Interdisciplinary Research Program Manager

Interdisciplinary Research Program Manager Full-time Work Format: Fully On-Site Harvard Job Function: General Administration Union: 55 - Hvd Union Cler & Tech Workers Salary Grade: 056 Department: Center for Green Buildings and Cities FLSA Status: Non-exempt Company Description By working at Harvard University, you join a vibrant community that advances Harvard's world-changing mission in meaningful ways, inspires innovation and collaboration, and builds skills and expertise. We are dedicated to creating a diverse and welcoming environment where everyone can thrive. Why join the Harvard Graduate School of Design? The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) educates design, research, and scholarship leaders to make a resilient, just, and beautiful world. The GSD offers degree programs across a range of design disciplines—architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, urban design, design engineering, and real estate—as well as advanced research programs that cut across these disciplines and a robust public program of lectures, exhibitions, and publications. The immense variety of people, programs, and ideas at the School sustains a vibrant and rich environment for learning, inquiry, and collaboration, unlike any other design school. For more information about Harvard GSD see: https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/ Job Description NOTE: This position is a Term appointment for up to two years depending on funding. Reporting to the Director of the Center for Green Buildings and Cities, who serves as the project's Principal Investigator, the Interdisciplinary Research Program Manager supports the coordination and success of this interdisciplinary research initiative, working closely with the project's co-PIs. The Program Manager organizes weekly meetings to ensure regular progress updates, cross-team alignment, and timely course corrections, and serves as a central point of communication across the project's three integrated research thrusts: advanced thermal materials, intelligent building-scale systems, and cooperative urban-scale energy management. The Program Manager tracks project metrics and sponsor reporting deadlines, and is responsible for the project's major written outputs, including the annual report to sponsors. In addition to supporting integration across disciplines, the Program Manager supports the PI and co-PIs in developing and maintaining relationships with industry partners, ensuring that practical insights from the field inform the design and scalable deployment of project innovations. The role also coordinates the preparation and submission of proposals for extramural funding, helping to sustain and expand the project's research and implementation efforts. This role is essential to advancing the project's mission of scaling HouseZero®-inspired innovations into interconnected, energy-efficient communities and delivering impactful, real-world solutions to climate challenges. TYPICAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Cross-Team Coordination (35%): Organize and lead weekly meetings across the project's three research thrusts, and coordinate meetings with the PI and co-PIs three to four times per year; collect progress updates from team members, track deliverables against project timelines, and escalate issues requiring PI and co-PI decisions. Stakeholder and Industry Engagement (20%): Support the PI and co-PIs in developing and maintaining relationships with industry partners and external stakeholders; manage ongoing communications and follow-up, coordinate partner meetings and site visits, and channel practical field insights into research and deployment planning. Metrics and Progress Tracking (20%): Develop and maintain metrics for project success; monitor performance against milestones and communicate progress to the PI, co-PIs, and other stakeholders; manage sponsor reporting deadlines and compliance requirements. Annual Report and White Paper (15%): Write the annual report to project sponsors, collecting