Project Manager

About us

Everyday Plastic is a UK-based charity that works to expose excess plastic production and the harm it causes to communities and the climate. Powered by facts and real-life stories, our campaigns amplify the voices of those most affected, reshape public understanding, and drive the policy and corporate action needed to cut plastic production.

We are the team behind The Big Plastic Count – the UK’s largest ever investigation into household plastic waste. Since launching in 2022, over 540,000 people across the UK have taken part, collectively counting more than 13 million pieces of plastic packaging. The campaign has reached millions more through national media, schools, community groups, charities and partner organisations.

In 2026, The Big Plastic Count expanded further through support from The National Lottery Climate Action Fund, helping grow the campaign’s reach, deepen community participation, and strengthen the evidence base linking plastic waste to climate, health and social justice.

The Big Plastic Count imagines a future where everyone – especially those historically excluded from environmental conversations, including racialised communities, Disabled people and young people – has the platform, tools and confidence to challenge the plastics crisis.

About the role

The Project Manager plays a central role in helping Everyday Plastic and The Big Plastic Count deliver ambitious, collaborative and community-led work.

Working closely with a small and ambitious team, you will help keep projects moving across campaigns, partnerships, research, events, communications and public engagement. You’ll coordinate timelines, budgets, workflows and delivery across multiple strands of work, helping ensure projects are organised, inclusive, impactful and delivered effectively.

You’ll work closely with the Everyday Plastic team, external delivery partners, community advisory groups, researchers, freelancers, suppliers and collaborators, helping create strong systems and ways of working across the organisation.

You’ll also support clear reporting, project accountability and day-to-day operational management, helping identify risks, improve processes and ensure projects remain on track and well-supported as we grow.

We’re looking for someone who is highly organised, proactive and confident managing complex projects with care and attention to detail. You should feel comfortable balancing day-to-day coordination with longer-term planning, problem-solving and improving systems within a small and agile team.

This is an adaptable role, and we’ll encourage you to shape and develop it over time.

Key responsibilities

Project planning and delivery

• Develop, maintain and manage a detailed project plan across all workstreams for The Big Plastic Count
• Ensure all strands (community research, campaign, communications, web development, partnerships, policy, schools) are aligned and progressing
• Track milestones, deadlines and responsibilities across the project
• Identify risks to delivery and proactively resolve or escalate them
• Ensure the project meets agreed objectives, timelines and expectations
• Ensure compliance where needed, e.g. safeguarding, legal

Project processes and ways of working

• Embed clear project processes, tools and documentation
• Set up and run regular project meetings, ensuring they are focused and effective
• Maintain clarity on roles, responsibilities and decision-making
• Improve team workflows and coordination over time

Team coordination and support

• Coordinate activity across the team to ensure alignment and collaboration
• Support team members to manage workload and priorities
• Identify skills or resource gaps and flag to Directors

Contract management

• Lead or support recruitment of freelancers
• Help to define scopes of work, deliverables, and performance expectations
• Manage freelancers, agencies and other external suppliers (e.g. designers, developers) where required.

Budget and resource management

• Oversee and regularly track the project budget
• Ensure accurate financial tracking and reporting (e.g. via Xero)
• Work with the Directors to monitor spend and allocation
• Support efficient use of resources across the project

Reporting and communication

• Provide clear, timely updates on project progress to the team
• Support reporting to funders, partners and trustees
• Ensure key information is shared across the project in a consistent way

Evaluation and learning

• Build in structured reflection points and post-project evaluation
• Capture lessons learned and feed them into future work
• Ensure information is captured for impact reporting

Personal qualities and key skills

• A high degree of self-motivation, drive, resilience and initiative
• Experience in project coordination and/or management, ideally within a nonprofit or NGO
• Excellent time management and organisational skills, with a good eye for detail.
• Ability to keep calm under pressure
• A commitment to environmental and social justice, ensuring that The Big Plastic Count is inclusive and community-led
• Good emotional intelligence and desire to create an inclusive team culture
• A willingness to adapt, be flexible, pitch in and be hands-on within our small and agile team
• Ability to work with diverse stakeholders, including community groups, funders, and advocacy partners.
• A proactive approach to work with the confidence to generate ideas and strategies
• Creativity and the ability to think outside the box when it comes to campaign tactics
• Composure under pressure and able to work to deadlines

Benefits

• 5% pension contribution
• Contribution to relevant training
• 25 days holiday + bank holidays pro-rata
• Additional 2-week office closures in August and December/January

Here at Everyday Plastic, we are committed to diversity and inclusion and promoting equal opportunities within our small organisation. You can read our Diversity & Inclusion policy here.

Annual salary: £35,000 pro rata
Contract type: 3 days per week / 12-month rolling contract
Application deadline: 7pm, Friday 3 July 2026
Interviews: w/c 13 July 2026
Start date: early September 2026
Location: Remote (with quarterly in-person team meetings)