Project Specialist

About XPRIZE

XPRIZE competitions change the world for the better by accelerating innovation life cycles, catalyzing markets, and energizing stakeholders.  

The XPRIZE Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to inspiring and incentivizing breakthroughs to the most critical challenges facing humanity. Since its beginning in 1994, the Foundation has been building and continues to build a vision of hope and abundance for humanity’s future by harnessing the power of innovators, technology, and resources.  

Through incentive prize competitions, XPRIZE enables people to create bold and transformative solutions that are scalable and drive real impact. XPRIZE competitions positively impact both the marketplace and humanity by addressing the market failures that have prevented significant breakthroughs across multiple sectors.  

An XPRIZE… 

sets an audacious but achievable goal that aims to overcome challenges deemed impossible. It tackles some of humanity's most pressing issues by redefining what is achievable and pushing the boundaries of human potential.  

defines and addresses a clear problem through extensive research, a design sprint, and a competition that catalyzes the development of the next breakthroughs to put humanity on the path toward a preferred future state for all. The desired outcome from an XPRIZE is clear and measurable, and the rules of the competition are transparent and easily understood.  

democratizes innovation by encouraging expert and nonexpert participation and multidisciplinary collaboration.  

catalyzes markets and revitalizes stagnant industries by increasing awareness of market failures and accelerating innovations to address them.  

is highly leveraged, with competing teams attracting and mobilizing investment capital, partner support, and new members in pursuit of the prize. Philanthropic dollars are thus magnified in support of a solution.   

Our first XPRIZE, the $10 million Ansari XPRIZE for private spaceflight, spurred an industry and created exponential breakthroughs. Since then we have provided over $140 million in incentives through these competitions. Each prize has created an industry-changing technology that brings us closer to a better, safer, more sustainable world.   

The use of incentive competitions, or prizes, to accelerate innovation goes back over 300 years, to when the British Admiralty launched the Longitude Prize in 1714 to find a better way to navigate our seas. In the years since, several well-known innovations have resulted from incentive competitions, including canning as a form of food preservation (a competition launched by Napoleon in 1795), modern plastics (the Billiard Ball Prize, 1863) and commercial aviation (the Orteig Prize, 1919).   

This is more than a job to us. When you work at XPRIZE, you’re making a positive impact on some of the biggest challenges facing our world. Whether you’re working in prize design or development, marketing and communications, stakeholder relations, business operations or any other department, you’re playing a critical role in turning the impossible into the possible.

Rome Summary

The Project Specialist's responsibilities consist of providing project coordination, research and analysis, and logistical support for specific Prize Design and Impact Roadmap projects. The Project Specialist will support the day-to-day work of the Impact & Design department through the application of a broad range of analytical and creative problem-solving skills to launch Impact Roadmaps across a variety of domains and assist in the design and development of prize competitions. The Project Specialist will support the development and execution of expert on-line communities, conduct expert interviews, and ensure that key insights and analysis are incorporated into the report.  The Project Specialist will also play a key operational role on the project team by supporting project planning, monitoring project expenses, and by preparing and creating project presentations and meeting materials. The Project Specialist will work directly with senior leaders and colleagues across internal functional units to further this work. Overall, the Project Specialist needs to be comfortable performing many different tasks that vary widely from highly administrative to strategic in nature.

Responsibilities

• Works under the direction of the lead Project Manager;
• Supports on-line community development and participates regularly in online community discussions;
• Supports project activities by developing and/or modifying new project plans to organize and track project progress;
• Prepares for calls and meetings by creating and reviewing meeting documents as well as agenda setting;
• Maintains a detailed understanding of project goals and clearly communicates progress and recommendations for improvement to the project team;
• Conducts research through the analysis of social, technological, economic, ecological, and political frameworks;
• Executes interview-based primary research with thought leaders, advisors, industry contacts and sponsors;
• Supports research as necessary and as directed by lead Analyst;\
• Works across departments to maximize resources and ensure that appropriate processes are followed;
• Plans and coordinates events and workshops;
• Creates content based on research analysis including client-ready presentations and reports;
• Liaises with Marketing, IT and Communications teams to ensure alignment and to execute the on-time delivery of final products;
• Processes invoices and expense reports;
• May perform other duties as assigned.
• Travel for this role is expected to be minimal.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred;
• 2-3 years of relevant experience;
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, multi-tasking environment with evolving needs and quickly changing priorities;
• Proven primary and secondary research skills;
• Excellent analytical skills;
• Highly organized with the ability to multi-task;
• Excellent presentation skills;
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills;
• Strong written and verbal communication skills;
• Comfortable working independently and as part of a team;
• Microsoft Office and Google Suite knowledge and expertise;
• Time-management skills. 

Come change the world with us.

XPRIZE Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to having a truly inclusive workforce. We do not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation or on the basis of actual or perceived gender as expressed through dress, appearance, or behavior.