Position: Program Manager

  • Location: Richmond, California

  • Program: Clean Water

  • Type: Full-time

  • Experience Level: Senior

  • Position Type:  Permanent

  • Salary: $124,200-$181,150 

Position Description

  • Posted: August 18, 2025

  • First review of applications: September 8, 2025

  • Application closing date: Open until filled

 

The San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) is seeking a Program Manager for an applied science program working to protect water quality in San Francisco Bay (SFB). 

The SFB Nutrient Management Strategy (NMS) is a regional applied science program focused on investigating water quality impacts from elevated nutrient inputs to SFB, and evaluating management options for protecting water quality.  SFEI partners with NMS stakeholders (regulators, dischargers, resource agencies, NGOs) to identify critical scientific uncertainties underlying key management questions, and in collaboration with regional partners, designs and carries out studies targeting those uncertainties using approaches including monitoring, targeted experiments, data analysis/interpretation, and numerical modeling

The NMS Program Manager will play a leading role across a range of program management activities that are critical to accomplishing the NMS’ core science goals and to fulfilling the program’s broader mission of engaging stakeholders to translate improved understanding of nutrient dynamics and SFB’s change responses to nutrients into actionable information targeting upcoming nutrient management decisions. Core focus areas for the Program Manager will include: leading overall NMS financial management and budget tracking (~$4mill/year); leading program-wide project management to support producing high-quality, on-time/on-budget work products; and playing a key role augmenting NMS stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, and program development.

Qualifications

Desired Skills and Experience

  • Master’s degree in environmental science, civil/environmental engineering, or a related field with 12-15+ years of relevant experience or a B.S. in the same fields with 15-20+ years of relevant experience, including substantial experience (5+ years) in the program management areas below.

  • Internal Program Management: Experience developing and managing program-wide budgets, including financial reporting; and overseeing program-wide project management through implementing effective tools for tracking progress, budgets, and work products.

  • External Program Management: Experience working with stakeholders or program steering committees, including program governance, communications, and strategic planning.

  • Excellent written and oral communication skills, including communicating complex scientific information to diverse audiences.

  • Self-starter, creative problem-solver, and team player who inspires SFEI staff and is enthusiastic about pursuing applied science and teaming with engaged stakeholders to address priority management questions and protect SFB water quality.

Typical roles and duties will include

 

Leading NMS financial and budget management:

  • Develop and manage program-wide annual budgets, including working with project technical leads to develop budgets for individual projects; tracking revenue and project expenditures; and proactively working with project teams to align spending and work progress.
  • Financial reporting, including producing annual financial reports for distribution to the NMS-SC and other stakeholders, and developing and presenting quarterly budget updates to the NMS-SC meetings at quarterly.

 

Leading program-wide project management:

  • Implement effective project tracking tools
  • Collaborate with technical leads and project managers using these tools to identify and efficiently resolve workflow issues or technical challenges, and support project teams achieving program goals of producing high-quality products and on-time/on-budget completion of projects;
  • Manage and mentor project teams and staff;
  • Prepare updates to the NMS-SC about status of projects and work products, in coordination with quarterly budget updates.

 

Stakeholder engagement and program development

  • In collaboration with other SFEI-NMS staff and key stakeholders
    • Contribute to on-going strategic planning efforts aimed at enhancing program governance;
    • Planning for and managing NMS quarterly and monthly meetings, including managing NMS processes for annual and multi-year science prioritization and planning.

 

If you are excited about this role, but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this, or one of our other roles.

Salary & Benefits highlights:

  • This will be a Program Manager position. The anticipated salary range for full time employment is $124,200-$181,150 for this position (Bay Area salary ranges are listed; note that salary ranges for other locations are 10-15% lower depending on location and are based on locational salary data). Salary ranges take into account many factors for making compensation decisions including but not limited to experience, education, internal salary structure, and organizational needs. The candidate will be hired into the appropriate level in the job track and salary will be commensurate with that level.  We expect to offer starting salaries at or near the lower end of the salary range of the respective job track level.    

  • Matching contributions to retirement plan (immediate vesting) (403B)

  • Medical Insurance: health, vision, dental with employer and employee contributions

  • 12 paid holidays

  • Vacation days starting at 3 weeks accrual/year

  • Hybrid workplace: local candidate required for in office presence 2-3 days/week

About Clean Water

SFEI’s Clean Water Program is one of the nation’s premier water quality science programs. It anticipates and meets the water quality data needs of policy-makers, resource managers, and the public. It helps the public, regulators, and those who discharge into our waters create more effective policies to ensure the health of our waters.

About SFEI

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which has a 25-year track record of providing robust and innovative science to decision-makers, policy-makers, practitioners, and community members to measurably improve the health and resiliency of Bay-Delta ecosystems. As a boundary organization, SFEI operates at the interface between science and policy, recognized nationally for our ability to build consensus to support effective environmental decision-making and policy. Our mission is to deliver visionary science that empowers people to revitalize nature in our communities. 

SFEI employs an interdisciplinary staff of more than 70. Our operations and IT staff are the backbone of our organization and keep everything running smoothly. SFEI has three major programs: Clean Water, Environmental Informatics, and Resilient Landscapes. Our program staff represent numerous scientific and technological fields, including chemistry, modeling, ecology, wildlife biology, landscape planning, historical ecology, geomorphology, geospatial analysis, and web development. 

For more information on our mission, values, programs, and staff, visit the San Francisco Estuary Institute website. 

Employment Considerations

San Francisco Estuary Institute is committed to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment of any kind. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, family or parental status, protected Veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Accommodations Statement 

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you have the right to request an accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our website or application portal as a result of your disability. To request an accommodation, contact us at 510-746-7355 or admin@sfei.org.

Other Key Information

Please note that SFEI cannot sponsor an employment visa (e.g., H-1B) to fill this position.

In the spirit of a fair hiring process, no phone calls or emails please.

This job is currently not open for applications.