Program Manager, Live Programs

Who We Are

The company (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 .

The Role

The company (CDI), a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to strengthening civic culture through constructive dialogue, seeks an experienced, mission-driven Program Manager, Live Programs to own the delivery of our most complex partner engagements as our training and educational programs scale.

This full-time, remote role owns end-to-end delivery of assigned Live Programs engagements — with a focus on complex, multi-session, multi-stakeholder work — and serves as the team’s partner-facing lead for those engagements. Beyond delivery, the Program Manager leads continuous improvement of our delivery systems and takes a leading role in evolving how Live Programs measures impact, partnering with Research to align evaluation with CDI's theory of change and turning program data into insight.

The ideal candidate has a strong background in program management in education or learning and development, is confident owning external partner relationships independently, and is energized by both operational rigor and the analytical work of understanding what makes programs effective. A passion for dialogue, depolarization, and civic culture-building is essential. The Program Manager reports to the Director of Live Programs.

What You’ll Do

Engagement Delivery & Partner Relationships

• Own end-to-end delivery of assigned Live Programs engagements, with a focus on complex, multi-session, multi-stakeholder engagements.

• Independently plan and lead partner-facing meetings that go beyond logistics — kickoff, recurring check-ins, and debrief conversations — building trust with partner main points of contact (MPOCs) and representing CDI credibly. (The Program Associate leads logistical coordination meetings as needed; this role owns the higher-stakes, relationship-defining ones.)

• Serve as the primary liaison between CDI Educators and partners for assigned engagements — scheduling Educators and ensuring alignment with partner needs and CDI's program standards.

• Coordinate participant communications across the engagement lifecycle for assigned engagements, including scheduling, pre- and post-program information, and responses to inquiries.

Systems, Evaluation & Analytics

• Lead continuous improvement of delivery and evaluation systems and processes across Airtable, HubSpot, and Asana — surfacing recurring issues and designing refinements the broader delivery team (including the Program Associate) adopts.

• Lead the revision of Live Programs evaluation in partnership with the Research team to better align measurement with CDI's theory of change, and work with the Director of Live Programs and Research to design and implement evaluation processes for complex engagements.

• Lead analytics work for Live Programs evaluation — turning program data into insight that informs delivery, curriculum design, and partner outcomes.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with the Implementation, Partnerships, Education, and Culture Change teams to ensure successful delivery, especially on ICM and other cross-functional engagements.

• Support Educator training and release logistics for new and revised programs as the program menu expands.

Who You Are

• 3+ years of program or project management experience, ideally within a learning and development or educational setting, including experience independently owning complex or multi-stakeholder projects.

• Bonus: Experience with measurement and evaluation, theory of change or other research-focused aspects of program management.

• Confident and credible in partner-facing settings, with demonstrated ability to lead external meetings, build trust with senior stakeholders, and represent an organization in relationship-defining conversations.

• Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple engagements and deadlines effectively.

• Strong process orientation with a track record of identifying opportunities to optimize workflows and improve efficiency across a team.

• Highly attentive to detail, ensuring consistency and quality in execution and stakeholder communication.

• Comfortable with data and evaluation — able to turn program data into insight, and interested in partnering with a research function to strengthen program measurement. Experience with survey or evaluation design is a plus.

• Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills.

• Ability to quickly learn and effectively use tools such as Google Suite, Zoom, HubSpot, Asana, and Airtable; direct experience with any of these is a plus.

• A commitment to the mission and values of the company.

What We Offer

• A Mission-Driven Culture — our work culture genuinely reflects our mission, characterized by intellectual humility, continuous improvement, and open-mindedness

• Unlimited PTO — recharge on your own schedule with unlimited paid time off, in addition to 13 company holidays

• Health, Vision & Dental — health, vision, and dental plans, with CDI contributing toward your premiums each month

• 401(k) Match — invest in your future with a 100% match on your contributions, up to 3% of your pay

• Professional Development — a generous annual budget to invest in your growth: build new skills, deepen existing ones, and stay inspired in your work

• Remote Work Support — up to $500 reimbursed for home office equipment and up to $50/month reimbursed for home internet or cell phone expenses

The Details

• Compensation: $75,000 - $85,000

• Location: Remote, must be based in the U.S.

• Schedule: Full-time, flexible within U.S. time zones

• Reports to: Director of Live Programs

• Target start date: Dec 1