Project Manager, Chicago (Temporary Position)

Location: Remote role, but employee must reside full-time in Chicago, Illinois (or the Chicago Metro Area)

Organization: PeopleForBikes

Industry: Bicycle Industry Nonprofit

Employment and Classification: “At will” employment status; full-time position, temporary (one-year term with likely extension for a second year).

While this position is currently envisioned as full-time, PeopleForBikes may consider a part-time arrangement for a highly qualified candidate in a complementary role. Compensation, scope, and benefits eligibility would be adjusted accordingly based on hours worked and employment classification.

Salary Range: $70,000–$85,000 annually, plus benefits

About PeopleForBikes

PeopleForBikes (PFB) unites millions of Americans, thousands of businesses, and hundreds of communities to make every bike ride safer, more accessible, and more fun. Our mission is to get more people on bikes more often and make every bike ride better for everyone. Founded in 2006, the PeopleForBikes Foundation creates a prominent place for bikes in recreation and mobility decisions at all levels of government. We ensure bikes are prioritized and positioned as a real solution to improve Americans’ health, connect communities, boost local and state economies, strengthen our nation, and protect our planet. Additionally, we were named one of the top 50 best places to work by Outside Magazine in 2023.

Position Summary

PeopleForBikes seeks a highly organized, collaborative, and mission-driven Project Manager to lead the day-to-day coordination and implementation of a major initiative to accelerate the development of a connected, safe, and widely supported bike network across Chicago.

The position reports to the Vice President of Infrastructure. Although this is a remote role, the Project Manager must reside in Chicago, Illinois (or the Chicago Metro Area). Candidates should possess an entrepreneurial mindset, be self-motivated, and be comfortable and motivated working independently.

The Project Manager executes PeopleForBikes’ efforts to make the U.S. the best place to ride a bike in the world by helping state and local leaders, advocates, policymakers, and bicycle industry partners in and around Chicago accelerate the construction of great places to ride. The successful candidate will focus on the power of building connected bike networks and expanding effective local advocacy coalitions within a larger mobility, business, and active transportation context.

Chicago is at a pivotal moment for biking and safer streets. This initiative will support targeted advocacy, coalition-building, communications, engagement, and community outreach efforts designed to protect bike infrastructure funding, reduce barriers to bike network expansion, and build broad public support for safer streets and more places to ride.

The Project Manager will be based in Chicago and will coordinate implementation across local partner organizations, contracts, and stakeholders.

About the Role

The Project Manager will serve as the central coordinator for the initiative, ensuring strong collaboration, accountability, and execution across organizations, campaigns, and strategic priorities. This role combines coalition management, project coordination, communications support, advocacy operations, budgeting, and stakeholder engagement.

The ideal candidate is an experienced project manager and relationship-builder who can manage complex initiatives involving multiple partners, consultants, timelines, and political dynamics. Candidates should be comfortable working in fast-paced advocacy and policy environments and passionate about transportation, safer streets, community engagement, and related issues.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the day-to-day implementation of a multi-partner bike infrastructure and advocacy initiative in Chicago
• Coordinate infrastructure-related work across PeopleForBikes and partner organizations to ensure alignment on goals, timelines, deliverables, and strategy
• Track progress across strategic priorities and maintain project plans, timelines, budgets, and reporting systems
• Organize and facilitate coalition meetings, partner coordination calls, and strategic planning sessions while taking notes and preparing agendas and other meeting materials
• Manage project budgets, invoices, contracts, and grant-related reporting requirements
• Oversee contractors and consultants providing specialized services, including but not limited to communications, PR, research, advocacy, and design support
• Support advocacy and education campaigns related to bike infrastructure funding, safer streets policies, and priority network expansion projects in Chicago and other communities that PeopleForBikes is engaged with as needed. While Chicago will be the primary focus, the Project Manager may occasionally support related infrastructure initiatives in other communities.
• Support and attend stakeholder meetings, community engagement events, workshops, public meetings, and community bike rides
• Monitor policy, funding, and political developments in Chicago and Springfield relevant to the initiative’s goals and report developments back to PeopleForBikes
• Support and coordinate deliverables, including but not limited to presentations, memos, briefing materials, and reports
• Support needs around rapid-response communications and stakeholder outreach around high-profile bike infrastructure projects and policy issues
• Prepare regular progress updates for PeopleForBikes’ donors, funders, coalition partners, and leadership team
• Maintain strong relationships with community organizations, advocates, public agencies, and other stakeholders in and around Chicago
• Coordinate the delivery of PeopleForBikes tools, data, and technical resources to local governments, advocates, industry partners, and community organizations to create better bike infrastructure and get more people riding bikes more often.
• Collaborate with PeopleForBikes’ teams to ensure alignment of goals and strategies toward PeopleForBikes’ vision around infrastructure — especially our policy, government relations, and City Ratings teams.
• Set up meetings, develop agendas, take notes, and send reminders and follow-up communications for project meetings.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

Don’t meet every requirement? No problem. Studies show that women and people

of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they do, so we encourage you to apply

anyway.

• At least three years of relevant professional experience in project management, local advocacy, nonprofit programs, public policy, community engagement, coalition management, or related fields.
• Strong organizational and project management skills with the ability to manage multiple workstreams, deadlines, and collaborative projects simultaneously
• Experience coordinating across multiple stakeholders, partner organizations, consultants, and community groups
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including meeting facilitation and relationship-building
• Self-directed and collaborative, with a strong work ethic, critical thinking, problem-solving, and customer service skills
• Ability to handle confidential information with professionalism and discretion
• Passion for safer streets, transportation access, biking, and community-centered advocacy, with a commitment to safe, healthy, reliable, and affordable access to bicycling for all
• Willingness and ability to travel throughout Illinois for meetings, conferences, trainings, and site visits
• Willingness and ability to travel for occasional national conferences, events, and staff gatherings
• Ability to use a laptop for extended periods and occasionally lift and transport packages, event materials, displays, and other work-related items.
• Bachelor's degree preferred; equivalent professional experience or an equivalent combination of education and professional experience may also be considered.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience managing budgets, contracts, and grant-funded initiatives
• Familiarity with local government, advocacy campaigns, transportation policy, urban planning, and community organizing
• Experience with GIS and other mapping platforms
• Familiarity with Chicago’s political, transportation, and advocacy landscape

Compensation and Benefits

This “at-will” position offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience. This is a full-time temporary position with an annual salary range of $70,000–$85,000, depending on experience and qualifications, plus benefits. The initial term is one year, with the possibility of a one-year extension, subject to funding and project needs.

PeopleForBikes offers an excellent and comprehensive benefits package, including paid health insurance for employees, a generous paid-time-off (PTO) policy including 22 days plus federal holidays, paid parental leave, a flexible work schedule including work-from-home options, and optional participation in a deferred compensation retirement plan with immediate vesting of a competitive employer match. In addition, we provide long-term disability insurance, a cell phone plan, and a laptop computer, along with many other benefits like industry discounts. As icing on the cake, PeopleForBikes also pays you to ride your bike.

At PeopleForBikes, our agreed-upon set of team norms are what drives us to do our best every day we show up to work. Our core purpose is to make life great and our core values are to put others first, include everyone, and it can always be better. We’ll talk more in the interview process about what these mean, but for now, know that we continually strive to build and strengthen our team, we work together effectively to serve our mission, and we have fun. Beyond that, we’re casual, we work flexibly with remote work allowed, and we really love dogs. You don’t have to be an amazing bike rider to work here — what matters to us is a desire to work alongside passionate people improving the world through bikes (and hopefully you love bikes too).

To Apply

• Interested candidates should apply here. Please submit your application by August 21 for priority consideration. You will be contacted by a PeopleForBikes team member if your application is selected to move on to the next round.
• Due to volume, we will not respond to inquiries outside of the formal application process.
• Incomplete applications will not be considered.
• The position is available immediately and will remain open until filled.
• Interested applicants are encouraged to visit peopleforbikes.org and foundation.peopleforbikes.org for general information and organizational background.

Equal Opportunity

Our work to create safer, more comfortable, and more accessible places for everyone to bike starts with us. As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to hiring a diverse workforce. You can find more on our hiring page here. We want our staff to be reflective of the backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives of the communities we serve and to create an inclusive work environment where employees and the communities we serve feel welcomed, valued, respected, and received. We believe that no matter who you are, where you're from, or why you ride, everyone can find joy on a bicycle.