Project Coordinator

Who are we?

MIT Lincoln Laboratory is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) whose mission is research in support of national security.
* Mission – The Security Department's overall mission is to ensure a safe and secure environment and protect MIT Lincoln Laboratory at all facilities in which staff members perform their mission of research and development. To accomplish this mission, this department formulates and implements policies, plans, and actions designed to protect facilities against threats of vandalism, accidental destruction and sabotage; and safeguards personnel, classified and unclassified information systems, personal identifiable information, property, and other assets from exploitation and recruitment by foreign intelligence agencies

What will you do?

The Project Coordinator will be a member of the Strategy and Project Management Office (SPMO). This role will provide support with ongoing portfolio and project management expertise and delivery, strategic planning and alignment, process improvement, and employee onboarding, engagement, communications, and security education. The Project Coordinator is responsible for supporting Project Leads throughout the project management lifecycle. 

This position will provide day-to-day coordination, meeting facilitation, planning, status reporting, action tracking, administrative support, content creation and delivery of communications to project teams, stakeholders, and Laboratory wide forums across a portfolio of diverse security initiatives aligned to the Department’s strategic plan. The position will also be responsible for external engagement using various social media tools, planning conferences as required and networking, as well as internal engagement to include coordinating department and leadership off sites, all hands meetings, FFRDC conferences, award events and LinkedIn postings. The position will work across organizational boundaries, engage stakeholders and lead enterprise-level initiatives. 

This role is well suited for someone who thrives in a mission-driven environment, can coordinate cross functionally with technical and non-technical stakeholders. This role also involves enhancing portfolio and project management templates and tools, including supporting the associated training and adoption of those templates and tools.

Key Responsibilities
Portfolio and Project Management Expertise and Delivery, Strategic Planning, Communications
* Coordinate project activities, milestones, dependencies and deliverables organized and moving forward across multiple security-related projects
* Maintain project plans, schedules, RAID logs, and other PMO artifacts
* Ability to summarize key takeaways from meetings (technical and non-technical) that can be translated into action
* Support project managers with planning, meeting preparation, status reporting, and follow-up
* Facilitate recurring project and SPMO meetings, including developing agendas, capturing decisions and action items, and tracking commitments through completion
* Prepare weekly, monthly, and executive-level status reports, dashboards, briefings, and other program communications
* Coordinate project documentation and ensure deliverables are complete, accurate, appropriately reviewed, and stored in accordance with organizational requirements

Process Improvement
* Contribute to the mission of maturing the SPMO by helping to improve processes, templates, workflows, metrics, and reporting mechanisms

What do you need/Requirements:

 Bachelor’s degree in business, project management, information technology, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience
* 4+ years of experience supporting projects, programs, operations, or project management related activities, OR a master’s degree and minimum of 2 years’ experience
* Efficient time management skills to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and stakeholders in a complex environment
* Experience developing project schedules, status reports, meeting materials, and action-item trackers
* Self-starter with strong attention to detail and demonstrated ability to independently follow through on commitments
* High proficiency with MS Office products (Word/Excel/PowerPoint) is required
* Some experience in project coordination and/or project management; interest in projects/programs and new tools/methodologies
* Strong written and verbal communication skills for creating and distributing reports, managing communications through emails, presentations to Lab-wide forums, and stakeholder meetings
* Proficiency in handling and organizing documentation associated with projects in a fast paced and rapidly evolving environment
* Must possess mature judgment and a cooperative attitude towards working in a close-knit team environment
* Must be able to set priorities and handle multiple tasks
* Selected candidate will be subject to a background pre-employment investigation 
* Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance
* U.S. citizenship is required

Preferred Qualifications
* CAPM certification preferred
* Experience supporting cybersecurity, defense, or other federal mission programs preferred
* Experience working in an FFRDC, government contractor, or federal agency environment preferred
* Experience with project management tools such as Jira, Smartsheet, ServiceNow, or equivalent platforms
* Experience preparing executive-level briefings and communicating program status to senior stakeholders

Ideally, you will have

The Laboratory values experiences from a wide variety of backgrounds and occupations. The most successful candidates will have the following skills and qualifications.

* Valued competencies: Interpersonal, organizational, and verbal communication skills
* Problem solving: anticipates and identifies a range of problems. Develop alternatives and solutions with integration of multiple factors requiring collaboration, imagination, and thoroughness to ensure consistency with objectives. 
* Organization: Creating and maintaining project plans that communicate tasks, milestone dates, and status. Development of project documents such as project charter, communications plans, requirement metrics, and similar documents
* Communication: Project status reporting to stakeholders, management, and Laboratory Senior Management
* Flexibility and Adaptability: Balance risk, efficiency of execution, quality of results and SPMO process requirements in the fulfillment of departmental and Laboratory goals. Can adapt to changes in priorities and course of direction

How will you grow

You will find significant opportunities to do meaningful work in an environment intentionally designed to be one where you will learn, thrive and belong.
* Leadership: Room to advance on your team or to lead cross-functional projects
* Growth Opportunities: Potential for lateral and vertical movement
* Education/Training: In-house and online courses