Renewal Project Manager University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Renewal Project Manager

Position Summary
Weare looking for a passionate, organized, and justice-driven Project Manager to lead this ambitious national initiative. This person will coordinate a network of 12 university-community teams across the countryasupporting their efforts to investigate, document, and redress the impacts of university-led urban renewal.

The Project Manager will play a central role in shaping both the local and national components of the initiative. This includes facilitating cross-team collaboration, managing digital and public humanities projects, supporting curriculum development, and helping build a vibrant learning community. You'll also be a core team member at the Humanities Action Lab, with the opportunity to be a part of a supportive team that values care, creativity, and collaboration.

Position Details

• Appointment: This is a 1-year, grant-funded renewable position up to 3-years (funded through the Mellon Foundation)
• Location: In person at the University of Minnesotaas Institute for Advanced Study in Minneapolis. Some remote work is possible.
• Reports to: Renewal Project coordinating team, supervised by Kevin Murphy at the University of Minnesota
• Salary: $76,125a$76,200 annually, with excellent University of Minnesota benefits
• Travel: Quarterly in-person staff retreats (typically in the NYC area) and occasional site visits

Key Responsibilities
National Coordination & Network Support (35%)

• Support local teams in developing, launching, and evaluating their local redress projects
• Facilitate collaboration, learning, and resource-sharing among all project teams
• Coordinate quarterly virtual workshops and in-person micro-convenings
• Organize a culminating national convening in Year 3
• Oversee documentation of events and final products across all partner sites
• Lead design and implementation of project-wide assessment tools and reporting
• Liaise with the HAL network to integrate Renewal Project partners into broader HAL initiatives

Communications & Public Humanities Design (40%)
This position will support communications for both the Renewal Project and the Humanities Action Lab (HAL), with responsibilities shared across both initiatives.

• Co-develop and manage the Renewal Project website and digital storytelling platform
• Gather and curate content from all partners for digital and multimedia outputs (e.g., shared archive, traveling installation)
• Maintain active communication channels across social media, newsletters, and digital publications for both the Renewal Project and HAL
• Promote local partner work and foster dialogue between local and national conversations
• Oversee creation of partner spotlights and ongoing content updates for HAL and Renewal platforms
• Regularly update websites with new content, events, and resources
• Create compelling content for social media (Facebook, Instagram), moderate audience engagement, and manage digital inboxes
• Create and circulate newsletters (via Mailchimp or other platforms)

Minneapolis-Based Project Development (10%)

• Help build and sustain partnerships between University of Minnesota faculty, students, staff, and local communities
• Support historical research into UMNas role in urban renewal and displacement
• Assist with transitioning the local project from planning to implementation
• Contribute to curricular development, with the opportunity to teach project-based courses

Project Management and Tracking (15%)

• Develop and deploy methods and processes for tracking project deadlines, details, logs, communications, goals, and tasks
• Manage project budgets, grant reporting and project finances, including subawards and contracts
• Help collaborators and contributors as they navigate University and Sponsor requirements
• Work with IAS grants and fiscal management staff to ensure compliance with all University and funder procedures and policies
• Manage financial arrangements for payments, collaborating with IAS staff as needed.

Candidate Profile
We seek a candidate who is not only skilled and experienced, but also deeply committed to public humanities, public memory, and collaborative work. Our ideal Project Director brings:

Required Qualifications

• BA/BS and six (6) years of experience
• Demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-partner projects with care and efficiency
• Communications experience including specifically social media, web content, and public outreach
• Knowledge of public history, public humanities, and/or urban planning
• Experience collaborating with and across academic and non-academic stakeholders
• Strong writing and organizational abilities
• Competency with digital platforms and communications tools
• Experience with convening design, facilitation, and event logistics
• Competency with budgeting and administrative coordination
• Expertise in historical methods research
• Subject matter knowledge in areas such as university history, urban renewal, critical university studies, or reparative justice

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing and delivering curriculum and educational programming
• Experience with digital and/or community archive projects
• Graduate-level historical research in critical university studies and/or urban history
• Experience building and maintaining community-driven humanities projects