Program Manager, Capital Projects

Reports to: Vice President for Program Management

Department: Capital Projects

Status: Full-Time/Exempt

Schedule: 9AM – 5PM

About Central Park Conservancy

Central Park is one of the world's most famous and beloved public spaces. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in 1858, the 843-acre Park was the country's first purpose-built public park and is a National Historic Landmark and a New York Scenic Landmark. The Central Park Conservancy, a private, not-for-profit organization, was founded in 1980 to rescue the Park, which had fallen into serious disrepair. Since then, the Conservancy has overseen the investment of over $1.5 billion in the restoration of the Park, which now hosts over 40 million visitors a year.

The Conservancy is one of the largest and most successful public private partnerships in New York City and is considered a major civic institution given its impact on the health and vibrancy of both the Park and the City. The Conservancy’s mission is to preserve and celebrate Central Park as a sanctuary from urban life. The City of New York has formally entrusted the care of the Park to the Conservancy which is responsible for every aspect of its care, including landscape maintenance, capital improvements, and the visitor experience. The Conservancy employs roughly 400 people and has an annual operating budget of $100 million.

Position Summary

The Program Manager’s primary responsibility is to look at the Capital Project team’s program as a whole and ensure all milestones and schedules are met and budgets are tracked and followed. A program manager may work on multiple initiatives at once to support the planning, design and construction studios’ completion of capital projects. Reporting to the Vice President for Program Management, a Program Manager is responsible for creating tools to track budgets, costs, schedules, and regulatory permit compliance, and coordinating the public review process with NYC Parks, community boards, civic groups, the Landmarks Preservation Commission and Public Design Commission. The Program Manager will also coordinate with internal stakeholders on capital project issues.

The Program Manager is a leadership position within the team providing high-level administrative and operational support to Department Leadership.

Position Responsibilities

Work with Design and Construction staff to ensure projects stay on schedule and within budget. Maintain a tactical focus on project progress and milestones; identify and manage critical path items to keep projects on schedule and budget.

Create project dashboards to track project milestones, regulatory permit compliance, and budgets.

Establish and manage total project cost sheets for all active capital projects. Coordinate with the Design and Construction Studios to ensure additional service requests, change orders and exposures are tracked in a timely manner.

Assist the Vice President in managing the public review process. Establish the annual public review schedule for the capital program based on the project portfolio.

Prepare project summaries and presentations for community boards, regulatory agencies, and community groups. Prepare responses to questions throughout the public review process, as needed.

Prepare and submit environmental review applications for capital projects to NYC Parks for review and approval. Create scopes of work and presentation materials for submittals.

Manage on-call consultant contracts. Work with senior leadership to put together RRP’s, evaluate vendor bids, issue work orders, and track expenditures.

Support the Vice President in establishing a framework and schedule for a new data management system to migrate capital project files to SharePoint. Work with the IT team and data management consultants to identify issues and document decisions.

Manage the donor plaque and donor bench programs for the Capital Projects team. Coordinate with Philanthropy and the Women’s Committee staff to ensure donor plaques and donor benches are incorporated into capital projects as needed. Communicate project details and schedules.

Communicate with other Conservancy departments including Philanthropy, Communications, Finance and Operations on capital project issues.

Assist the Vice President for Program Management in supporting operational/administrative high-level initiatives of the Capital Projects team.

Work independently and with limited direction in managing assigned projects.

Position Qualifications

5+ years’ experience in project management. Strong working knowledge of New York City’s public review process.

Bachelor’s Degree in a related field.

Familiarity with project budgets. Excellent Excel skills preferred.

Ability to manage and collaborate with project team members to advance projects.

Excellent written, verbal, organizational, problem-solving and communication skills.

Actively contributes to departmental and Conservancy culture in a meaningful way.

Ability to work independently with limited direction in managing assigned projects, staff, and as part of an interdisciplinary team.

Valid driver's license.

Salary range: $89K - $112K (based on level of experience)

How you are evaluated

Successful work as a Program Manager may lead to promotion to Director as the next stage in department growth. A Program Manager may fulfill aspects of the role of Program Manager as a learning and development opportunity without being formally designated as a Director.

Advancement is driven by a variety of factors including increased capacity, high performance, and a collected recognition from Capital Projects leadership. A person must demonstrate consistent growth in responsibility, performance, and capacity in the categories described throughout this document .Performance should consistently meet or exceed expectations.

Feedback about an individual’s performance and contributions to the department are shared through multiple channels including performance reviews, calibration discussions, project management meetings and input from colleagues and leadership.

Diversity, Equity & inclusion

The Central Park Conservancy’s work is guided by the belief that Central Park, and all public parks, must be managed and actively protected as an inclusive and democratic space for all.

Working closely with our New York City partners, we will always strive towards creating and sustaining a sense of belonging for all visitors and advocating for equitable and accessible public use of the Park.

In service of this belief, we are committed to fostering a workforce and organizational culture that is as diverse as Central Park itself and the dynamic city it serves.

Safety Requirements

Establishment and maintenance of a safe work environment is the shared responsibility of this organization and employees at every level. The Conservancy will make every effort to assure a safe environment and be in compliance with federal, state, and local safety regulations. Employees are expected to obey safety rules and to exercise caution in all their work activities. Accordingly, employees should be aware of any hazards which could cause an injury or accident (e.g., spills, obstacles in walkways, etc.). If an employee discovers a potentially dangerous condition, he/she/they should alert other employees and notify his/her/their supervisor immediately.

Disclaimer

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.