Local recruitment: Program Manager

Summary

We’re hiring a full-time Program Manager to lead the planning and delivery of CaDC’s projects and strategic initiatives—from writing proposals, to managing project delivery, partner coordination, and ensuring outcomes. You’ll be an organized leader who can engage diverse stakeholders to bring projects to life on schedule, comfortable bridging technical teams and water domain experts. Working knowledge of data and the California water sector is a strong plus, or the appetite to develop both quickly.

Who we are

Recent decades in the American West have been the driest in more than a millennium—an unprecedented reality that will only grow worse as our region becomes more arid. This changing hydrology is stressing our water systems to a breaking point. Adapting will require changing our behaviors and systems using the best tools and information available to us.

Meanwhile, California’s water management system is fragmented among thousands of local water retailers and additional layers of regional, state, and federal agencies. This fragmentation creates high costs to the sharing and collection of data, which results in planning and regulations that are often based on outdated, inaccurate, or non-existent data. Even in the birthplace of Silicon Valley, we are failing to fully harness the potential of modern software and data science to face up to the challenges in front of us.

The California Data Collaborative (CaDC) is a nonprofit organization and network of water professionals collaborating on the creation of open-source software, data, standards, and applied research that support the informed planning and analysis needed to ensure a reliable and sustainable water supply in California into an uncertain future. We build tools and community to empower local water suppliers on the ground and put their data to use for planning and policy.

Role overview

This role is responsible for grants, contracts, and strategic programs and projects. You’ll write proposals, manage deliverables, oversee applied data science projects (without doing the engineering yourself), and lead implementation of special initiatives that span technical teams, member agencies, consultants, partner nonprofits, and state agencies.

You’re not the engineer building the tools; you’re the person making sure the right tools get built—on time, with the right partners, and in service of CaDC’s member-driven priorities. You’ll report to the Chief Data Officer and work closely with our Membership Coordinator, who handles member relationships, events, and tool adoption.

Examples of current and upcoming work:

• DROPS: a grant-funded tool to streamline stormwater capture site pre-analysis.
• Wavelet: an existing, currently focused on analysis of customer demand and efficiency data, with opportunities to grow and expand.
• Applied research projects with member agencies and partners.
• An ongoing initiative to streamline urban water reporting across California.
• Educational course development (e.g., AI for Water Management).

Why you might be excited about us

• Our mission deals directly with some of the biggest issues of the moment: water management, drought, and climate change.
• You’ll work closely with water managers and the people delivering essential public services, helping make their jobs easier.
• Data science is really cool (or at least we think so). We get to develop tools and analysis that lead to smarter operations and better policies.

Something to consider prior to applying

• We have a small staff of employees and contractors, so there is often ambiguity, and you’ll need to be a motivated self-starter who isn’t afraid to learn new skills constantly.
• The water industry is often very risk-averse, and timelines can be long. We are in this for the long haul.
• Every one of our member agencies gets a seat on our steering committee, which means we have a lot of stakeholders—though we share a common vision and purpose, so consensus is usually within reach.

Details

• Full-time, remote, with some travel required. CaDC does not currently have an office space.
• Because of travel requirements, the candidate must be based in California.
• Travel is approximately 3 days per month, almost entirely within California (partner meetings, agency visits, and key events).
• There will be a few in-person events per year that you’re expected to attend, including the annual California Water Data Summit.
• You are expected to provide your own computer and workspace. A stipend to support use of a coworking space may be available.

You can learn more about what we’re up to:

Role accountabilities

• Write grant applications and contract proposals; cultivate funder relationships.
• Manage the delivery and administration of grants, contracts, and strategic initiatives with government agencies: scopes, timelines, deliverables, budgets, reporting, invoicing, and compliance.
• Oversee applied data science projects, coordinating between technical staff, contractors, member agencies, and external partners to keep work on schedule, on scope, and useful to members.
• Lead implementation of special projects and strategic initiatives, including the urban water reporting streamlining initiative and educational course development.
• Manage consultants and vendors: scope of work, procurement, onboarding, performance tracking, and deliverable acceptance.
• Coordinate with state partners, coalition partners, and member agencies on multi-stakeholder initiatives.
• Prepare decision-ready briefings for the Steering Committee, Executive Committee, or other stakeholders on project status, risks, and decisions.

Required qualifications and experience

• 5+ years of program or project management experience (nonprofit, public sector, consulting, or utility-adjacent preferred).
• Demonstrated experience writing successful grant or other project proposals and administering grants or contracts.
• Strong track record managing multi-stakeholder projects with competing priorities and limited staff.
• Experience managing consultants and vendors against scopes, budgets, and timelines.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication; ability to translate complex technical work into clear, decision-useful updates.
• Comfort building structure where none exists; high organizational maturity.
• Comfort working remotely and asynchronously using tools like email, Slack, Notion, Asana, Zoom, and MS Teams.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject or equivalent professional experience.

Nice to have

• Familiarity with California’s water sector, water utility regulatory reporting, or public-agency data environments.
• Experience working alongside technical teams (data engineers, analysts) without needing to be the technical implementer.
• Experience supporting technical assistance programs, capacity building, or training delivery.
• Coalition or multi-nonprofit/agency stakeholder experience.

You can see read more about our benefits ( ), which includes medical, dental, and vision insurance.

Compensation and benefits

• Target salary: $110,000 – $140,000 / year
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, plus the rest of CaDC’s standard benefits package.

Application process

1. Application. If you’re interested, fill out the application by the deadline. We’ll ask a few questions to get to know you and understand your interest in CaDC.
2. Intro chat. A short conversation with the Chief Data Officer to talk about CaDC, the role, and whether it might be a fit.
3. Interview. Candidates who pass the intro chat will be invited to a longer interview to dig into your experience.
4. Possible second interview / in-person meeting. Get to know more about the org.
5. Final decision. We will confirm the timeline in more detail when we begin scheduling interviews.

Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. Anticipated closing date: June 12, 2026.

We are committed to fostering a culture of inclusion, and we encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply. We especially encourage applications from underrepresented groups and are an equal opportunity employer. If you have specific needs or circumstances that require accommodation, please contact us.