Project Manager - Food Resilience Data Discovery (Proof of Concept) - Data for Good

Project Management Volunteers (PMV) Sponsored Project
This is a PMV sponsored project.  The Project Manager will enter into a 3-way partnership between the Client organization, the Project Manager, and PMV.  This will include additional responsibilities, benefits and support, for the Project Manager.

Client Organization Mission 
Data for Good (DfG) Vancouver is part of a national volunteer network of data scientists, analysts, and tech professionals who donate their time and skills to help non-profits, charities, and social enterprises use data for social good. DfG partners with organizations to maximize their impact through data-driven insights.
For this project, DfG is partnering with ThePivot.Earth, an organization dedicated to accelerating the transition to sustainable, resilient regional food systems. As the Project Manager (PM) volunteer, you will be working directly within the DfG framework, consulting closely with the leadership at ThePivot.Earth as the ultimate client to deliver this critical data discovery phase. 

Project Summary
The Fraser Lowland Food Resilience Data Discovery project is a structured 6-month proof of concept focused entirely on the Food Processing and Infrastructure sector (e.g., cold storage, abattoirs, food hubs, and distribution networks).
As the PM volunteer, you will lead an agile research and discovery initiative within the Data for Good framework. Because this is a proof of concept, the initial phase of the project will require you to work closely with the client to establish what can reasonably be achieved, set clear boundaries, and establish a firm "Definition of Done". You will orchestrate the project lifecycle from the initial foundational workshops through to two parallel volunteer research streams (an Actor Scan and a Knowledge Scan), ensuring all findings are synthesized into a meaningful framework. This role is ideal for a PM who thrives in ambiguous, iterative environments and enjoys data governance and social-impact work.

Required Qualifications
•	Proven experience as a Project Manager leading agile projects, discovery phases or research initiatives.
•	High comfort level working in an agile framework, with a demonstrated ability to define project scope, boundaries, and a "Definition of Done" in collaborative environments.
•	Strong group facilitation skills, with experience managing multi-stakeholder workshops or alignment sessions.
•	Comfort providing structure for data projects, research methodologies, or knowledge management workflows.
•	Excellent communication skills and the ability to synthesize technical or academic inputs into clear project deliverables.
•	An interest in food systems, regional resilience, or climate-impact data is a significant asset.
•	Candidates from the Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley are preferred as occasional on-site meetings may be required.

Scope of Work
1.	Project Planning & Management
•	The PM volunteer will collaborate with project leads to define realistic 6-month goals and establish a clear definition of done for this data discovery proof of concept.
•	The PM volunteer will facilitate the foundational workshop to align the team on terminology and map out the food processing domain boundaries.
•	This role involves establishing high-level timelines for the parallel volunteer streams to keep the overall research sprint synchronized.
2.	Collaboration & Integration
•	The Project Manager will serve as the coordinator between the Data for Good organizers, the client leads, and the volunteer research teams.
•	The PM volunteer will maintain brief touchpoints to help researchers clear roadblocks and connect physical assets to existing regional datasets.
•	This position helps safeguard the project scope by ensuring volunteer research stays focused on the defined geography and sector.
3.	Evaluation Planning & Synthesis
•	The PM volunteer will guide the research teams as they organize qualitative findings into a structured data inventory.
•	The Project Manager will support the documentation of newly identified data gaps to evaluate the proof of concept.
•	This role helps capture lessons learned to assist the leadership team in planning potential future project phases.

Deliverables
The Project Manager will hold end-to-end accountability for the timeline management and strategic coordination of this proof of concept. Key deliverables include facilitating initial scoping sessions to secure team alignment, providing tracking support for the actor and knowledge scans, and ensuring the final discovery outcomes matrix is compiled on schedule.
The Project Partners will be responsible for:
•	Assigning key domain experts to drive technical decisions and guide the data discovery focus.
•	Recruiting and managing the volunteer research teams assigned to the data collection streams.
•	Providing immediate access to existing source documents and shared digital collaboration workspaces.