At the Monterey Bay Aquarium, we are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that celebrates and values diversity. We firmly believe that having a team of diverse backgrounds and voices, working together, increases our capacity to serve our visitors and fulfill our mission. We welcome people from all backgrounds into our team and strongly encourage people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, veterans, and people with disabilities to apply.
This is a term assignment scheduled to run until April 30, 2027.
Priority deadline for applications is January 23, 2026. Due to the volume of incoming applications, the role may be closed earlier than January 23, 2026.
Job Summary:
Lead project teams that will optimize the Aquarium's enterprise systems. Develop, execute, and manage multiple and concurrent project plans (schedules, deliverables, and responsibilities frameworks) for high complexity technology projects. Connect with and coordinate cross-functional teams across Guest Experience, Education, Marketing, Membership and Development, and Strategy and Operations with a core team rooted in Technology and Innovation to align project goals, schedules, and deliverables. Champion collaboration with departments across the Aquarium to ensure enterprise-level, mission-critical systems serve all business owners. Liaise with a network of third-party vendors and equip them with the resources, expertise, and time necessary to drive projects forward. Guarantee the delivery of systems that provide best-in-class customer and user experiences online. Perform other duties as required.
Core Activities:
- Project Management
- Author and update key documentation throughout the project.
- Orchestrate and anticipate integration dependencies, timelines, and system testing.
- Review project team deliverables and provide feedback to team leaders in order to align the teams' work with process and quality standards.
- Facilitate business-critical decision-making by providing teams with necessary insight and, when applicable, making decisions in the best interest of the project team, status, and goals.
- Assess staff capacity (resources) and team velocity (throughput) in collaboration with Strategy and Operations and recommend and implement improvements, as needed.
- Reporting and Stakeholder Engagement
- Create and deliver frequent, consistent project reports detailing project status, budget actuals and forecasts, impact, risks, resources, and estimates to complete work to all stakeholders across the organization.
- Advise senior leadership on project risks, challenges, and opportunities to ensure work continues to meet strategic commitments. Use discretion and diplomacy when providing sensitive information about vendors, teams, or individuals' performance on the project.
- Communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders in collaboration with Strategy and Operations.
- Cross Functional Collaboration
- Facilitate change management with department teams as they adapt operations to support new enterprise systems.
- Develop and implement standardized templates and tools and guide teams in consistent teamworking practices.
- Risk Mitigation
- Develop mitigation/contingency plans for high-impact and highly-visible projects, and - with approval from leadership - enact risk mitigation strategies across the projects and teams to guarantee successful outcomes even amid complexity and ambiguity.
- Vendor Management
- Monitor and manage scopes of work for vendors and hold them accountable to deliverables, services, budget, and timeline.
- Work with Strategy and Operations to draft, award, review, and execute additional contracts or change orders.
Preferred Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities (KSAs):
- Combination of education, training, and experience in a related field (e.g. Business Administration, Marketing or Communications, Technology, Project Management)
- Minimum 5 years project management experience
- 10 years relevant career experience with a focus on leading marketing and technology initiatives and/or work with large project budgets ($1.5+ million) multi-year schedules
- Mastery-level knowledge of project management, digital strategy, and customer-facing software and enterprise systems
- Working knowledge of technology trends in enterprise platforms and products
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to explain technical concepts in business-friendly and user-friendly language
- Demonstrated ability to lead and motivate cross-functional teams
- Demonstrated ability to lead collaborative processes that create an open, inclusive, and iterative environment
- Ability to identify high-risk aspects of major projects and develop effective strategies for teams to address these risks
- Ability to keep creative and complex projects focused, on track, and in line with our goals and mission
- Ability to foster communication between teams to present unified and consistent messaging to stakeholders
- Ability to lead and contribute to recurring project meetings and Agile ceremonies
- Ability to provide information to senior leadership that may include sensitive information about vendors, teams or individuals' performance on the project
- Demonstrated ability to lead and contribute to cross-functional collaborative processes (e.g. brainstorming, retrospectives, etc.) to nurture relationships across teams and departments
- Ability to work within and maintain Monterey Bay Aquarium's Core Values
Physical Requirements to Perform Essential Job Functions:
- Typical office equipment
- Constant sitting, standing, walking, bending
- Occasional unassisted lifting up to 50 lbs.
- Typical office environment, main aquarium and exhibits, occasional offsite events
Annual Compensation Range:
$107,500 - $137,000 USD annually. Starting rate will vary based on previous experience and relevant skills/knowledge set.