Project Manager - Philanthropy

Title: Project Manager - Philanthropy

Employee Working Location: Partially Virtual / Hybrid

Employment Status: Permanent Full-time

The Canadian Red Cross (CRC) is an inspirational not-for-profit organization that helps people and communities in Canada and around the world in times of need and supports them in strengthening their resilience. As one of Canada's Best Employers 2026, we are committed to creating an accessible, diverse, inclusive, and barrier-free work environment.

The Project Manager, Philanthropy, supports marketing and creative projects for the Donor Experience team by translating stakeholder needs into clear, coordinated, and actionable project plans. Reporting to the Senior Manager, Project Management, this role works across Philanthropy to coordinate intake, clarify scope, support prioritization and resourcing, develop timelines, track progress, manage risks, and maintain project documentation and reporting. This position plays a key coordination role throughout the project lifecycle, helping maintain visibility into scope, timelines, capacity, dependencies, budgets where applicable, competing priorities, and departmental operating plans so approved work remains aligned and emerging requests can be flagged, discussed, sequenced, or escalated when required.

The ideal candidate is a collaborative relationship-builder who enjoys bringing people together, creating clarity, and helping teams move work forward in a fast-paced environment. They are comfortable managing multiple priorities, building trust with stakeholders, adapting quickly when needs shift, and keeping projects organized while maintaining a positive, solutions-focused approach.

In this role, you will:

• Manage Philanthropy marketing and creative projects from intake through close-out, translating stakeholder needs into clear project plans, timelines, deliverables, milestones, and decision points.
• Coordinate project intake, scope of clarification, prioritization, resourcing, work-back schedules, dependencies, approvals, and delivery timelines with stakeholders and delivery teams.
• Monitor departmental operating plans as a critical layer of visibility across approved work, the project portfolio, team capacity, competing priorities, risks, issues, and resource commitments; flag requests that fall outside existing plans or create misalignment with approved priorities, and support discussion, sequencing, trade-off decisions, and escalation when required.
• Facilitate project meetings, discovery or kick-off conversations, regular check-ins, and stakeholder updates to align scope, progress, risks, decisions, and next steps.
• Coordinate communications with internal stakeholders, delivery teams, external partners, freelancers, vendors, and agency partners so expectations, responsibilities, deadlines, and deliverables remain clear.
• Maintain project systems, documentation, trackers, boards, briefs, reporting templates, decision logs, and records to support one source of truth for active and incoming work.
• Provide regular project reporting on status, health, risks, issues, dependencies, approvals, financial tracking where applicable, resource use, and progress against milestones.
• Participate in the scheduled disaster fundraising appeal on-call rotation and support timely emergency appeal launch coordination, including activation requirements, launch materials, updates, records, and lessons learned.
• Support other Philanthropy projects, initiatives, campaigns, process improvements, or operational priorities as assigned, applying project management practices in a way that allows resources to be allocated flexibly across the team as business needs evolve.
• Support change management, stakeholder guidance, project close-out, retrospectives, and recommendations for continuous improvement.

What we are looking for:

• Post-secondary education in project management, business administration, communications, marketing, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum of 4 to 7 years of experience supporting or managing projects through the full lifecycle, preferably in a marketing, creative services, fundraising, non-profit, or cross-functional environment.
• Experience applying project management or change management practices to support new processes, tools, workflows, or ways of working.
• Strong ability to plan, coordinate, monitor, and close multiple projects while balancing changing priorities, competing deadlines, dependencies, resource constraints, stakeholder expectations, and project risks.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and project management systems such as Monday.com, Smartsheet, Jira, Microsoft Planner or similar tools.
• Strong documentation, reporting, and attention-to-detail skills, with the ability to maintain accurate project records, trackers, decision logs, and status updates.
• Strong analytical thinking, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills, with the ability to assess impacts, recommend practical solutions, and escalate issues when required.
• Strong communication, facilitation, diplomacy, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to clarify needs, influence ways of working, and resolve issues professionally.
• Ability to support intake, prioritization, resourcing, capacity planning, scope management, change management, budget tracking, and financial monitoring where applicable.
• Fluency in English is required; French reading comprehension and written expression are assets.
• Experience in philanthropy, fundraising, marketing, creative services, the non-profit sector, emergency appeals, disaster response, or rapid-response campaign environments.
• Knowledge of relational fundraising practices and donor-centred communications.
• Project management or change management certification, training, or active progress toward certification, such as PMP, CAPM, PROSCI, or equivalent.

Working Conditions:

• Work is primarily performed in an office or remote environment with regular use of a computer, virtual meeting platform, and project management systems.
• The role requires concentration, attention to detail, and the ability to adapt to changing priorities, competing deadlines, and time-sensitive project needs.
• Travel may be required occasionally for meetings, training, or team activities.
• This position participates in a scheduled disaster fundraising appeal on-call rotation and may require availability outside regular business hours, including evenings and weekends.
• During disaster or emergency appeal activations, the role may be required to respond promptly, coordinate launch activities, monitor updates, and support time-sensitive decisions and communications.
• As we work with and support people (managers, colleagues, beneficiaries/customers, volunteers, donors and external partners) and communities in Canada and around the world, applicants whose first language is not English may be required to perform the responsibilities of the role in English.
• Eligibility to work in Canada: At this time, we welcome applications from candidates eligible to work in Canada. If you are not a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, we encourage you to carefully review your visa to find out whether you are eligible to work in the job you are considering applying for. Refer to our FAQ for more information.
• If you are selected for this role, you will be required to complete a successful pre-employment screening process which includes a satisfactory Enhanced Police Information Check (E-PIC).