primary liaison for external clients and partners, supports proposal development and contracting, manages project logistics and milestones, and ensures that faculty have the information, structure, and support needed to focus on curriculum design and delivery. The role requires strong judgment, discretion, client service orientation, project management expertise, and the ability to work independently across a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.

The Senior Program Manager will also contribute to the continued development of NPLI’s systems, policies, procedures, outreach, and client engagement practices.

Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Client Engagement, Program Development, and Relationship Management

• Serve as a primary point of contact for custom program inquiries, helping to vet opportunities, clarify client needs, and determine alignment with NPLI’s programs and capabilities
• Lead initial client intake and discovery conversations, gathering information about goals, audience, timeline, desired outcomes, budget considerations, and program requirements
• Partner with the Founding Director and faculty to translate client needs into program objectives, proposed structures, learning goals, agendas, and deliverables
• Support the development of proposals, scopes of work, project plans, and related materials for custom and residential programs
• Build and maintain strong, professional relationships with external clients and partners, ensuring clear communication, responsiveness, and alignment throughout the engagement
• Prepare regular client updates, including progress against milestones, next steps, key issues, and proposed resolutions
• Support outreach, relationship-building, and marketing-related activities that strengthen visibility of NPLI programs and contribute to future program opportunities

Program and Project Management

• Manage the full administrative lifecycle of NPLI custom and residential p