Planning Communities is a women-owned, certified B-Corporation that specializes in socially and environmentally responsible planning and geospatial services. We combine systems thinking with innovative tools, interactive GIS, and datadriven strategies to tackle complex challenges in human-centered mobility and transit, climate and carbon resilience, and conservation and connectivity. Our impact-driven approach supports equitable, sustainable communities through planning, spatial insight, and inclusive engagement, balancing the needs of people, place, and planet.

We are searching for an experienced, highly qualified Project Manager to help us manage a growing portfolio of projects, including several large, high-complexity engagements, as an innovative, values-driven company. This is a role and the ideal candidate has experience as a project manager for a small firm or consultancy, is comfortable owning several concurrent projects of significant scale and budget and can operate with a high degree of independence on both delivery and the business side of project management, including budget tracking and monthly invoicing. The Project Manager will work with a distributed team of staff and consultants, lead client and stakeholder relationships, and report directly to the Chief Operations Officer, taking on a broad scope of financial and portfolio-level visibility.

Objectives of this role

• Independently lead multiple concurrent projects, including large-scale engagements in the $150,000–$300,000+ range, from requirements definition through deployment, identifying schedules, scopes, budget estimations, and implementation plans, including risk mitigation.
• Ensure that projects adhere to scope, schedule, and budget; proactively revise or replan as needed without close oversight.
• Work with the firm's accountant for processing invoices, ensure progress reports are complete and include % to bill, answer questions about work completed, ensuring accurate, on-time client invoicing and coordinating with firm leadership on revenue and utilization targets.
• Establish and maintain relationships with relevant client stakeholders, providing day-to-day contact on project status and changes.
• Collaborate with team members to improve project approaches and methodologies and engage in peer learning.
• Bring new and creative subject matter, business ideas, and product ideas that are in alignment with B-Corp principles.

Key Responsibilities

Project Planning and Initiation:

• Collaborate with team members and stakeholders to define project scopes, objectives, deliverables, timelines, and budgets.
• Develop project plans, including tasks, sub-tasks, budgets, and timelines, for projects of varying scale, including large,vmulti-phase engagements.
• Work with firm leadership and the team to identify and assign team members to projects, clearly communicating rolesvand responsibilities.

Project Execution, Financial Management, and Monitoring:

• Lead and contribute to all aspects of assigned projects, whether managing, supporting, or executing, by delivering highquality,vcreative work aligned with project goals.
• Track project progress against the plan, identifying potential roadblocks and proactively addressing issues.
• Monitor project budgets and profitability, adjusting scope or resourcing as necessary to maintain financial viability.
• Manage the monthly invoicing process for assigned projects: prepare, review, and submit accurate client invoices on schedule, and track receivables in coordination with firm leadership.
• Facilitate effective communication between team members, stakeholders, and clients through regular status updates and meetings.
• Report project outcomes, financial status, and risks to firm leadership and escalate issues as necessary.
• Support the execution of changes and updates to improve the company’s project management and invoicing systems.
• Lead cross-functional QA/QC efforts to ensure high quality and integrity of all deliverables.

Partnership and Stakeholder Management:

• Build strong relationships with key partners and stakeholders (including vendors), managing expectations and addressing concerns promptly.
• Regularly communicate project status and financial updates to firm leadership and clients.
• Proactively identify and mitigate potential risks to project success and to the firm’s revenue targets.

Quality Assurance and Delivery:

• Ensure project deliverables meet quality standards and adhere to established requirements.
• Participate in project closeout activities, including documentation, final reports, financial reconciliation, and lessons learned analysis.

Team Development

• Contribute to and cultivate a collaborative and supportive team environment.
• Encourage and contribute to cross-functional teamwork and knowledge sharing within the project team.
• Mentor junior project staff and consultants on project management practices as the team grows.

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in planning, environmental policy, sustainability, climate resilience, decarbonization, or a related field, with a minimum of 7–10 years of combined relevant planning and project management experience.
• Demonstrated experience managing project management operations at a small firm or consultancy, including running multiple concurrent projects, owning budgets, and hitting revenue/invoicing targets, not solely large-institution project experience.
• Proven track record independently managing several large, complex projects simultaneously (budgets of $150,000– $300,000+) without close supervision.
• Hands-on experience with monthly client invoicing, budget tracking, and revenue reporting in a professional services or consulting environment.
• Subject matter expertise in one or more of these priority areas: climate and carbon resilience; conservation and connectivity planning and human-centered mobility and net zero transit planning.
• Demonstrated ability to independently research and analyze complex issues to develop practical, data-driven solutions for diverse planning and community challenges.
• Strong project management skills, including facilitation, research, and developing plans and products.
• Excellent communication and people skills to effectively collaborate with diverse stakeholders.
• Ability to prioritize across a high volume of concurrent projects, manage deadlines, and adapt to changing priorities under real workload pressure.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills to identify and resolve project issues.
• Strong attention to deadlines and budgetary guidelines.
• Proficiency in project management software tools (e.g., Scoro, Basecamp, Asana, Trello, Microsoft Project, etc.).
• Understanding of GIS and geospatial technologies and experience collaborating with professionals in this sector to integrate and deliver GIS products and services.
• Understanding of design concepts for websites and GIS applications (e.g., hub sites, surveys) to help guide developers who build these out.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and excellent presentation skills.
• Ability to wear multiple hats and contribute to cross-functional initiatives as needed within a small team, while maintaining sustainable workload management.

Preferred skills and qualifications

• Professional certification(s) such as AICP, PMP, GISP and/or other related certifications.
• Experience working with a small firm and/or certified B-Corp company

Position Details

• Job Type: Full-time, remote work location based in the US.
• Pay: $110,000–$130,000 per year, commensurate with experience.
• Schedule: Monday to Friday, with occasional weekday or weekend travel required.
• Travel: Ability to travel as needed to client locations for meetings, etc. Estimated 20%–25% annually.