New Urban Mechanics Program Manager Position
Our two-year Program Manager position gives those interested in civic entrepreneurship and civic design deep insight into working creatively in City government. You’ll have the opportunity to work closely with City leaders to design prototypes in a deeply collaborative environment and across research methods to address the needs of residents.
The application for the 2024-2026 Program Manager position has closed.
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Have questions? Contact us:
New Urban Mechanics
About the Program Manager position
What you'll do
The Program Manager position is a two-year appointment. During your tenure with the team, you will design and deliver new initiatives to make Boston better for residents.
Our Program Managers work with the Mayor's senior staff and are supported by the entire New Urban Mechanics team. You also take part in a variety of professional development sessions to get a broad view of careers in City government.
Candidates tend to be recent graduates of master's degree programs (or folks with equivalent work experience) who have a strong interest in civic innovation. The best candidates are those who are creative, curious, and entrepreneurial.
Work of Program managers
Over a decade of running our fellowship program, we have supported and amplified the work of many departments throughout City Hall. Some examples of projects previous fellows have worked on include:
- piloting browse, borrow, board
- testing, installing and scaling Boston’s first Bike Towns
- launching and evaluating a pick-up / drop-off prototype for curb usage
- launching the City's early videography and digital storytelling efforts
- installing technology in the public realm
- prototyping the City's first version of community composting bins
- Launching a Zero-Waste Youth ambassador program
- managing the City's performance parking pilot
Common questions
Common questions- You may be invited to a phone screen with our staff.
- If you pass that phase, you may be invited to an in-person interview day. There may be some pre-work before the in-person interview that will be discussed during the interview.
- Sometimes, we ask for follow-up in-person interviews with various chiefs.
- We plan to announce our selection this summer.
While you are going through our application process, we are going through a project scoping process. We will scope a set of projects that we will pitch to you when you arrive. We want to make sure that you are given a range of potential projects that you feel you can immediately execute. We also plan to give you projects that will need further exploration, and one or two that will really stretch you. As you become more familiar with our process you will certainly have the opportunity to develop your own ideas as well.
Since moving this position to a two-year timeline, we've found that the second year tends to be when Program Managers source and pitch projects themselves.
We welcome your input on the projects we pitch to you. We will also expect you to come up with a few prototype ideas of your own, especially in the second year. A large part of our work is keeping an ear open for interesting ideas. We expect you to spend some time exploring and making relevant connections across the projects we’ve scoped for you to pitch a few ideas to us!
Successful Program Managers have come from a wide variety of backgrounds, drawing on diverse and creative skillsets. We’ve worked with urban planners and architects, public health students and public policy masters candidates, former teachers, and community organizers, economics undergrads, and sociology PhDs.
If you have an interest in making Boston a place where people can change the world and do good things with their neighbors, this might be the right position for you.
When you join as a Program Manager, you are immediately treated as an integral part of the team. That means you may be:
- invited to senior-level Cabinet meetings to provide crisp updates on your project portfolio
- asked to fill in for our Director or senior staff at a speaking event, or
- sit in with the Press team on an interview with a reporter about a project you're getting up to speed on.
We will make connections for you across the organization. We encourage you to get to know staff in departments that are interesting to you.
There is some funding for professional development experiences. MONUM leadership will work with you when you arrive to make a list of professional development to set you up for success.
You are also welcome to join any of the City’s Employee Resource Groups (ERGs).
This is a two-year appointment, running from approximately the beginning of September to the end of August two years later. We have several of these positions, and some will change every other year. That is, during your two years, the preexisting Program Manager(s) will roll off their appointment, creating space for a new Program Manager(s) to join the team.
It is somewhat negotiable. Generally, the position starts in the fall.
Currently, we are planning for just one in this cycle! However, if the opportunity arises to add an additional position, we may select two candidates from the same pool.
- This position is at the MM2 Grade 7 level. You can find more information about the salary bands here. The step offered is based on years of experience.
- This position is eligible for the City’s full benefits program.
- Generally, you’ll be expected at work from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. You may sometimes need to attend morning, evening, or weekend meetings or events for your project work or MONUM team engagements.
- The City currently allows Hybrid Work. Our team has two remote days a week, but we require flexibility to attend important in-person meetings as needed, even on your typical remote days.
- We also encourage all team members to attend at least one community meeting or public event per month.
We also encourage all team members to attend at least one community meeting or public event per month.
Yes! We will aim to have you present to the Mayor at least once during your time with us. It’s also likely that you will get to talk to her informally as a result of having meetings near her office or attending public events. Say hello!
Who's Involved:
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Have questions? Contact us:
New Urban Mechanics
