Sr. Project/Ops Coordinator On Site (2 positions: One in Phoenix and One in DC Office)

About WestEd

As a community of over 1,000 researchers, practitioners, consultants, and administrative professionals from all backgrounds and life experiences, we are committed to making a qualitative difference in the lives of youth, children, and adults. We conduct and apply research, develop evidence-based solutions, and provide consulting services across the country in both rural and urban communities to improve equitable outcomes for individuals from infancy through adulthood.

Serving as trusted partners in the areas of education, health, and justice, our teams enhance capacity within communities and school districts to prioritize impact — asking the right questions, customizing methodologies, developing relevant tools, and implementing best practices specific to a diverse range of stakeholder needs.

WestEd supports individual initiative, excellence, and hard work of all individuals in our hiring and work practices. WestEd complies with all applicable federal and state anti-discrimination laws, as well as OFCCP requirements. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, or status as a protected veteran.

SPECIAL NOTICE REGARDING THE WORK LOCATION OF THIS POSITION—Although WestEd provides the option of working at one of its facilities for employees, many roles allow employees to choose to work remotely for their own convenience. The decision to allow remote work at the employee's convenience is based on the requirements of the position or project in question.

SPECIAL NOTICE REGARDING THE WORK LOCATION OF THIS POSITION — This position may be based in proximity to WestEd’s Phoenix, AZ office or Washington, DC office, with the flexibility to work remotely for day-to-day convenience. Occasional in-person availability at the applicable office, and multi-day travel to support in-person client meetings and convenings, will be required. The final decision on location and travel expectations is based on the requirements of the position and the projects assigned.

Content Area Description

Center for Education Systems (CES) partners with state education agencies (SEAs) and their regional and local constituents to strengthen the systems, structures, and processes that support statewide improvement. CES teams provide capacity-building technical assistance, facilitate cross-agency collaboration, and help translate ambitious policy and content strategy into operational plans that state partners and WestEd project teams can execute and sustain.

Position Overview

As a Senior Project Coordinator, you will support Project Managers and Project Directors in managing workflows across a portfolio of state education agency engagements. Project lengths and complexity vary, and over the course of a year you may work across several projects and/or proposals of moderate complexity, requiring planning, launching, and monitoring of project tasks across multiple stakeholders.

Content and subject-matter experts bring the strategy and technical substance; your job is to help operationalize it — turning a plan, a proposal, or a scope of work into a schedule, a tracker, a set of materials, and a well-run meeting or event. You are a critical partner to the project leadership team, able to anticipate what a project needs next and to step in wherever the work requires it, whether that is building a tracker, producing a deliverable, or running the room at an in-person convening.

This role is well suited to someone who genuinely enjoys being a flexible, go-to member of the team — comfortable moving between structured planning work and hands-on production and logistics, and proactive about finding ways to be useful rather than waiting to be asked. Candidates looking for a narrowly-scoped or purely administrative role will not find this to be the right fit; candidates who take pride in being the person a team can count on will thrive here.

You will report to Talent Manager and will partner closely with project leads and other project coordination staff across the Center.

Core Focus Areas

• Project Coordination (approximately 55–60% of your time)
• Provide coordination and project management support across a variety of project types, under the direction of Project Directors and Project Managers. Responsibilities include:
• Draft project plans, schedules, and trackers for review by the Project Director, and keep them current as priorities and sequencing shift.
• Conduct quality assurance reviews on agendas and meeting materials, draft recaps for standing team meetings, and assist in meeting facilitation.
• Interface regularly with internal staff at all levels, as well as clients and partners, building effective relationships and responding to changing needs and circumstances.
• Monitor workflow progress and issues, informing leadership on an ongoing basis and escalating risks in a timely manner.
• Oversee and directly contribute to the production of high-quality products such as presentations, reports, and participant materials — including formatting, proofing, and quality-checking deliverables before they go out.
• Assist in the preparation and monitoring of contracts for consultants and subcontractors, and review related documents.
• Materials Production and In-Person Event Support (approximately 25–30% of your time)
• Lead hands-on production of meeting and workshop materials, including assembling, formatting, printing, and quality-checking participant-facing documents and presentations.
• Coordinate end-to-end logistics for in-person client meetings, workshops, and multi-day working sessions, including venue and room setup, catering, registration, travel coordination, and on-site support.
• Serve as an on-the-ground point of contact during convenings, troubleshooting logistics in real time so facilitators and content leads can focus on the substance of the session.
• Coordination Team Goals and Initiatives (approximately 5–10% of your time)
• Ensure consistency of approach across the program by following established processes and protocols, while engaging in collaborative process improvement when appropriate.
• Participate in Coordination/Management team improvement initiatives.
• Assist in onboarding and training of new team members onto tools and protocols in use.

What We Are Looking For

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience.
• Experience coordinating or managing workflows for moderately complex projects, ideally in public sector, education, or professional services consulting, including with fully remote or distributed teams.
• Experience working alongside subject-matter experts and translating their approach into an operational plan the wider team can execute.
• Hands-on experience running logistics for in-person meetings, workshops, or multi-day convenings.
• Direct experience interacting with clients and external partners.

Technical Skills

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and strong spreadsheet skills.
• Proficiency in Smartsheet, Asana, or comparable project management software, with the ability to build and maintain trackers, dashboards, and templates.
• Comfort with common web-based business tools and managing virtual meetings (e.g., Zoom).
• Deliverable quality control, including proofreading, formatting, and brand compliance.

Soft Skills

• A flexible, “jack of all trades” mindset — ready to step up, shift between tasks, and look for ways to be helpful across the team rather than staying narrowly within a defined lane.
• Strong sense of team; genuinely enjoys supporting colleagues and contributing to shared success, not just individual task completion.
• Ability to pursue work and goals with tenacity, flexibility, and persistence amid complex, uncertain, or shifting circumstances.
• Demonstrated ability to learn on the job, give and receive constructive feedback, and grow into new responsibilities as the work demands.
• Careful attention to detail across documents, schedules, and logistics.
• Good writing ability and command of the English language.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

Preferred

Experience with on-site meeting facilitation.

Location and Travel

• Based in proximity to WestEd’s Phoenix, AZ or Washington, DC office preferred.
• Travel of approximately 25–30% is expected to support in-person client meetings and convenings, including multi-day trips.
• *Note: Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. Successful candidates must be authorized to work in the United States.
• WestEd conducts a criminal background check, fingerprint validation and education verification for all new hires. Any offers of employment will be contingent on receiving a clear background check in accordance with applicable law.

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The full salary range for this position, WestEd level (9), is $80,000 to $125,000, but WestEd does not typically hire at or near the top of the salary range. The typical hiring range for this role is $80,000 to $100,000. The actual offer considers multiple factors, including but not limited to education, experience, internal equity, and other organizational needs.

In addition to the base salary, benefits include

• 15% contribution toward retirement effective day 1 of employment and immediately 100% vested
• Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings Account option
• All health/welfare benefits are effective the first of the month following the hire date
• PTO: 19 days (increases to 21 days beginning the third year of employment), 12 paid holidays
• Life Insurance: value of 3x gross salary, max of 500k
• Opportunities for annual merit-based performance increases + annual incentives
• Professional development opportunities & mentorship program

For more details about our benefits, go to: https://www.wested.org/work-at-wested/#benefits WestEd is a Drug Free Employer and maintains a drug-free workplace. #LI-AZ #LI-DC #Circa-AZ #Circa-DC

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)