Letters to a Pre-Scientist
Program Manager
Edtech.com's Summary
Pre-Scientist, Inc. is hiring a Letters to a Pre-Scientist Program Manager to oversee the coordination of their pen pal program connecting middle school students with STEM professionals. The role involves managing a cohort of teachers and volunteers, ensuring smooth program execution, maintaining communication, and supporting students' participation throughout the program cycle.
Highlights
- Serve as primary contact for a cohort of teachers and STEM professional pen pals to support program implementation and engagement.
- Manage program timelines, milestones, and follow-up to maintain strong participation and achieve program goals.
- Use organizational systems to track participation, communication, and data securely and efficiently.
- Build supportive relationships and contribute to community-building and training initiatives.
- Collaborate with a distributed team to ensure program consistency and provide feedback for improvements.
- Support program evaluation and contribute materials for communications and organizational learning.
- Required skills include strong organization, clear written communication, independent remote work capability, and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Desired experience includes working in education or nonprofit settings, coordinating complex projects, content creation, and familiarity with Slack, GSuite, and Airtable.
- Compensation ranges from $60,000 to $65,000 with flexible schedule, health, and retirement benefits.
- Position requires occasional domestic travel approximately once per quarter.
Program Manager Full Description
Program Manager
Review the job description below and find instructions for how to apply at the bottom of this page.
Job Title
Letters to a Pre-Scientist Program Manager
About Pre-Scientist, Inc.
Pre-Scientist, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that facilitates Letters to a Pre-Scientist (LPS), a pen pal program that pairs 5-8th grade students in US under-resourced schools with STEM professionals for a yearlong letter exchange during science class. Through interactions with a real STEM professional, students authentically connect to science and develop a broader awareness about what STEM professionals look like and do at work.
Our mission is to meet under-resourced middle school students where they are, in their classrooms, connecting them with learning experiences and relationships that strengthen their STEM identity and open pathways to fulfilling futures in STEM.
We select and prepare science teachers to host our program with their students and cultivate a diverse, worldwide network of STEM professionals to serve as our volunteers. We provide a comprehensive support model for our teachers and STEM professionals.
Job Summary
Pre-Scientist, Inc. is a growing nonprofit looking for three Program Managers to support the implementation of our core program, Letters to a Pre-Scientist (LPS).
As an LPS Program Manager, you are the main liaison for a cohort of teachers and STEM professional pen pals. You are responsible for helping the program run smoothly and on schedule for the classrooms and volunteers you support. This means building strong relationships, maintaining clear and consistent communication, using shared systems well, and making sure students have what they need to fully participate in the program.
This role requires someone who can manage many moving pieces at once, communicate clearly, and follow through consistently. You will work closely with other Program Managers and report to the Program Director.
Because LPS works in partnership with schools and volunteers, this role requires strong responsiveness during the workday, dependable communication, and consistent follow-through on time-sensitive tasks.
The person in this role will work from home and collaborate closely with a distributed team across time zones. This is a full-time, remote position with occasional domestic travel expected, approximately once per quarter.
Responsibilities
Support teachers and STEM professional pen pals as the primary point of contact through the full program cycle to ensure all students can participate and have a high-quality experience.
- Engage directly with a cohort of LPS teachers to support program implementation by monitoring progress, addressing questions, and celebrating wins.
- Collaborate with teachers as needed to modify the program to meet students’ needs.
- Communicate proactively and respond promptly to support a cohort of STEM professionals volunteering as pen pals.
Execute program milestones and keep the work moving.
- Manage the timelines, milestones, and follow-up needed for your cohort to move successfully through each stage of the program.
- Monitor where follow-through is slipping and take action early to keep classrooms and pen pals on track and maintain strong participation across the year.
- Ensure every student in your cohort has a letter to open at each Letter Opening Party.
Use systems and tools consistently and effectively.
- Use the organization’s systems to accurately track teacher, student, and STEM professional participation through each stage of the program.
- Follow established processes for communication, tracking, and data management so information is kept secure and can be shared, acted on, and trusted across the team.
- Responsible for maintaining strong data privacy practices in all aspects of the work.
- Flag systems issues, breakdowns, or inefficiencies to the Program Director and contribute ideas for improving how the work gets done.
Actively support LPS’ strong community.
- Build supportive, consistent relationships with teachers and STEM professionals.
- Help ensure that participants experience LPS as organized, responsive, and worthwhile.
- Contribute to teacher and STEM professional training, onboarding, and communication.
- Help with community-building initiatives that support recognition, engagement and connection.
Collaborate as part of a growing team.
- Collaborate effectively with the team to run the program efficiently and consistently.
- Participate actively in team meetings, one-on-ones, and shared planning processes.
- Contribute to a remote team culture grounded in care and accountability.
- Provide feedback on what is working, what needs attention, and where additional support may be needed.
Support evaluation, communications, and organizational learning.
- Support the collection of evaluative program data.
- Contribute content, stories, or source material that supports newsletters, social media, and other communications.
- Share patterns, insights, and challenges emerging from your cohort so they can inform program improvement.
Required Skills, Characteristics, and Experience
- Excitement about supporting under-resourced middle school students and helping make STEM feel more human, relevant, and possible.
- Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple moving pieces with consistency and care.
- Ability to work independently in a remote environment and ask for help when needed.
- Effective written communication skills and experience maintaining clear and polite electronic communication.
- Ability to build and maintain professional relationships with community members.
- Strong follow-through and comfort working within shared systems and processes.
- Comfort working in a growing organization where some systems are still evolving.
- Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, and to helping build a welcoming and thoughtful work culture.
- Ability to travel approximately once per quarter.
Desired Skills, Characteristics, and Experience
- Experience working in education, nonprofits, volunteer-driven programs, or other relationship-centered environments.
- Experience supporting teachers, students, families, or community partners.
- Experience coordinating projects or programs with many deadlines and participants.
- Experience contributing effectively to a remote team.
- Written communication, storytelling, or content creation experience.
- Lived experience in a low-income community or as the first in their family to attend college.
- Curiosity about how AI can be leveraged to unlock capacity for more human connection.
- Familiarity with Slack, GSuite, Airtable, or similar tools.
Compensation
We anticipate a starting salary between $60,000 - $65,000 commensurate with experience and location. We are proud to offer a flexible work schedule and health and retirement benefits.
Diversity
We welcome applicants of all ages, genders, races, ethnicities, religions, abilities, and sexual orientations. Pre-Scientist, Inc. is committed to creating an equitable, accessible, and inclusive work environment that recognizes diversity and cultural competence as integral components of excellence. Applicants who can contribute to this goal are encouraged to identify their strengths in this area.
How to apply
Interested candidates should submit a one-page resume and answers to the three questions in form below.
We aim to make this opportunity accessible to everyone. If you need support completing the application or have questions, reach out to Lucy at lucy.madden@prescientist.org.
Applications will be reviewed in early June with a hopeful start date around the start of July.
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