Project Manager, Solutions Insight Lab
About this role
Organizations tackling complex social challenges face persistent barriers: fragmented knowledge, missed opportunities to learn from peers, and critical gaps in understanding what truly works at scale. The Solutions Insights Lab (referred to as SIL or the Lab) addresses these challenges by combining the investigative rigor of journalism with rigorous thematic analysis. An initiative of the Solutions Journalism Network (SJN), the Lab helps funders, policymakers, and practitioners make smarter decisions by uncovering what's working, what isn't, and where the next opportunities lie.
The Lab's approach goes beyond traditional case studies. Our team of journalists conducts targeted interviews with changemakers across networks, then our researchers analyze these conversations to identify patterns, contradictions, and actionable insights. We synthesize findings into searchable knowledge platforms, create systems maps that reveal how ecosystems function, and design engagement strategies, from curated events to multimedia productions, that accelerate the spread of effective innovations. As a result, our clients gain clarity on what's worth scaling, funders direct resources to proven approaches, and insights move beyond individual organizations to shape entire fields.
Solutions Insights Lab (SIL) is an initiative of SJN. It helps funders, practitioners, policymakers, and changemakers understand complex social challenges and identify opportunities for change. An initiative of the Solutions Journalism Network, SIL combines the investigative rigor of journalism with social science analysis, gathering perspectives from across systems to identify patterns, gaps, and promising approaches. We turn these insights into practical analysis and engagement that inform strategy, investment, collaboration, and action. By connecting knowledge across organizations and fields, SIL helps clients understand what is working, what is not, and where opportunities lie, while supporting wider learning and systems change.
Role Description:
The Project Manager is responsible for the day-to-day management and coordination of Solutions Insights Lab projects, ensuring they are delivered on time, within scope, and to a high standard. Reporting to the Deputy Director, SIL, the Project Manager serves as the operational backbone of projects, translating partner commitments into clear plans, coordinating people and workflows, managing risks and resources, and maintaining momentum from project launch through final delivery and engagement.
The role sits at the intersection of project management, research operations, partner engagement, and knowledge management. By managing the processes around interviews, research, analysis, and engagement, the Project Manager enables researchers and other team members to focus on producing high-quality insights and outputs.
Responsibilities for this role include:
Take primary project management responsibility for a portfolio of core SIL client engagements, managing projects from launch through final delivery.
Work closely with the lead researcher on each engagement, combining strong project management with the researcher’s responsibility for research quality, analysis, and insight development.
Develop and maintain clear workplans, timelines, milestones, and project trackers using SIL’s agreed systems and processes.
Coordinate work across interviews, research, analysis, writing, partner review, engagement, and final delivery, ensuring smooth handoffs between stages.
Track progress against scope and deliverables, adapt project plans as needed, and flag significant risks, delays, or resource constraints to the Deputy Director.
Manage photo and video assets across project drives, coordinating their movement through translation, transcription, editing, and production.
Serve as the day-to-day operational point of contact for assigned clients and partners, working alongside the project lead and researcher, with the level and nature of engagement adapted to the client, project stage, and counterparts involved.
Coordinate project communications, meetings, decisions, reviews, approvals, and follow-up.
Maintain clear expectations around timelines, responsibilities, scope, and deliverable.
Coordinate the interview process, including participant mapping, outreach, scheduling, interviewer assignments, and the movement of transcripts through transcription, review, and into analysis.
Create and maintain project tracking tools for interview outreach, scheduling, completion, transcription, and analysis, and oversee their consistent use and upkeep by other project managers.
Work with project leads and researchers to support the development, review, and refinement of interview guides and other research tools.
Coordinate researchers, interviewers, consultants, writers, and other project contributors, ensuring responsibilities and next steps are clear.
Facilitate project check-ins, action tracking, and follow-up to maintain momentum and accountability.
Identify project-level workload or resourcing issues early and raise them with the Deputy Director.
Work with researchers and the wider SIL team to turn project insights into creative and effective engagement approaches that reach the audiences most relevant to each client, including practitioners, funders and donors, policymakers, and other decision-makers.
Coordinate the planning and delivery of project engagement activities, working with clients and the project team to ensure they are aligned with project objectives and audience needs.
Contribute ideas for new engagement approaches and formats that strengthen how SIL shares and communicates project insights.
Manage the coordination and delivery of multimedia content and media buys, working with internal teams, clients, and external vendors to support project engagement and audience reach.
Coordinate the ordering, production, and management of project collateral and promotional materials for client engagements, events, and other audience-facing activities.
Create and maintain project tracking tools for interview outreach, scheduling, completion, transcription, and movement into analysis, and oversee their consistent use and upkeep by other project managers.
Organize and maintain project folders in the Lab Drive, following agreed filing and documentation practices.
Prepare concise project updates and coordinate partner reports and deliverables.
Capture lessons and project close-out information and share these with the Deputy Director to inform wider SIL systems and ways of working.
1. Project Management and Delivery
2. Partner and Client Coordination
3. Research and Interview Operations
4. Team and Resource Coordination
5. Engagement and Innovation
6. Project Documentation and Reporting
Must-Have Skills and Strengths for this role include:
5 - 7 years of experience in Project Management: A proven track record of managing complex, multi-phase projects from launch to completion, with demonstrated experience using Asana as a primary project management and workflow tool.
Project Management and Systems Thinking: Strong ability to manage multiple workstreams, people, timelines, and dependencies within complex projects. Able to anticipate challenges, make sound day-to-day decisions, adapt plans when needed, and know when issues should be escalated.
Workflow, Pipeline, & Knowledge Management: Exceptional ability to build, maintain, and oversee end-to-end research/content pipelines (tracking participant outreach, scheduling, transcription, analysis, drafting, and dissemination). Comfortable creating intuitive internal process playbooks, documentation, and tracking systems that keep multi-person teams aligned.
Technical and Project Management Tools: Strong proficiency with project management and collaborative tools, including Asana and Google Workspace, and the ability to use them effectively to manage workflows, track progress, coordinate teams, and maintain clear project information.
Partner and Stakeholder Management: Demonstrated experience working directly with clients or partners, managing day-to-day relationships, leading project communications and meetings, setting expectations, and navigating changes in scope, timelines, or priorities.
Operational Delivery in Mission-Driven Contexts: Experience managing projects in nonprofit, social entrepreneurship, international development, or similarly fast-moving environments. Able to bring structure and accountability to complex work while remaining flexible and responsive to changing project needs.
Global Development Fluency: Professional experience in international development, social impact, or social entrepreneurship, with an understanding of the organizations, funders, practitioners, and other stakeholders working across these fields.
Oral and Written Communication: Strong communicator who can translate complex project information into clear, concise updates for clients, project teams, and leadership. Skilled in leading meetings and producing high-quality partner communications, project reports, and documentation.
Nice-To-Have (not required) Skills and Strengths for this role include:
Experience with Salesforce or another CRM platform.
Experience with media buying, audience targeting, or digital promotion.
Experience producing or coordinating convenings, workshops, or events.
Familiarity with journalism, media, or solutions-oriented storytelling.
Fluency in a language in addition to English.
SJN Application & Hiring Process FAQ
Q: Where’s the best place to learn more about the Solutions Journalism Network and Solutions Insights Lab for the work that you do? A: Start with this “brief but spectacular” video made for PBS and featuring David Bornstein, one of SJN’s co-founders. Check out the SJN website, new research on how audiences respond to solutions journalism, our most recent survey of our newsroom partners and this study on how solutions journalism can lead to increased revenue. To learn more about the Solutions Insights Lab, start with the SIL website and our overview of how we work. Also check out our newsletters on SIL projects and activities.Q: Where do I submit my cover letter?
A: The SJN application does not include a cover letter. Instead, we ask a series of questions that we hope will provide the opportunity for you to share your thoughts. All applicants respond to the same questions, which removes the guesswork of a cover letter and enables you to focus on the things we’re most interested in knowing about your qualifications for this role. (note: after the application questions, you will see a final box that says "ADDITIONAL INFORMATION" and the preview text says "add a cover letter or anything else you want to share”. Please do not upload a cover letter here.Q: What happens after I submit my application?
A: Once the application period closes, a team of SJN staffers will review all of the applications and contact candidates who move to the next stage of the process, which will include 1-2 rounds of interviews and, possibly, an additional (brief) assignment.Originally posted on Himalayas
