Ascension is seeking a Senior Technical Analyst / Senior Computer Systems Analyst to provide advanced systems analysis, technical planning, application design, integration analysis, and implementation support for Montgomery County Public Schools.

The ideal candidate will be able to evaluate complex application environments, understand how business processes, data, software, interfaces, and infrastructure work together, and translate customer needs into clear technical requirements and practical implementation solutions. This individual will serve as a bridge among MCPS business stakeholders, application developers, database specialists, cybersecurity personnel, quality assurance teams, vendors, and project leadership.

This role is important because MCPS operates a large, diverse technology environment supporting students, educators, administrators, and business operations. The selected professional must be able to identify technical risks, resolve ambiguous requirements, assess system dependencies, and help MCPS implement reliable, secure, accessible, and maintainable systems.

Ascension is particularly interested in a candidate who is:

• Analytical, methodical, and attentive to technical and operational details.
• Comfortable working independently with limited supervision.
• Skilled at clarifying incomplete or conflicting requirements.
• Able to anticipate integration, data, security, and performance problems.
• Organized enough to manage multiple assignments, dependencies, and deadlines.
• Confident communicating with both technical personnel and nontechnical stakeholders.
• Capable of explaining complex system issues in clear, decision-oriented language.
• Committed to protecting student, employee, and institutional information.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Senior Technical Analyst will analyze system architecture, application functionality, interfaces, data requirements, technical specifications, implementation issues, and system performance. The position will support the analysis and design of complex applications and major system installations and may provide technical direction to development, integration, data, testing, and implementation teams.

The contractor will examine existing and proposed systems, document current and future-state requirements, evaluate technical alternatives, and recommend solutions that align with MCPS business objectives, security controls, privacy obligations, accessibility standards, and technology architecture.

Depending on the task order, the position may support enterprise platforms such as Oracle Fusion Cloud, Infor Lawson, student information systems, Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Power Platform solutions, databases, web applications, APIs, business intelligence tools, or custom-developed applications. The analyst may also support legacy modernization, data conversion, system integration, cloud migration, workflow automation, quality assurance, and production-readiness assessments.

The RFP specifically identifies the Senior Computer Systems Analyst as a professional who provides technical direction for software development, analyzes complex applications, and prepares milestone and technical-status reports for major system installations. It requires a bachelor’s degree and at least eight years of complex application analysis and design experience, including experience with database management systems and multiple programming languages.

Anticipated Day-to-Day Activities

• Analyze existing applications, business processes, system architectures, databases, interfaces, integrations, and technical dependencies.
• Elicit functional, technical, data, security, performance, accessibility, and operational requirements from MCPS stakeholders.
• Translate business needs into system requirements, use cases, process flows, interface definitions, data mappings, acceptance criteria, and technical specifications.
• Evaluate current-state systems and identify gaps, limitations, duplication, performance issues, security risks, and modernization opportunities.
• Develop current-state and future-state diagrams showing system components, interfaces, data movement, dependencies, and user interactions.
• Recommend technically feasible solutions that balance business value, security, accessibility, implementation complexity, maintainability, and cost.
• Provide technical direction and clarification to application developers, engineers, database specialists, testers, vendors, and implementation teams.
• Review proposed system designs, application configurations, database structures, APIs, integrations, and technical documentation for completeness and consistency.
• Analyze interface requirements between cloud-hosted, on-premises, third-party, and internally developed applications.
• Define data requirements, conversion rules, validation criteria, reconciliation procedures, and exception-handling processes.
• Support system modernization, application migration, data conversion, software implementation, integration, and deployment activities.
• Investigate system defects, performance degradation, data discrepancies, interface failures, and implementation issues.
• Perform root-cause analysis and coordinate corrective actions with the appropriate technical teams.
• Assess solution impacts across applications, databases, users, workflows, security controls, reporting processes, and support operations.
• Prepare alternatives analyses, decision papers, technical recommendations, risk assessments, and implementation-readiness findings.
• Develop milestone reports, technical-status reports, issue logs, risk registers, requirements traceability matrices, and implementation trackers.
• Facilitate requirements workshops, design reviews, technical working sessions, defect reviews, and implementation-readiness meetings.
• Coordinate with project managers to monitor scope, schedule, dependencies, risks, issues, decisions, and technical deliverables.
• Support functional, integration, regression, performance, load, stress, security, accessibility, and user-acceptance testing.
• Validate that implemented solutions satisfy approved requirements, technical specifications, security controls, and acceptance criteria.
• Document system configurations, workflows, interfaces, operating procedures, support procedures, and knowledge-transfer materials.
• Maintain version control, change history, decision records, and traceability across requirements and technical documentation.
• Ensure technical deliverables comply with MCPS privacy, security, data ownership, records-management, and accessibility requirements.
• Apply Agile, Scrum, DevOps, Waterfall, or hybrid delivery practices based on the requirements of the assigned task order.
• Prepare weekly productivity reports summarizing activities, deliverables, accomplishments, issues, risks, and hours worked, as required under the MCPS contract.

Problems the Position Is Expected to Address

The Senior Technical Analyst may be called upon to resolve or support:

• Incomplete, ambiguous, or conflicting system requirements.
• Poorly documented legacy applications.
• Misalignment between business processes and system functionality.
• Data-quality, data-mapping, and data-conversion problems.
• Failed or unreliable interfaces between enterprise systems.
• Application performance and scalability concerns.
• Security, privacy, role-based access, and identity-management issues.
• System implementations that do not fully satisfy user needs.
• Lack of traceability between requirements, design, testing, and deployment.
• Technical risks affecting schedule, cost, quality, or production readiness.
• Inconsistent technical documentation and configuration records.
• Accessibility barriers affecting users with disabilities.
• Communication gaps between program stakeholders and technical teams.
• Production defects requiring structured root-cause analysis.
• Modernization decisions involving legacy replacement, integration, cloud adoption, or workflow automation.

Anticipated Tools and Technologies

Actual tools will depend on the task order. Candidates should have experience with several of the following:

Systems and Requirements Analysis

• Microsoft Visio or comparable process-modeling tools
• Lucidchart or similar diagramming platforms
• Azure DevOps
• Jira and Confluence
• Requirements traceability matrices
• Use cases and user stories
• Business process models and workflow diagrams
• Data-flow and entity-relationship diagrams
• Interface-control documents
• Functional and technical design specifications

Enterprise and Application Technologies

• Oracle Fusion Cloud applications
• Oracle Integration Cloud
• Infor Lawson
• Student information systems
• Microsoft 365
• SharePoint
• Microsoft Power Platform
• ServiceNow
• Web-based and client-server applications
• REST and SOAP APIs
• Microservices architectures
• Single Sign-On and identity-management solutions

Data and Reporting

• SQL and relational database-management systems
• Oracle Database, SQL Server, or comparable platforms
• Data mapping and conversion tools
• Microsoft Excel
• Power BI or Tableau
• Data-validation and reconciliation methods
• ETL and data-integration concepts

Development and Testing

• Familiarity with two or more programming or scripting environments, such as Java, Python, .NET/C#, JavaScript, PowerShell, or SQL
• Git or comparable source-control systems
• CI/CD concepts and pipelines
• Test-management and defect-tracking tools
• Functional, integration, regression, performance, and user-acceptance testing methods

Ascension is seeking an experienced Senior Business Systems Analyst to support Montgomery County Public Schools’ enterprise technology, application modernization, systems integration, and business-process improvement initiatives.

The selected professional will serve as the bridge between MCPS business stakeholders, technical teams, system administrators, developers, vendors, and end users. This individual will determine what users and programs need from an information system, translate those needs into clear functional and technical requirements, evaluate current workflows, and help ensure that technology solutions are properly designed, configured, tested, documented, and accepted.

This position is well suited for a senior analyst who understands both business operations and enterprise information systems. The ideal candidate can lead requirements discussions with nontechnical stakeholders, communicate effectively with software engineers and database professionals, and convert complex or sometimes ambiguous customer needs into practical, testable solutions.

MCPS is establishing a master agreement through which individual Statements of Work and Requests for Resumes may be issued for custom development, systems integration, enterprise application support, modernization, automation, data services, and staff augmentation. The role may therefore support one or more assignments during the contract term rather than one continuously funded position.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Senior Business Systems Analyst will elicit, analyze, validate, and document business, functional, system, data, interface, security, accessibility, and reporting requirements for complex applications and technology initiatives. The analyst will assess existing business processes and systems, identify gaps and dependencies, develop functional specifications and process models, support system configuration and development, and coordinate testing and user acceptance.

Depending on the specific assignment, the analyst may support enterprise platforms such as Oracle Fusion Cloud, Infor Lawson, student information systems, Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Power Platform applications, custom web applications, databases, integrations, dashboards, or legacy-system modernization efforts. The MCPS scope covers the full System Development Life Cycle and includes application support, engineering and modernization, intelligent automation, data science, security, web systems, document management, training, and technical documentation.

The successful candidate will be:

• Detail-oriented and disciplined in requirements documentation.
• Comfortable working with stakeholders who have different priorities and levels of technical knowledge.
• Skilled at identifying incomplete, conflicting, or unstated requirements.
• Self-directed and capable of progressing work with limited supervision.
• Organized enough to manage several requirements, decisions, issues, and deliverables concurrently.
• Able to anticipate downstream impacts involving integrations, data, security, testing, training, and change management.
• Committed to protecting student, employee, and operational information.
• Prepared to work in an environment where priorities and task-order needs may evolve.

Position Responsibilities

The Senior Business Systems Analyst is expected to perform activities such as the following:

• Elicit business, functional, technical, data, reporting, interface, security, privacy, and accessibility requirements through interviews, workshops, observations, document reviews, surveys, and facilitated working sessions.
• Analyze existing applications, databases, workflows, policies, operating procedures, and system interfaces to identify gaps, risks, duplication, bottlenecks, and improvement opportunities.
• Translate business needs into functional specifications, system requirements, user stories, use cases, acceptance criteria, process models, data requirements, and configuration documentation.
• Document current-state and future-state processes using process maps, workflow diagrams, decision tables, requirements traceability matrices, and supporting narratives.
• Facilitate requirements-validation sessions with business owners, subject matter experts, developers, architects, database specialists, cybersecurity personnel, testers, and end users.
• Reconcile conflicting stakeholder requirements and help decision-makers evaluate priorities, tradeoffs, dependencies, costs, risks, and expected outcomes.
• Evaluate proposed systems, enhancements, configurations, interfaces, and automation opportunities against documented business and technical requirements.
• Support system design and configuration activities by clarifying requirements and providing functional guidance to developers and technical teams.
• Coordinate requirements across applications, databases, APIs, cloud platforms, reporting tools, and on-premises environments.
• Develop functional specifications for application modules, workflows, role-based permissions, integrations, reports, dashboards, notifications, forms, and data-conversion activities.
• Maintain requirements baselines, decision logs, issue logs, change requests, traceability records, and version-controlled documentation.
• Assess the impact of proposed requirement or configuration changes on scope, schedule, data, interfaces, security, testing, training, and end-user operations.
• Prepare test scenarios, test conditions, expected results, and user-acceptance criteria in coordination with quality assurance and testing personnel.
• Support functional, integration, regression, performance, accessibility, and user-acceptance testing.
• Coordinate user acceptance testing, including test planning, participant preparation, issue tracking, defect clarification, retesting, and acceptance documentation.
• Validate that delivered capabilities satisfy approved requirements before implementation or production release.
• Analyze defects and implementation issues to distinguish between requirement gaps, configuration problems, software defects, data issues, and user-training needs.
• Support data mapping, data conversion, data validation, reconciliation, and migration activities.
• Identify opportunities to improve or automate processes through tools such as Microsoft Power Automate, Power Apps, SharePoint, Power BI, workflow platforms, and enterprise application functionality.
• Develop reports, dashboards, status summaries, milestone updates, and briefing materials for project leadership and stakeholders.
• Prepare or contribute to system documentation, standard operating procedures, job aids, user guides, release notes, and training materials.
• Ensure requirements and deliverables account for ADA Section 508 and Non-Visual Access requirements.
• Apply appropriate Agile, Scrum, hybrid, or traditional SDLC practices based on the assignment.
• Participate in sprint planning, backlog refinement, demonstrations, retrospectives, design reviews, change-control meetings, and release-readiness reviews.
• Monitor assigned milestones, risks, issues, dependencies, decisions, and action items.
• Report weekly progress, completed tasks, hours expended, upcoming work, risks, and impediments as required by MCPS.
• Protect MCPS information in accordance with FERPA, COPPA, the Maryland Student Privacy Act, MCPS policies, and applicable security requirements.
• Collaborate effectively with MCPS employees, other contractors, software vendors, implementation partners, and third-party service providers.
• Recommend practical solutions that balance user needs, technical feasibility, security, accessibility, maintainability, cost, and implementation risk.

Anticipated Tools and Methods

The specific technology stack will be established by each task order. Candidates should be prepared to work with a combination of:

• Microsoft 365, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, and SharePoint
• Azure DevOps, Jira, ServiceNow, or comparable requirements and work-management platforms
• Microsoft Power Platform, including Power BI, Power Apps, and Power Automate
• SQL and relational database concepts
• Oracle Fusion Cloud, Oracle Integration Cloud, Infor Lawson, or comparable enterprise platforms
• Student information, human capital, financial, document-management, and reporting systems
• Requirements traceability matrices
• User stories, use cases, acceptance criteria, and functional specifications
• Business process modeling and workflow mapping
• Agile/Scrum, DevOps, Waterfall, and hybrid SDLC approaches
• Test-management, defect-tracking, and user-acceptance processes
• Data mapping, interface specifications, and API documentation
• Section 508 and Non-Visual Access validation methods

Ascension is seeking an experienced Senior Application Developer to serve as an Applications Development Expert supporting Montgomery County Public Schools’ enterprise technology, application modernization, systems integration, and custom software development initiatives.

The selected professional will lead or provide high-level technical direction for complex application development efforts across the full System Development Life Cycle. The Senior Application Developer will help MCPS modernize legacy applications, design secure and maintainable solutions, integrate cloud and on-premises systems, implement microservices and application programming interfaces, and establish reliable DevSecOps and continuous integration/continuous delivery practices.

This role is well suited for a hands-on senior developer who can move between architecture, coding, integration, testing, troubleshooting, documentation, and technical leadership. The ideal candidate will understand that application development in a large public-school environment requires more than writing code. Solutions must be scalable, accessible, secure, supportable, well documented, and designed to protect sensitive student and employee information.

MCPS identifies the Applications Development Expert as the technical lead and mentor for complex enterprise-wide software solutions and integrations. The minimum RFP qualification is a bachelor’s degree and seven years of IT industry experience, including three years serving as a high-level technical expert.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Senior Application Developer will design, develop, modernize, integrate, test, deploy, and support enterprise applications that enable MCPS business, administrative, instructional, financial, human capital, and student-service operations.

The contractor will collaborate with MCPS technical teams, business analysts, project managers, security personnel, quality assurance specialists, system administrators, vendors, and business stakeholders to translate functional needs into secure and sustainable technical solutions. Assignments may include modernizing legacy applications; creating web, cloud, mobile, or data-driven solutions; designing APIs and microservices; implementing automated build and deployment pipelines; integrating enterprise platforms; and resolving complex production issues.

The successful candidate must be:

• Self-directed and comfortable working with limited supervision.
• Capable of leading technically complex assignments from concept through deployment.
• Skilled at anticipating integration, security, performance, accessibility, and maintainability concerns.
• Able to balance multiple priorities in an environment where individual task orders may vary in scope, urgency, technology, and duration.
• Comfortable explaining technical concepts to both technical and nontechnical stakeholders.
• Committed to protecting student, employee, financial, and institutional data.
• Disciplined in documenting code, decisions, configurations, interfaces, and deployment procedures.

The position may function as a technical lead or Task Leader and may provide mentoring, code-review, design-review, and troubleshooting support to other developers.

Position Responsibilities and Anticipated Activities

The Senior Application Developer will:

• Lead the design, development, modernization, integration, testing, deployment, and maintenance of complex enterprise applications.
• Analyze business, functional, security, data, accessibility, and performance requirements and translate them into technical designs.
• Develop applications and services using technologies such as Java, Python, C#, .NET, JavaScript, TypeScript, SQL, and related frameworks.
• Modernize legacy applications by refactoring code, replacing obsolete components, improving application architecture, and migrating capabilities to supported platforms.
• Design RESTful APIs, microservices, reusable components, integration services, and data-exchange mechanisms.
• Integrate cloud-based and on-premises applications, databases, identity services, enterprise systems, and third-party platforms.
• Configure and maintain automated CI/CD pipelines for building, testing, scanning, packaging, and deploying software.
• Apply Agile, Scrum, DevOps, DevSecOps, and secure SDLC practices throughout application delivery.
• Create solution architecture diagrams, technical specifications, interface-control documents, data mappings, deployment instructions, and system-support documentation.
• Conduct peer reviews, code reviews, design reviews, unit testing, integration testing, and defect-resolution activities.
• Support performance, load, stress, regression, security, and accessibility testing in coordination with quality assurance personnel.
• Identify application defects, performance bottlenecks, security weaknesses, integration failures, and technical debt.
• Troubleshoot complex production and nonproduction issues and perform root-cause analysis.
• Implement role-based access, secure authentication, authorization, encryption, input validation, logging, monitoring, and error-handling controls.
• Ensure developed solutions comply with MCPS information-security, privacy, source-code, data-ownership, and configuration-management requirements.
• Build accessible applications that support keyboard navigation, screen readers, appropriate semantic structures, and applicable ADA Section 508 and Maryland Non-Visual Access requirements.
• Maintain source code, configuration files, build scripts, technical documentation, and version histories in approved repositories.
• Participate in sprint planning, daily stand-ups, backlog refinement, demonstrations, retrospectives, release planning, and technical working sessions.
• Estimate development effort, identify dependencies, communicate technical risks, and support development of realistic delivery schedules.
• Mentor junior and mid-level developers in coding standards, design patterns, testing, debugging, security, documentation, and deployment practices.
• Coordinate with business analysts and end users to validate requirements and confirm that delivered functionality addresses the underlying business need.
• Collaborate with cybersecurity, infrastructure, database, enterprise architecture, and quality assurance teams before production deployment.
• Monitor application health and recommend improvements for reliability, scalability, performance, maintainability, and user experience.
• Prepare weekly productivity reports summarizing work completed, deliverables, hours, risks, issues, and upcoming activities.
• Transfer technical knowledge to MCPS staff through walkthroughs, demonstrations, technical documentation, and mentoring.
• Protect all MCPS data and immediately escalate suspected security incidents, unauthorized access, or data exposure.

Expected Technical Environment

Depending on the individual task order, the Senior Application Developer may work with:

• Java, Python, C#, .NET, ASP.NET, JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, and CSS.
• SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, or comparable relational databases.
• REST APIs, SOAP services, JSON, XML, message queues, and integration middleware.
• Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, Oracle Cloud, or hybrid-cloud environments.
• Azure DevOps, GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, or comparable CI/CD platforms.
• Git-based version control and branching strategies.
• Docker, Kubernetes, or other containerization and orchestration technologies.
• Microsoft Power Platform, SharePoint, Microsoft 365, and enterprise web platforms.
• Automated unit, integration, regression, performance, and security-testing tools.
• Static application security testing, dependency scanning, vulnerability scanning, and code-quality tools.
• Agile/Scrum collaboration and work-management platforms.
• Accessibility tools such as Axe, WAVE, Lighthouse, JAWS, NVDA, or VoiceOver.

Specific technologies will depend on the MCPS task order. Candidates are not necessarily expected to possess expert-level experience with every tool listed.

Ascension is seeking a capable and solution-oriented Application Developer / Software Engineer to design, develop, configure, test, document, integrate, and maintain software applications supporting Montgomery County Public Schools.

The selected professional will help MCPS modernize applications, improve system interoperability, automate business processes, and maintain reliable software solutions across its enterprise technology environment. The role supports MCPS’s broader need for custom development, system integration, application modernization, and staff augmentation across the full System Development Life Cycle.

The ideal candidate combines hands-on programming skills with disciplined software engineering practices. This individual should be able to understand business and technical requirements, translate them into maintainable software, troubleshoot complex issues, and work effectively with analysts, architects, testers, security personnel, and customer stakeholders.

The position is well suited for a developer who:

• Works independently while remaining collaborative and responsive.
• Produces clear, reusable, and well-documented code.
• Can operate effectively when requirements evolve.
• Anticipates technical risks and proposes practical solutions.
• Balances development speed with security, accessibility, quality, and maintainability.
• Can communicate technical concepts to both technical and nontechnical stakeholders.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Application Developer will support the development and maintenance of applications, interfaces, APIs, database components, and reusable software modules. The position may support new application development, legacy system modernization, software integration, database-driven applications, web applications, workflow automation, and production maintenance.

MCPS identifies Engineering and Modernization as a primary functional area covering the full development lifecycle for custom applications. Examples include legacy-system modernization, microservices and API design, CI/CD pipeline implementation, and deployment using Agile, Scrum, and DevOps methodologies in environments such as Python, Java, and .NET.

The developer may be assigned through a Statement of Work or Request for Resumes after award of the Master Agreement. Therefore, the exact technology stack, schedule, work location, and project duration will depend on the applicable task order.

The contractor will be expected to help MCPS:

• Convert functional and technical requirements into working software.
• Integrate cloud-based, on-premises, and enterprise applications.
• Improve the maintainability and reusability of existing systems.
• Resolve software defects and application performance issues.
• Support controlled application releases.
• Maintain accurate technical and system documentation.
• Apply software quality, data privacy, security, and accessibility standards.
• Protect student, employee, and institutional information.

Anticipated Day-to-Day Activities

• Analyze business requirements, technical specifications, workflows, interfaces, and existing application architecture.
• Design software components, database structures, APIs, interfaces, services, and reusable application modules.
• Develop secure, maintainable, and scalable applications using the programming languages and frameworks specified by the task order.
• Configure application settings, development environments, integrations, and supporting database components.
• Write SQL queries, stored procedures, data-access logic, scripts, and database transactions.
• Build integrations between cloud-based, on-premises, and third-party enterprise systems.
• Develop RESTful APIs, web services, microservices, or other interface components when required.
• Modernize legacy applications by refactoring code, replacing outdated components, and improving system architecture.
• Review system specifications and evaluate existing subsystems and software components for reuse.
• Create unit tests, test scripts, test data, and automated testing routines.
• Execute unit, integration, regression, accessibility, performance, and user-acceptance support activities.
• Diagnose software defects, interface failures, data issues, performance bottlenecks, and production incidents.
• Resolve defects and document root causes, corrective actions, workarounds, and preventive measures.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, daily stand-ups, demonstrations, and retrospectives.
• Maintain source code, version histories, development branches, release notes, and configuration records.
• Support CI/CD pipelines, code deployment, release management, and environment promotion activities.
• Conduct peer code reviews and incorporate technical and quality-review comments.
• Document application architecture, source code, interfaces, database structures, installation procedures, configuration requirements, and support processes.
• Apply MCPS security, data privacy, records-management, and source-code requirements.
• Ensure applications and deliverables comply with ADA Section 508 and applicable Non-Visual Access requirements.
• Collaborate with product owners, project managers, business analysts, database specialists, cybersecurity personnel, testers, trainers, and technical writers.
• Prepare weekly productivity reports documenting completed work, current tasks, issues, deliverables, and labor hours.
• Provide technical demonstrations, knowledge-transfer sessions, and implementation support to MCPS personnel.
• Protect MCPS data in accordance with FERPA, COPPA, the Maryland Student Privacy Act, and applicable MCPS policies.

Ascension is seeking a detail-oriented and analytical Reporting Analyst to support the implementation and ongoing optimization of WSSC Water’s Online Content Library for Employees initiative. The Reporting Analyst will play a critical role in transforming learning activity data into meaningful insights that enable leadership, managers, and administrators to understand employee engagement, training effectiveness, compliance status, and workforce development outcomes.

The ideal candidate is a data-driven professional who understands how to collect, analyze, visualize, and communicate workforce learning information through dashboards, reports, and performance metrics. The candidate should have experience developing business intelligence solutions that translate complex datasets into actionable insights for executive decision-making.

This position is ideal for an individual who enjoys solving business problems through data, building intuitive dashboards, identifying trends, and helping organizations improve operational performance through measurable outcomes.

The successful candidate will bring experience supporting enterprise reporting environments, data analytics initiatives, learning management systems (LMS), human capital management (HCM) reporting, or workforce analytics. The individual must be comfortable working with stakeholders to understand reporting needs, define metrics, validate data accuracy, and deliver clear executive-level reporting products.

Summary of Contractor Role

The Reporting Analyst will support WSSC Water’s learning technology environment by developing, maintaining, and enhancing reporting capabilities that provide visibility into employee training activities, utilization trends, compliance requirements, and learning outcomes.

The role will support the creation of dashboards, KPI frameworks, automated reports, and analytical products that help WSSC Water measure adoption of the online content library and optimize employee development programs.

The Reporting Analyst will collaborate with the Project Manager, Client Success Manager, Learning Platform Administrator, and WSSC stakeholders to:

• Define reporting requirements and business intelligence needs.
• Develop dashboards and visualization products.
• Analyze learning utilization and performance data.
• Validate reporting accuracy and data integrity.
• Identify trends, opportunities, and areas requiring improvement.
• Translate analytical findings into actionable recommendations.

This role directly supports WSSC Water’s objective of gaining measurable visibility into employee learning activities and outcomes through reporting, analytics, and performance measurement capabilities.

Ascension’s approach aligns with our demonstrated capabilities in data analysis, reporting, analytics, dashboard development, KPI development, and performance measurement solutions supporting federal and public-sector customers. Ascension has delivered similar analytics and reporting capabilities through engagements supporting DHS/FPS, FEMA, and DOE/CESER, including workforce dashboards, KPI development, data visualization, and management reporting solutions.

Position Responsibilities / Anticipated Activities

The Reporting Analyst will:

• Develop dashboards, scorecards, and reporting products to measure employee learning participation, completion rates, utilization trends, compliance status, and learning outcomes.
• Analyze learning data from LMS, HCM, and enterprise reporting systems to identify trends, patterns, and opportunities for improving workforce development outcomes.
• Design KPI frameworks and performance measurement methodologies aligned with organizational learning objectives.
• Create executive-level reports, presentations, and visualization products that communicate insights clearly to leadership and stakeholders.
• Configure reporting solutions using business intelligence and visualization tools such as Power BI, Tableau, Excel, and related analytics platforms.
• Validate data accuracy, completeness, and consistency across integrated learning and enterprise systems.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to gather reporting requirements, define metrics, and translate business needs into analytical solutions.
• Develop automated reporting processes to reduce manual reporting effort and improve reporting timeliness.
• Monitor learning engagement metrics and identify opportunities to increase employee adoption and utilization of available training resources.
• Support data integration activities by reviewing data exchanges between LMS, HRIS, and reporting environments.
• Prepare analytical summaries, findings, and recommendations to support continuous improvement initiatives.
• Maintain reporting documentation, data definitions, dashboard specifications, and reporting procedures.
• Support user acceptance testing (UAT) for dashboards, reports, and analytics enhancements.

Ascension is seeking a Training, Change Management & User Adoption Specialist to support the successful implementation and adoption of WSSC Water’s enterprise online learning content library. This role is critical to ensuring that WSSC Water employees, managers, and administrators successfully transition to and effectively utilize a modern digital learning environment that supports workforce development, compliance training, technical skills development, leadership development, and organizational knowledge sharing.

The ideal candidate is a strategic learning professional who combines instructional design expertise, organizational change management experience, stakeholder engagement skills, and workforce adoption strategies. The successful candidate understands that implementing a learning platform is not only a technology deployment effort—it is a people transformation initiative requiring effective communication, training, engagement, and sustained adoption.

The candidate will support Ascension’s delivery team in helping WSSC Water maximize the value of its online learning ecosystem by developing training strategies, administrator enablement materials, communications campaigns, user adoption plans, and change management activities that improve employee engagement and learning outcomes.

This individual should be comfortable working with business leaders, HR/Learning & Development teams, technical teams, administrators, and end users to translate organizational goals into practical learning experiences and adoption strategies.

Summary of Contractor Role

The Training, Change Management & User Adoption Specialist will support implementation and ongoing optimization activities associated with WSSC Water’s online content library solution.

The role will focus on:

• Developing and executing change management strategies to support employee adoption.
• Designing administrator and end-user training programs.
• Creating communications materials, job aids, user guides, FAQs, and adoption resources.
• Supporting stakeholder engagement activities throughout implementation.
• Facilitating training sessions, workshops, demonstrations, and knowledge transfer activities.
• Supporting learning pathway development and workforce engagement initiatives.
• Measuring adoption effectiveness through feedback collection, participation metrics, and continuous improvement recommendations.

The specialist will apply proven change management methodologies and adult learning principles to ensure WSSC Water employees understand the value of the learning platform, know how to use the available resources, and integrate digital learning into their professional development activities.

This role directly supports Ascension’s capabilities in strategic communications, change management, training curriculum development, workforce development, and program support. Ascension’s relevant experience includes DHS/FPS and FEMA workforce development efforts involving curriculum development, training facilitation, communications products, stakeholder engagement, and organizational change support.

Primary Responsibilities / Expected Activities

The Training, Change Management & User Adoption Specialist will:

Training Strategy & Curriculum Development

• Develop training strategies aligned with WSSC Water’s workforce development objectives and implementation roadmap.
• Design administrator training programs to enable effective management of learning content, users, reporting, and platform capabilities.
• Develop end-user training materials including user guides, quick reference guides, job aids, FAQs, tutorials, and instructional resources.
• Apply adult learning principles and instructional design methodologies to create engaging learning experiences.
• Develop role-based training materials tailored for administrators, managers, supervisors, and employees.
• Support virtual, instructor-led, and self-paced training delivery approaches.

Change Management & Adoption Support

• Develop and execute change management plans supporting successful platform adoption.
• Assess stakeholder impacts and identify adoption risks, barriers, and mitigation strategies.
• Create communication plans supporting awareness, engagement, and sustained utilization.
• Develop communications products including:
  • Executive announcements
  • Employee newsletters
  • Adoption campaigns
  • Training announcements
  • FAQs
  • User communications
• Support stakeholder engagement sessions with HR, learning leaders, managers, and end users.
• Apply structured change management practices to support organizational readiness.

User Adoption & Engagement

• Develop strategies to increase employee engagement with digital learning resources.
• Support creation of learning campaigns and promotional activities.
• Monitor adoption metrics and recommend improvements.
• Collect user feedback through surveys, focus groups, interviews, and feedback sessions.
• Identify opportunities to improve learner experience and platform utilization.

Training Delivery & Facilitation

• Facilitate virtual and in-person training sessions.
• Conduct administrator enablement sessions.
• Support train-the-trainer activities.
• Facilitate workshops, demonstrations, and stakeholder meetings.
• Provide coaching and knowledge transfer to WSSC Water personnel.

Documentation & Continuous Improvement

• Develop and maintain training documentation and process materials.
• Support development of standard operating procedures (SOPs), workflows, and operational guides.
• Maintain training materials through platform updates and organizational changes.
• Recommend continuous improvement opportunities based on user feedback and performance data.

Ascension is seeking a technically skilled Integration & Technical Support Specialist to support the successful implementation, integration, and ongoing operation of an enterprise online learning content library solution for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC Water). This role will serve as a critical technical liaison between WSSC Water stakeholders, Ascension’s program team, and OpenSesame’s learning technology specialists to ensure seamless connectivity between the learning platform and WSSC Water’s enterprise technology ecosystem.

The ideal candidate is a systems integration professional who understands how enterprise applications exchange data, how users authenticate securely, and how technology solutions are adopted within complex organizations. This individual will support technical coordination activities involving Learning Management Systems (LMS), Human Capital Management (HCM)/Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS), Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, APIs, data exchange workflows, and system troubleshooting.

The successful candidate will bring a combination of technical expertise, analytical thinking, communication skills, and problem-solving ability. This position requires someone who can translate technical requirements into actionable implementation activities, coordinate across technical and business stakeholders, anticipate integration challenges, track issues through resolution, and help ensure WSSC Water receives a reliable, user-friendly learning technology solution.

This position is especially important because WSSC Water is seeking more than access to training content; they require an integrated learning ecosystem that connects employee development, training records, reporting, and workforce capability management. The Integration & Technical Support Specialist will help ensure that the solution operates effectively within WSSC Water’s existing enterprise environment.

Summary of Contractor Role

The Integration & Technical Support Specialist will provide technical implementation support, integration coordination, and operational assistance for WSSC Water’s Online Content Library for Employees program.

The position will support:

• LMS and HRIS integration coordination
• Data exchange validation and troubleshooting
• Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and Teams compatibility activities
• Single Sign-On (SSO) implementation coordination
• Technical issue tracking and resolution management
• System testing and user acceptance testing (UAT)
• Technical documentation development and maintenance
• Communication between WSSC Water technical teams and platform providers

This role supports Ascension’s responsibility as the prime contractor to manage enterprise integration activities while leveraging OpenSesame’s platform-specific expertise for learning content connectors and integration capabilities.

Ascension will lead enterprise coordination, requirements alignment, stakeholder communication, testing management, issue tracking, and technical governance. OpenSesame will provide specialized platform knowledge related to learning content integration, connectors, and LMS/HCM interoperability. This approach aligns with Ascension’s demonstrated experience supporting SharePoint, ServiceNow, Microsoft technologies, business process automation, data management, and enterprise transformation initiatives.

Position Responsibilities / Expected Activities

The Integration & Technical Support Specialist will:

• Coordinate technical implementation activities between WSSC Water, Ascension, OpenSesame, and other enterprise technology stakeholders.
• Analyze technical requirements related to LMS, HRIS, ERP, Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Teams, authentication, and data exchange processes.
• Support integration planning activities including technical discovery sessions, interface discussions, workflow reviews, and implementation planning.
• Coordinate validation of LMS/HRIS integration activities, including user provisioning, learning assignment synchronization, completion tracking, and reporting workflows.
• Support configuration and testing of Single Sign-On (SSO) capabilities and secure authentication processes.
• Review technical documentation, integration specifications, API documentation, and configuration requirements.
• Coordinate system testing activities, including test case development, test execution, defect tracking, and validation of corrective actions.
• Maintain technical issue logs, risks, action trackers, and implementation status reports.
• Facilitate technical meetings with WSSC Water IT personnel, business stakeholders, and vendor technical teams.
• Document system configurations, integration workflows, technical procedures, and operational support processes.
• Support troubleshooting activities by analyzing reported issues, coordinating root cause analysis, and tracking resolution activities.
• Support Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and Teams integration discussions to ensure alignment with organizational collaboration tools.
• Assist with data validation activities to confirm accuracy, completeness, and consistency of exchanged information.
• Support development of technical reports, dashboards, and implementation status updates for project leadership.
• Provide technical input into knowledge transfer activities and administrator training support.
• Assist with continuous improvement activities by identifying opportunities to improve system performance, user experience, and operational efficiency.

Ascension is seeking an experienced Program Manager to serve as the primary leader responsible for successful contract execution, customer relationship management, and overall program delivery. The Program Manager will provide executive-level oversight to ensure contractual commitments are achieved through effective planning, performance management, risk mitigation, quality assurance, stakeholder engagement, and coordination of project resources.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned government consulting professional with demonstrated experience managing complex federal, state, or public-sector programs. The successful candidate will be comfortable operating in a mission-focused environment, engaging directly with government leadership, coordinating multidisciplinary teams, resolving challenges proactively, and ensuring consistent delivery of high-quality products and services.

This role is critical to ensuring the customer receives measurable value through disciplined program governance, transparent communication, effective resource management, and continuous improvement.

Summary of Contractor Role

The Program Manager will serve as the central point of accountability for contract performance and will oversee all aspects of program execution, including:

• Contract governance and performance management
• Customer relationship management
• Integrated project planning and execution
• Schedule and milestone management
• Risk identification, mitigation, and escalation
• Quality assurance and continuous improvement
• Subcontractor coordination and oversight
• Executive reporting and communications
• Stakeholder engagement and meeting facilitation

The Program Manager will establish and maintain the management framework necessary to ensure the program achieves customer objectives, complies with contractual requirements, and delivers consistent operational excellence.

This position directly supports Ascension’s core capabilities in Strategic Advisory and Program Support, Program/Project Management, Business Process Improvement, Stakeholder Engagement, Performance Management, and Data-Driven Reporting.

Position Responsibilities / Expected Activities

The Program Manager will:

• Lead overall contract execution activities and serve as the primary point of contact between Ascension and the customer.
• Develop and maintain program management plans, execution strategies, governance frameworks, and operational procedures.
• Manage integrated project schedules, milestones, deliverables, dependencies, and resource allocation.
• Monitor contract performance against established objectives, service-level expectations, quality standards, and performance metrics.
• Coordinate communications among government stakeholders, project teams, leadership, and subcontractor personnel.
• Facilitate recurring program reviews, status meetings, working groups, and executive briefings.
• Prepare program dashboards, status reports, risk summaries, performance reports, and leadership presentations.
• Identify emerging risks, issues, and constraints and develop mitigation strategies to maintain successful execution.
• Implement quality assurance processes to validate deliverable accuracy, completeness, and compliance.
• Oversee subcontractor performance, ensuring alignment with contractual requirements and customer expectations.
• Manage change control activities, including assessing impacts to schedule, scope, resources, and deliverables.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives by identifying opportunities to streamline processes, improve reporting, and increase operational efficiency.
• Maintain program documentation, decision logs, action trackers, and organizational knowledge repositories.
• Ensure compliance with customer policies, contractual requirements, and applicable government regulations.

Ascension is seeking an experienced Business Process Improvement & Change Management Analyst to support a mission-critical organizational improvement initiative with the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC). The ideal candidate will help facilitate collaborative workshops, analyze customer service processes, document current-state operations, identify improvement opportunities, and support the transition toward improved workflows, governance practices, and employee adoption.

This role is ideal for a detail-oriented process improvement professional who enjoys working directly with stakeholders, facilitating productive discussions, translating complex operational challenges into clear documentation, and developing practical recommendations that improve organizational performance.

The successful candidate will bring experience in:

• Business process improvement (BPI)
• Business process mapping and analysis
• Organizational change management
• Workshop facilitation
• Stakeholder engagement
• Process documentation and SOP development
• Change adoption planning
• Continuous improvement methodologies

The candidate should be comfortable working with cross-functional teams, managing ambiguity, asking thoughtful questions, identifying root causes, and converting stakeholder feedback into actionable recommendations.

Summary of Contractor Role

The Business Process Improvement & Change Management Analyst will support Ascension’s facilitation team by providing analytical, documentation, and organizational improvement expertise throughout the Operation True North engagement.

The consultant will help WSSC Customer Service Department stakeholders:

• Understand current-state processes and operational challenges;
• Identify process inefficiencies, communication gaps, and workflow barriers;
• Develop future-state process recommendations;
• Establish sustainable improvement practices;
• Create documentation and governance materials;
• Support employee engagement and adoption of organizational improvements.

The consultant will serve as the bridge between facilitated discussions and actionable business improvements by transforming workshop conversations into structured outputs, including process maps, recommendations, SOP documentation, implementation trackers, and change management artifacts.

Ascension’s approach aligns with WSSC’s requirement to facilitate constructive dialogue, identify process and policy pain points, support collaborative problem solving, and apply change management approaches to improve adoption of identified improvements.

Key Responsibilities / Expected Activities

The consultant will:

• Facilitate structured discussions and workshops focused on identifying current-state processes, operational challenges, and improvement opportunities.
• Conduct business process analysis to identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, handoffs, redundancies, and workflow challenges.
• Develop current-state and future-state process maps using business process improvement methodologies.
• Document stakeholder inputs, decisions, agreements, risks, and improvement recommendations.
• Analyze customer service workflows and identify opportunities to improve consistency, efficiency, and customer experience.
• Support collaborative design sessions to develop practical process improvements.
• Apply organizational change management principles, including ADKAR concepts, to support awareness, engagement, adoption, and sustainability.
• Develop change management recommendations, implementation roadmaps, and adoption strategies.
• Prepare workshop summaries, meeting documentation, and executive-level readouts.
• Develop SOPs, procedures, process documentation, job aids, and governance recommendations.
• Maintain implementation trackers documenting milestones, owners, timelines, and measures of success.
• Support cross-functional working groups by organizing action items, monitoring progress, and identifying barriers.
• Analyze participant feedback and lessons learned to identify additional improvement opportunities.
• Assist in preparing final reports summarizing findings, recommendations, and implementation considerations.

Ascension is seeking a highly experienced Senior Facilitator / CIP Project Delivery Advisor to support a strategic organizational improvement initiative with a major public utility organization. The ideal candidate is an experienced facilitator, change management practitioner, and continuous improvement professional who can guide cross-functional teams through complex discussions focused on customer experience, employee engagement, process improvement, and organizational effectiveness.

The successful candidate will serve as a neutral facilitator responsible for creating an environment where employees, leadership, and stakeholders can openly discuss operational challenges, identify improvement opportunities, and collaboratively develop practical solutions.

This individual should bring demonstrated experience facilitating workshops, employee engagement sessions, organizational improvement initiatives, and change adoption activities. The candidate must be comfortable working with diverse stakeholder groups, navigating sensitive conversations, building consensus, and converting discussions into actionable recommendations.

The ideal consultant is a thoughtful listener, structured problem solver, and trusted advisor who can balance empathy with accountability while helping organizations move from current-state challenges toward sustainable future-state improvements.

Summary of Contractor Role

The Senior Facilitator / CIP Project Delivery Advisor will lead planning, facilitation, documentation, and implementation support activities associated with Ascension’s Operation True North engagement.

The consultant will support the customer by:

• Designing and facilitating interactive workshops focused on customer experience, employee engagement, process improvement, communication, and service delivery.
• Conducting stakeholder discussions and interviews to understand current-state challenges, pain points, and improvement opportunities.
• Applying continuous improvement, business process improvement (BPI), and change management techniques to guide collaborative solution development.
• Facilitating discussions between employees and leadership while maintaining neutrality, psychological safety, and productive engagement.
• Supporting development of future-state recommendations, governance approaches, implementation roadmaps, and adoption strategies.
• Documenting workshop outcomes, agreements, commitments, action items, and measures of success.

This role directly supports WSSC’s objective to improve customer experience, employee engagement, process consistency, collaboration, and adoption of organizational improvements through facilitated dialogue and change management approaches.

Key Responsibilities / Expected Activities

Pre-Session Planning and Design

• Lead stakeholder alignment discussions to understand workshop objectives, participant expectations, organizational challenges, and desired outcomes.
• Conduct stakeholder interviews and discovery sessions to identify themes, concerns, operational barriers, and improvement opportunities.
• Collaborate with customer leadership and planning teams to finalize workshop agendas, session flow, facilitation methods, and participant activities.
• Develop facilitation plans, discussion guides, workshop materials, exercises, and supporting presentation content.
• Design interactive activities that encourage employee participation, collaboration, and solution development.
• Incorporate change management principles to support awareness, engagement, commitment, and adoption.

Workshop Facilitation and Employee Engagement

• Facilitate multi-day organizational workshops focused on customer experience, employee experience, service delivery, and continuous improvement.
• Create an inclusive environment that encourages open dialogue, respectful participation, and constructive feedback.
• Guide discussions involving customer concerns, employee challenges, process inefficiencies, communication barriers, and policy clarity.
• Apply facilitation techniques including:
  • Collaborative design sessions
  • Breakout discussions
  • Structured brainstorming
  • Root cause analysis
  • Process mapping
  • Consensus-building activities
  • Action planning sessions
• Maintain neutrality when facilitating differing perspectives among employees, management, and leadership.
• Manage workshop pacing, participant engagement, and achievement of intended outcomes.
• Deliver soft-skills and customer service-focused learning content related to:
  • Effective communication
  • Active listening
  • Customer engagement
  • Conflict resolution
  • Service-oriented behaviors

Continuous Improvement and Change Management Support

• Analyze workshop discussions to identify process gaps, operational challenges, and improvement opportunities.
• Facilitate current-state and future-state process discussions.
• Support development of continuous improvement recommendations and implementation priorities.
• Identify:
  • Process bottlenecks
  • Policy challenges
  • Communication gaps
  • Training needs
  • Governance considerations
  • Adoption risks
• Apply change management concepts to support organizational readiness and sustained adoption.
• Assist leadership with implementation planning, ownership assignment, milestones, and success measures.

Documentation and Follow-Up

• Capture workshop discussions, decisions, themes, and commitments.
• Prepare:
  • Meeting summaries
  • Executive readouts
  • Action item trackers
  • Responsibility assignments
  • Implementation recommendations
  • Measures of success
• Develop final engagement reports summarizing:
  • Key findings
  • Improvement opportunities
  • Recommended actions
  • Change management considerations
• Conduct follow-up discussions with leadership to review outcomes and implementation considerations.

Ascension, LLC is seeking a highly organized and detail-oriented Project Support, Evaluation & Quality Review Specialist to support the planning, delivery, evaluation, and closeout of a leadership and change management initiative for senior leaders across the Maryland Department of Health and Maryland’s local health departments.

The selected contractor supports Ascension’s senior leadership and public health subject matter experts by coordinating schedules, participant communications, workshop logistics, evaluation activities, document production, and deliverable quality reviews. This role is important because it allows senior subject matter experts to concentrate on public health leadership, workshop facilitation, change management, coaching, and technical assistance while the Specialist maintains the operational structure needed for timely, consistent, and high-quality delivery.

The engagement includes an eight-hour, in-person workshop in Baltimore for approximately 35 senior public health leaders, followed by at least six office hours and 12 total hours of coaching or individualized technical assistance. MDH will provide the workshop venue and audiovisual equipment; the contractor team remains responsible for participant materials, printing, coordination, evaluation, and supporting documentation.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Project Support, Evaluation & Quality Review Specialist serves as the operational and quality-control resource for this limited-duration engagement. The Specialist maintains the project schedule, deliverable tracker, action log, risk and issue log, document repository, participant roster, attendance records, and workshop support materials.

The ideal candidate is a responsive, self-directed professional who can anticipate administrative and logistical needs, coordinate effectively with senior consultants and government stakeholders, and manage multiple priorities with minimal supervision. The person should be comfortable working in a small project team where assignments may shift as workshop design, participant needs, and post-workshop support requirements become more defined.

The Specialist also supports the collection and preliminary synthesis of participant feedback, including quantitative survey responses and qualitative comments. MDH requires a high-level evaluation summary that identifies recommendations and key takeaways; therefore, the Specialist must be able to organize evaluation data into a clear, accurate, and decision-useful format for senior subject matter expert review.

This position is not a separate full-time project management position and does not serve as the engagement’s senior public health, leadership development, or change management authority. It is a 60-hour support role distributed across approximately six months to provide coordination, workshop administration, evaluation support, document control, and independent quality review.

Anticipated Period and Level of Effort

• Engagement type: Part-time, temporary 1099 independent contractor
• Estimated level of effort: Approximately 60 total hours
• Anticipated project period: Approximately August 2026 through January 2027
• Work arrangement: Primarily remote, with required onsite support in Baltimore, Maryland, for the eight-hour workshop and potentially associated setup activities
• Schedule: Intermittent hours based on project milestones, workshop preparation, participant communications, evaluation activities, coaching coordination, and final closeout
• Travel: Local or regional travel to Baltimore may be required and should be discussed before engagement

The solicitation states “August 2026 to January 2026,” which appears to be a chronological error. For staffing purposes, this position description assumes the intended completion date is January 2027.

Essential Duties and Anticipated Activities

The contractor will:

• Maintain the integrated project schedule, milestone calendar, deliverable tracker, action-item log, risk and issue log, and document repository.
• Coordinate project kickoff activities, planning meetings, review sessions, office hours, coaching appointments, and internal quality reviews.
• Prepare agendas, meeting invitations, participant communications, attendance rosters, sign-in materials, and follow-up correspondence.
• Track participant registration, attendance, scheduling preferences, coaching requests, and completion of post-workshop activities.
• Support communications with senior leaders across MDH and Maryland local health departments in a professional and responsive manner.
• Organize workshop logistics, including materials, printing coordination, room setup requirements, participant packets, name tents, handouts, evaluation instruments, and facilitator supplies.
• Support onsite workshop setup, participant check-in, materials distribution, attendance documentation, timekeeping, and workshop administration.
• Format presentation slides, facilitator guides, participant materials, worksheets, action-planning tools, surveys, and related instructional products.
• Review workshop products for completeness, consistency, usability, grammar, formatting, accessibility, and alignment with approved learning objectives.
• Administer post-workshop surveys and other evaluation instruments using Microsoft Forms or comparable tools.
• Compile quantitative survey results, attendance information, and qualitative participant comments.
• Identify recurring themes, notable findings, participation patterns, and preliminary observations for review by the senior subject matter expert.
• Prepare preliminary tables, charts, summaries, and supporting data for the required high-level evaluation summary.
• Conduct independent peer reviews of deliverables before submission to the client.
• Verify that client comments and internal review findings are addressed before finalization.
• Maintain document naming conventions, version histories, controlled review copies, approved final files, and closeout records.
• Assemble the final project deliverable package and supporting project files.
• Escalate schedule risks, missing inputs, participant issues, or quality concerns promptly to the engagement lead.
• Protect participant information, evaluation responses, client materials, and other nonpublic project information.
• Perform other closely related project coordination, evaluation, and quality-review duties within the approved level of effort.

Ascension is seeking an accomplished Senior Consulting/ Executive Facilitator to lead a high-impact executive leadership development initiative supporting the Maryland Department of Health (MDH). This role is designed for a nationally recognized consultant with extensive experience strengthening leadership capacity within governmental public health organizations.

The ideal candidate combines expertise in executive facilitation, organizational development, strategic change management, executive coaching, and adult learning with firsthand experience supporting state or local governmental public health agencies. This individual serves as the primary client-facing consultant throughout the engagement, guiding discovery, workshop design, facilitation, coaching, evaluation, and continuous improvement efforts.

Success in this role requires exceptional executive presence, political awareness, relationship-building skills, and the ability to translate complex organizational challenges into practical leadership strategies that improve organizational performance and workforce effectiveness.

Summary of the Role

The Senior Consulting/ Executive Facilitator serves as the engagement's lead consultant and facilitator, responsible for designing and delivering an eight-hour customized leadership workshop for senior leaders within the Maryland Department of Health and Maryland local health departments.

Working closely with MDH leadership, this individual reviews organizational assessments, strategic priorities, prior evaluations, and participant needs to tailor workshop content that addresses current organizational challenges and leadership development priorities. MDH will provide organizational context, strategic plans, prior evaluations, and needs assessment information to support customization.

The Lead Facilitator develops leadership objectives, creates customized instructional materials, facilitates executive-level discussions, delivers individualized coaching and technical assistance, evaluates workshop outcomes, and prepares recommendations that strengthen leadership effectiveness across Maryland's public health system.

This position requires a highly collaborative consultant capable of navigating complex organizational environments while maintaining strong client relationships with senior executives and public health leaders. The successful candidate anticipates organizational challenges, adapts facilitation techniques to diverse leadership styles, and produces practical recommendations that support organizational readiness, workforce development, and sustainable change.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead project kickoff meetings and client discovery sessions.
• Review MDH needs assessments, strategic plans, organizational priorities, and previous leadership evaluations.
• Assess executive leadership development needs and organizational readiness.
• Develop customized learning objectives aligned with MDH priorities.
• Design an executive leadership and change management curriculum tailored to governmental public health.
• Customize workshop content using current organizational context and participant needs.
• Create facilitator guides, participant workbooks, executive presentations, coaching materials, and learning exercises.
• Develop stakeholder engagement and communication planning activities.
• Design organizational readiness and action-planning tools.
• Facilitate an interactive eight-hour in-person executive leadership workshop.
• Lead executive discussions, collaborative exercises, simulations, and case studies.
• Provide six post-workshop office hours.
• Deliver a minimum of twelve hours of individualized coaching and technical assistance across participants using virtual, in-person, or blended approaches based on participant preferences.
• Evaluate participant feedback and learning outcomes.
• Prepare a high-level evaluation summary with actionable recommendations and key takeaways for MDH leadership.
• Conduct review meetings with MDH and incorporate feedback into final deliverables.
• Maintain strong communication with client leadership throughout the engagement.

Protect our Land, Ascend with Us!

Ascension is seeking an experienced Acquisition Analyst II / Contract Specialist to support federal acquisition lifecycle activities for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Office of Acquisition Services (OAS). The ideal candidate will bring demonstrated experience supporting government contracting activities from pre-award through post-award execution, ensuring acquisition actions are accurate, compliant, timely, and properly documented.

This role is designed for a detail-oriented acquisition professional who understands the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), agency acquisition policies, and the documentation discipline required to support complex government procurements. The successful candidate will assist acquisition teams with market research, acquisition planning, solicitation development, proposal evaluation support, contract administration, modification processing, procurement reporting, and contract file management.

The ideal candidate is a self-driven professional who can independently manage assigned acquisition actions, identify potential issues before they impact milestones, communicate effectively with stakeholders, and produce high-quality acquisition documentation with minimal supervision.

Summary of Contractor Role

The Acquisition Analyst II / Contract Specialist will provide acquisition lifecycle support to CDC OAS by assisting contracting officers, program managers, and acquisition stakeholders throughout the procurement process.

The contractor will support assigned requirements by conducting acquisition research, preparing procurement documentation, assisting with solicitation and evaluation activities, supporting negotiations and award documentation, processing post-award actions, maintaining procurement files, and preparing acquisition status reports.

The role requires strong organizational skills, knowledge of federal acquisition processes, and the ability to manage multiple procurement actions simultaneously. The contractor will use federal acquisition systems, Microsoft Office applications, agency templates, contract writing tools, and electronic contract file management processes to support successful execution of CDC acquisition requirements.

This position supports CDC’s mission by helping ensure acquisition actions move efficiently through the procurement lifecycle while maintaining compliance with applicable federal regulations, policies, and procedures.

Position Day-to-Day Activities / Responsibilities

• Support acquisition planning activities by reviewing requirements packages, researching procurement approaches, and assisting with acquisition documentation.
• Conduct market research activities to identify historical procurement information, industry capabilities, acquisition alternatives, and supporting documentation.
• Analyze acquisition requirements and provide recommendations regarding applicable acquisition strategies, policies, procedures, and documentation requirements.
• Assist with development, review, and editing of acquisition documents including:
  • Requests for Proposals (RFPs)
  • Requests for Quotes (RFQs)
  • Invitations for Bid (IFBs)
  • Market research reports
  • Acquisition plans
  • Determinations and findings
  • Memoranda for the record
  • Procurement checklists
• Prepare and support pre-solicitation and solicitation notices through applicable government channels.
• Support small business acquisition activities, including preparation of documentation supporting SBA 8(a) reviews when applicable.
• Assist with proposal and quotation evaluation activities by:
  • Coordinating evaluation documentation
  • Supporting technical and past performance reviews
  • Organizing evaluation materials
  • Documenting findings
• Analyze business and pricing information contained within vendor proposals and quotations.
• Support negotiation preparation by organizing pricing analyses, negotiation objectives, and supporting documentation.
• Prepare award documentation and acquisition files for contracting officer review.
• Support contract administration activities including:
  • Contract modifications
  • Option exercises
  • Administrative changes
  • De-obligations
  • File updates
• Maintain accurate electronic procurement files and ensure documentation is complete, organized, and compliant with agency requirements.
• Track procurement milestones, deliverables, and acquisition actions using Microsoft Excel, SharePoint, agency acquisition systems, and reporting tools.
• Prepare weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly acquisition status reports.
• Participate in acquisition meetings, stakeholder discussions, and procurement reviews.
• Identify acquisition risks, delays, and documentation gaps and recommend corrective actions.
• Support continuous improvement efforts by identifying opportunities to streamline acquisition processes and improve workflow efficiency.

Protect our Land, Ascend with Us!

Ascension is seeking an experienced Senior Acquisition Analyst / Contract Specialist to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Office of Acquisition Services (OAS), in executing critical acquisition lifecycle support activities. The ideal candidate will bring demonstrated federal acquisition experience, strong knowledge of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), and the ability to support complex procurement actions from acquisition planning through contract closeout.

This role is ideal for a detail-oriented acquisition professional who understands how federal acquisition requirements are translated into compliant procurement documentation, solicitation packages, evaluation support materials, contract files, and post-award administration activities.

The successful candidate will be comfortable working independently, managing competing priorities, collaborating with program offices and contracting personnel, and delivering high-quality acquisition documentation in a regulated federal environment.

Summary of Contractor Role

The Senior Acquisition Analyst / Contract Specialist will provide cradle-to-grave acquisition support to CDC OAS by assisting federal acquisition professionals with planning, documenting, executing, and administering procurement actions.

The contractor will support the complete acquisition lifecycle, including:

• Acquisition planning and market research
• Requirements analysis and documentation
• Solicitation preparation and review
• Vendor communication support
• Technical and past performance evaluation assistance
• Price analysis and negotiation documentation support
• Contract award documentation
• Contract modification support
• Procurement file management
• Acquisition reporting and tracking

The position requires an individual who can analyze acquisition requirements, interpret federal acquisition policies, prepare accurate documentation, and support contracting teams in maintaining timely procurement execution.

The ideal candidate will be proactive, organized, analytical, and capable of identifying issues before they impact acquisition timelines. The candidate should demonstrate strong written communication skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work effectively with contracting officers, program managers, technical stakeholders, and vendors.

The role will leverage tools and processes including:

• Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
• HHS Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR)
• CDC acquisition policies and procedures
• Contract writing systems
• Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Acquisition trackers and reporting tools
• Electronic contract file repositories
• Government acquisition documentation templates

Ascension’s acquisition professionals support clients through disciplined processes, quality management practices, and proven federal consulting methodologies. Ascension is an ISO 9001:2015 certified organization with demonstrated experience providing acquisition lifecycle management, program support, process improvement, and analytical services to federal agencies.

Position Responsibilities / Expected Activities

The Senior Acquisition Analyst / Contract Specialist will:

Acquisition Planning & Pre-Award Support

• Analyze assigned acquisition requirements and develop supporting procurement documentation.
• Support market research activities by gathering historical procurement information, industry research, and acquisition data.
• Assist with preparation of acquisition strategies, acquisition plans, and supporting documentation.
• Review requirements packages for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with federal acquisition policies.
• Coordinate with program offices and stakeholders to resolve acquisition-related questions.
• Prepare briefings, reports, and acquisition status updates for leadership review.

Solicitation Development & Procurement Execution

• Develop and edit acquisition documentation including Requests for Proposals (RFPs), Requests for Quotes (RFQs), solicitations, determinations and findings, memoranda for record, and acquisition checklists.
• Support preparation of solicitation notices through appropriate government procurement channels.
• Assist with small business acquisition documentation and coordination activities.
• Support government-wide acquisition contract (GWAC), GSA, and other contract vehicle procurement activities.
• Assist with pre-proposal conferences and acquisition meetings.

Protect our Land, Ascend with Us!

Ascension is seeking an experienced Acquisition Analyst / Contract Specialist II to provide professional acquisition lifecycle support to a federal public health mission customer. The ideal candidate will support government acquisition professionals by performing analytical, documentation, research, and coordination activities required to successfully execute procurement actions from requirement development through contract closeout.

This position is ideal for an acquisition professional who understands federal procurement processes, enjoys solving complex acquisition challenges, and can independently manage multiple procurement actions while ensuring compliance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), agency policies, and established acquisition procedures.

The successful candidate will bring demonstrated experience supporting federal acquisitions, preparing acquisition documentation, conducting market research, analyzing vendor proposals, maintaining contract files, and coordinating with program offices, contracting personnel, and stakeholders.

The candidate should be a detail-oriented, self-driven professional who can operate independently, manage competing priorities, identify risks before they become issues, and deliver accurate, high-quality acquisition products in a fast-paced federal environment.

Summary of Contractor Role

The Acquisition Analyst / Contract Specialist II will support the CDC Office of Acquisition Services (OAS) by providing acquisition lifecycle management assistance across pre-award, solicitation, evaluation, award, and post-award activities.

The contractor will assist acquisition teams with developing procurement documentation, conducting market research, supporting solicitation activities, analyzing proposals and pricing information, maintaining acquisition files, supporting contract modifications, preparing acquisition reports, and ensuring procurement actions are properly documented.

The position requires an individual who understands federal acquisition processes and can translate program requirements into clear acquisition documentation. The successful candidate will support approximately multiple procurement actions throughout the year while maintaining quality, accuracy, and compliance with federal acquisition requirements.

The role requires proficiency with acquisition systems, contract documentation tools, Microsoft Office applications, and agency-specific procurement systems. CDC will provide access, credentials, and training necessary for CDC systems, including acquisition-related tools.

Position Responsibilities / Anticipated Activities

The Acquisition Analyst / Contract Specialist II will:

• Support acquisition planning activities by reviewing requirements packages and assisting with acquisition strategies.
• Conduct market research activities by analyzing historical procurement information, researching industry capabilities, and documenting market findings.
• Assist program offices with developing acquisition documentation, including:
  • Statements of Work (SOWs)
  • Performance Work Statements (PWS)
  • Requests for Information (RFIs)
  • Requests for Quotations (RFQs)
  • Requests for Proposals (RFPs)
  • Acquisition Plans
  • Market Research Reports
  • Justifications and supporting documentation
• Review acquisition packages for completeness and identify missing information requiring resolution.
• Prepare and edit procurement documentation for government review and approval.
• Support solicitation activities by preparing notices, acquisition documents, and vendor communication materials.
• Assist with posting procurement notices through government acquisition channels such as SAM.gov, GSA eBuy, and other approved platforms.
• Support evaluation activities by:
  • Organizing proposal evaluation materials
  • Documenting technical and past performance evaluation results
  • Supporting price analysis activities
  • Preparing evaluation summaries and acquisition documentation
• Assist with source selection documentation, award packages, and procurement decision records.
• Analyze vendor pricing information and assist with documenting negotiation objectives and acquisition findings.
• Maintain accurate electronic contract files and acquisition records.
• Support post-award acquisition activities, including:
  • Contract modifications
  • Option exercise documentation
  • Administrative changes
  • De-obligation actions
  • Contract file updates
• Prepare procurement status reports, acquisition trackers, and leadership briefings.
• Monitor acquisition milestones and communicate upcoming deadlines, risks, and issues.
• Participate in acquisition meetings with program offices, contracting personnel, and stakeholders.
• Maintain compliance with FAR, HHS Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR), CDC policies, and agency acquisition procedures.