CDI seeks a Senior Program Manager to serve as the operational backbone of the Leadership Institute, equipping senior higher ed leaders with strategy, tools, and peer networks for dialogue.
Job description
About CDI
The Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI) is a non-partisan, non-profit dedicated to equipping the next generation of Americans with the skills to communicate and collaborate across lines of difference. We work with U.S. colleges and universities by providing co-curricular programming for students, professional development for faculty and staff, and strategic guidance to leadership. Our goal is to foster constructive dialogue at every level of the institution and to create the conditions for lasting organizational change. CDI was co-founded by psychologist Jonathan Haidt, the bestselling author of The Righteous Mind and The Anxious Generation.
About the Role
CDI seeks an experienced, highly organized Senior Program Manager to serve as the operational backbone of the Leadership Institute (LI), CDI's program to equip senior higher education leaders with the strategy, tools, and peer network to advance cultures of inquiry and dialogue on their campuses. This full-time, remote role works closely with the Vice President of Leadership Programs to run LI's full-year arc: the fall Summit, monthly institutional coaching, quarterly Peer Learning Communities, and each cohort's measurement and reporting cycle.
In your first 90 days, you'll learn LI end-to-end by shadowing coaching calls and supporting Summit planning, getting fluent in our systems and templates, and planning for the year-long engagement. By month three, you'll independently manage scheduling and logistics for our Leadership Institute partners.
By month six, you'll manage the operating rhythm for the full cohort year, tracking institution progress, flagging risks to the VP, running day-to-day partner communication, and recommending process improvements.
Within your first year, you'll be a trusted first point of contact for campus teams on coordination and progress, and a trusted operational partner with the VP.
The ideal candidate thrives at the intersection of program operations and relationship management: strong execution, an instinct for spotting opportunities and process improvements, and good judgment about what to flag versus solve directly. The Senior Program Manager reports to the Vice President of Leadership Programs.
Responsibilities
Program & Portfolio Management
Own the schedule and tracking systems for the full LI cohort's year-long arc, including summit prep with the institution teams, monthly coaching, and quarterly Peer Learning Community sessions
Keep the Vice President and broader team ahead of deadlines across all concurrent workstreams, within and across cohort years.
Track each institution's strategic priorities throughout the year and escalate stalled progress or risks.
Identify and design improvements to LI's operating systems and templates (discovery process, communications cadence, reporting formats) in partnership with the VP.
Institution & Partner Liaison
Serve as the primary point of contact for institutional teams on scheduling, onboarding, pre-work, and follow-up across the full year.
Field routine questions and troubleshoot logistics directly.
Spot opportunities raised by campus partners and elevate them to the VP
Cross-Team Coordination & Communication
Manage meeting cadence and information flow among the VP, consulting, partnerships, and impact teams
Maintain and organize program materials, including discovery reports, session decks, PLC, and coaching resources
Model clear, professional communication in every touchpoint with institutional partners
Data Tracking & Reporting
Track Pillar-specific progress and coaching-call reflections across the cohort.
Synthesize cohort-wide data into formats leaders can act on, including progress dashboards, insights reports, and summaries.
Job requirements
About You
An experienced program manager. You bring 5+ years of program or project management experience, ideally spanning cross-functional or partner-facing work in education, consulting, or nonprofit settings.
A skilled portfolio juggler. You're comfortable managing a complex, multi-institution portfolio and tracking multiple workstreams at once.
A proactive process-improver. You have a track record of independently identifying and proposing improvements, not just executing what's handed to you.
A trusted external liaison. You're comfortable liaising directly with external partners on defined pieces of work, with good judgment about what to resolve independently versus escalate.
Data-savvy. You can pull information from multiple sources (surveys, interviews, documents) into a clear, decision-ready narrative.
A strong communicator. Your written and verbal communication is excellent, calibrated for both internal teams and senior higher-ed leadership.
Mission-aligned and adaptable. You're enthusiastic about CDI's mission and comfortable operating in an environment of continuous improvement as the LI program evolves year to year.
Preferred: Comfort with project management systems and CRMs (e.g., Asana, HubSpot).
Benefits
Compensation — $85,000 - $95,000 annually
A Mission-Driven Culture — our work culture genuinely reflects our mission, characterized by intellectual humility, continuous improvement, and open-mindedness
Remote-First — CDI was founded as a remote-first organization, and we work hard to maintain a strong team culture across vast distances
Unlimited PTO — as well as 13 company holidays
Remote Work Support — up to $500 reimbursed for home office equipment (like desks, chairs, or webcams) and up to $50/month reimbursed for home internet or cell phone expenses
Other Benefits — employer-supported health, vision and dental plans, subsidized parental leave, 3% 401k match, short- and long-term disability insurance, life and AD&D insurance, $1,000 annual professional development budget
Role Specs
Reports to: Vice President of Leadership Programs
Schedule: Full-time, flexible within U.S. time zones
Target start date: ASAP
Location: Remote, must be based in the U.S.
