Project Manager

Job Title: Project Manager

Organization: The Surplus Line Association of California (SLA)

Location: San Ramon, CA

Position Type: Full-time, In Office

Salary: $95,000-$115,000 annually

Come join our team — we’d love to have you! 
At the SLA, we take pride in fostering an open, inclusive, and collaborative culture where employees come first. Our commitment to creating an exceptional workplace has earned us recognition: 

• Certified as a Great Place to Work® three years in a row 
• Named one of California’s Best Workplaces for 2025 

As an employee-first organization, we’re passionate about supporting our team inside and outside the workplace. We offer: 

• Flexible work-life balance options so you can thrive both professionally and personally 
• An expansive benefits package with a variety of choices for medical, dental, and vision coverage tailored to your needs 
• Educational benefits
• A generous wellness stipend to help you invest in your health and well-being 
• And because we love adding a little extra value: complimentary Costco memberships for you and your family 

If you’re looking to grow your career in an environment where your voice is heard, your contributions are valued, and fun is part of the culture — come join us! 

About Us: At the Surplus Line Association of California (SLA), we don’t sell insurance—we protect access to it. As the only organization overseeing California’s $20+ billion surplus lines insurance marketplace, we help support coverage availability for businesses—from film studios to freight haulers—when risks are too complex, too large or too unique for the standard market.
Each year we review more than 1 million policy transactions, equip insurance brokers with compliance tools and continuing education courses, monitor the financial stability of global insurers and deliver data-driven insights that help the industry stay ahead of emerging risks. That impact—combined with our strong employee culture—has earned us recognition by Fortune as one of the Bay Area’s best places to work.

Quick Clarifier: We are not insurance agents or a government agency—and we won’t be quoting your car or life insurance. We oversee a multibillion-dollar market that primarily serves businesses with hard-to-place risks. It’s niche, essential and surprisingly interesting. 

Position Overview:  

The Project Manager leads high-visibility, cross-functional projects that shape how the organization operates, evolves and delivers on its priorities. The portfolio may include strategic initiatives, technology implementations, major events, organizational change and projects supporting the association’s regulatory responsibilities and services. 

Working within the portfolio structure established by the Senior Project Manager, the Project Manager turns complex ideas into executable plans and owns assigned projects from initial scope through delivery and closeout. This role brings together people across the organization, creates clarity around decisions and responsibilities, anticipates obstacles and keeps important work moving toward measurable outcomes. 

It is a highly collaborative role for someone who enjoys solving complex problems, working across different disciplines and seeing projects move from concept to tangible results. 

We are looking for a Project Manager who knows how to bring structure to complexity, align people around a shared objective, and keep important initiatives moving from concept to measurable results. In this role, you will lead high-visibility, cross-functional projects that directly influence how the organization operates, evolves, and delivers on its priorities. Your portfolio may include strategic initiatives, technology implementations, organizational change, major events, process improvements, and projects supporting the association’s regulatory responsibilities and services. This is not a role focused solely on schedules and task lists. We are looking for someone who can create clarity, drive decisions, anticipate obstacles, hold stakeholders accountable, and help teams successfully navigate complex work. Working within the project portfolio and governance structure established by the Senior Project Manager, you will own assigned projects from initial scoping and planning through implementation, closeout, and evaluation. If you enjoy solving problems, bringing people together, asking the right questions, and seeing ambitious ideas become tangible outcomes, this may be the role for you. 

What You’ll Do

• Lead Projects from Start to Finish. 
• You will take ownership of assigned projects and create the structure necessary for successful delivery.
• Developing clear project charters, objectives, deliverables, success measures, timelines, and governance structures 
• Establishing roles, responsibilities, decision points, deadlines, and escalation paths 
• Building and maintaining detailed project plans in Asana 
• Coordinating work across multiple departments and disciplines 
• Identifying risks, dependencies, and blockers before they threaten delivery 
• Holding project participants accountable for agreed commitments 
• Escalating issues with thoughtful recommendations—not simply identifying problems 

Create Clarity Around Decisions 

• Establish decision-making frameworks, including RACI and approval authority 
• Facilitate discussions that move teams toward decisions and action 
• Document key decisions, assumptions, dependencies, and commitments 
• Recognize when an issue requires escalation and move it forward promptly 
• Help stakeholders understand tradeoffs involving scope, timing, resources, and outcomes 

Manage Change Without Losing Control of the Project 

• Evaluate proposed scope changes and their impact on timelines, resources, budgets, and outcomes 
• Obtain appropriate approvals before incorporating material changes 
• Clearly communicate the impact of changes to project stakeholders 
• Maintain project change logs and preserve project history for future learning 

Manage Resources, Capacity, and Competing Priorities 

• Identify resource needs and capacity constraints 
• Work with the Senior Project Manager and department leaders to surface conflicts and recommend tradeoffs 
• Support project intake by gathering requirements and assessing feasibility, scope, resources, and timelines 
• Track project budgets and flag material variances 
• Help ensure organizational resources are focused on the work that matters most 

Measure Whether the Project Actually Worked 

• Establish measurable success criteria at the beginning of each project 
• Track progress against intended outcomes throughout delivery 
• Adjust plans when necessary to maintain alignment with project objectives 
• Evaluate results at closeout 
• Capture lessons learned and contribute to continuous improvement of project management practices 

Communicate With Confidence 

• Lead project meetings, working sessions, and status reviews 
• Build productive working relationships across departments 
• Translate complex project information into clear, concise leadership updates 
• Present risks, tradeoffs, decisions, and recommended actions to senior stakeholders 
• Keep sponsors and project teams aligned throughout the project lifecycle 

What We’re Looking For 

• 3+ years of project management experience, with 5+ years preferred 
• A California resident
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional projects from inception through implementation and closeout 
• Experience coordinating initiatives across multiple departments or disciplines 
• Experience with projects involving areas such as strategy, operations, technology, regulatory work, organizational initiatives, or events 
• Strong proficiency with enterprise project management tools; Asana experience is strongly preferred 
• Experience using project charters, RACI models, success criteria, governance structures, and formal change-control processes 
• Experience preparing project updates and recommendations for senior leaders or executive stakeholders 

The Skills That Matter Most 

We are looking for someone who: 

• Brings strong judgment and practical problem-solving skills 
• Takes ownership and follows through 
• Can organize complicated work without overcomplicating the process 
• Knows how to respectfully hold others accountable 
• Communicates clearly and professionally, both verbally and in writing 
• Can facilitate productive meetings and move conversations toward decisions 
• Is comfortable navigating competing priorities and multiple concurrent projects 
• Knows when to resolve an issue independently and when to escalate 
• Can work effectively with people who have different responsibilities, perspectives, and priorities 
• Remains focused on outcomes—not simply activity 

Even Better If You Have 

• PMP or another formal project management certification 
• Experience working within a nonprofit, association, or regulatory environment 
• Familiarity with change management or organizational effectiveness principles 

Why This Role Matters 

The projects assigned to this position will often cross traditional departmental boundaries and involve initiatives important to the organization’s future. The Project Manager helps ensure that good ideas do not stall because ownership is unclear, decisions are delayed, priorities compete, or project structure is missing. You will help turn organizational priorities into clear plans, coordinated action, accountable execution, and measurable results. 

 Benefits & Perks:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance
• Educational and Professional Development
• 401(k) matching and Roth IRA
• Paid Time Off

This job description is not intended, and should not be construed to be, an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills, efforts or working conditions associated with the job. It is intended, however, to be an accurate reflection of those principal job elements essential for making decisions related to job performance, employee development and compensation. The Company reserves the right to change, modify, amend, add to or delete from any section of this document as it deems, in its judgment, to be proper.
The SLA is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.