Careers

Ascension LLC is seeking a highly organized, detail-oriented Project Coordination Specialist to support a website redesign and build engagement for Maryland Sea Grant, part of the University System of Maryland. This role will help keep the project organized, documented, and moving across discovery, design review, Drupal site buildout, content migration coordination, testing, training, launch readiness, and post-launch support.

The ideal candidate is a disciplined project support professional who understands how to manage meeting logistics, agendas, notes, action items, decision logs, schedule coordination, risk and issue tracking, and weekly status report inputs. This position is important because the client expects an iterative, collaborative design process with regular communication, milestone reviews, and structured coordination among the contractor team and Maryland Sea Grant stakeholders. The RFP specifically requires at least weekly communication, weekly status reports, regular videoconferences, standard agendas, action item review, and issue discussion.

This is a strong fit for a candidate who enjoys working behind the scenes to create clarity, follow-through, and accountability across a fast-moving website modernization project.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Project Coordination Specialist will provide part-time coordination support to Ascension’s project team and the client-facing Project Manager. The role will focus on organizing meetings, preparing agendas, documenting decisions, tracking action items, maintaining project logs, coordinating schedules, collecting weekly status inputs, and helping ensure that the team stays aligned with the project timeline and deliverables.

This role does not require the candidate to be a Drupal developer, UX designer, or technical architect. However, the candidate should be comfortable supporting technology, website, or digital transformation projects and should understand how to coordinate across technical and non-technical stakeholders. The project includes website discovery, information architecture discussions, wireframe and template reviews, content migration planning, accessibility and quality assurance coordination, user training, launch preparation, and six months of post-launch maintenance support.

The ideal candidate will be self-driven, proactive, responsive, and comfortable working in an environment where requirements evolve through client feedback. This person must be able to anticipate coordination needs, identify follow-up items, organize project documentation, and support multiple workstreams without losing track of details.

Anticipated Day-to-Day Activities

The Project Coordination Specialist will:

• Coordinate recurring weekly project meetings, design review sessions, content migration check-ins, training planning meetings, and launch readiness discussions.
• Prepare meeting agendas using a standard format that captures discussion topics, decisions needed, open risks, action items, and upcoming milestones.
• Document meeting notes, action items, decision points, risks, issues, dependencies, and client feedback in a clear and organized manner.
• Maintain action item logs, decision logs, risk and issue trackers, meeting calendars, project contact lists, and document repositories.
• Track upcoming project milestones, deliverables, review cycles, and due dates across discovery, design, build, content migration, testing, training, and support phases.
• Collect status updates from project team members, including design, development, content migration, QA/testing, accessibility, training, and project management contributors.
• Compile weekly status report inputs for the Project Manager, including accomplishments, upcoming activities, risks/issues, decisions needed, and schedule impacts.
• Support coordination of up to three rounds of client review and revision for wireframes, website designs, templates, and other project deliverables.
• Coordinate training logistics for Maryland Sea Grant website team members and content managers, including scheduling, attendance tracking, materials preparation, and follow-up documentation.
• Organize shared project files, version-controlled documents, meeting artifacts, client feedback, and deliverable drafts in Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, or similar tools.
• Monitor open questions and dependencies that may affect schedule, quality, content migration, testing, or launch readiness.
• Escalate overdue actions, unresolved risks, missing inputs, or schedule concerns to the Project Manager in a timely and professional manner.
• Assist with maintaining project documentation needed to support acceptance, closeout, and post-launch maintenance activities.

Ascension LLC is seeking a detail-oriented, user-focused Training and Documentation Specialist to support a website redesign and Drupal CMS implementation for Maryland Sea Grant. This role is responsible for developing clear, practical, and accessible user guides, job aids, FAQs, workflow documentation, training materials, and post-launch support tracking tools that help Maryland Sea Grant staff confidently manage content within the new website.

The ideal candidate will understand how non-technical users learn new systems, how to translate CMS workflows into plain-language instructions, and how to support a successful transition from an outdated website environment to a modern, accessible, responsive Drupal platform. Maryland Sea Grant’s redesigned website must support improved content management, back-end content moderation workflows, review options prior to publication, and organized page creation that aligns with brand and style expectations. The Training and Documentation Specialist will help make those capabilities usable, repeatable, and sustainable for content contributors, content managers, editors, and administrators.

This position is especially important because the success of the redesigned website will depend not only on the technical build, but also on Maryland Sea Grant’s ability to maintain the site after launch. The selected candidate should bring strong instructional design instincts, excellent writing and organization skills, familiarity with Drupal or comparable CMS environments, and the ability to develop practical documentation that supports real staff workflows.

Summary of Contractor Role

The Training and Documentation Specialist will support CMS adoption by creating training and documentation that explains how Maryland Sea Grant staff will create, update, publish, review, archive, and maintain website content. The role will work closely with the Project Manager, Drupal Developer, UX/UI Designer, Content Strategist, and client stakeholders to document the final website structure, content types, editorial roles, moderation workflows, templates, and publishing processes.

The RFP requires the contractor to provide written instructional documentation before content migration, deliver training to the website team and content managers, provide training on the entire system for up to 10 additional MDSG employees, and create a User Guide with clear instructions on how to create, update, publish, and delete content for each user role. The Training and Documentation Specialist will be accountable for turning those requirements into usable materials, including user guides, quick-reference job aids, FAQs, workflow diagrams, training slide decks, recorded or live training support materials, issue logs, and post-launch support trackers.

This individual should be self-driven, organized, patient, and comfortable working in an iterative environment where website templates, user roles, permissions, and workflows may evolve during discovery, build-out, testing, migration, and launch. The candidate should be able to anticipate user confusion, identify documentation gaps, simplify complex CMS steps, and ensure materials are written in an accessible, plain-language format.

Anticipated Day-to-Day Activities

• Develop CMS user guides that explain how to create, update, publish, unpublish, archive, and delete content within the Drupal CMS.
• Create role-based job aids for content contributors, content managers, editors, approvers, and site administrators.
• Document editorial workflows, including draft, review, approval, publishing, and revision states.
• Translate technical CMS functionality into plain-language instructions for non-technical users.
• Coordinate with the Drupal Developer and UX/UI team to understand content types, templates, permissions, menus, media libraries, and moderation workflows.
• Prepare training slide decks, quick-reference guides, checklists, and FAQs for Maryland Sea Grant staff.
• Support the required training session before content migration by preparing materials, exercises, sample scenarios, and step-by-step instructions.
• Support training for up to 10 additional MDSG employees prior to launch, including role-specific instruction and practical demonstrations.
• Create documentation for uploading and managing media, including images, files, videos, captions, alt text, and reuse of media across the website.
• Document procedures for managing website sections such as publications, blogs, Chesapeake Quarterly, newsroom/media content, research databases, student/funded PI archives, and online store content, as applicable.
• Develop FAQs based on anticipated staff questions and actual questions received during training, migration, testing, and post-launch support.
• Capture training feedback and recommend improvements to user documentation.
• Track post-launch support questions, issues, recurring user errors, and documentation updates.
• Update documentation during testing, launch readiness, and the six-month maintenance and support period.
• Support accessibility awareness by explaining content practices that help maintain Section 508 and WCAG 2.1 compliance, including headings, alt text, link text, document uploads, and readable formatting. The RFP requires compliance with Section 508 and WCAG 2.1.
• Maintain version control for all training and documentation materials.
• Collaborate with Ascension project leadership to ensure training artifacts align with the approved website design, templates, content moderation model, and client expectations.

Ascension LLC is seeking a CMS Training & Launch Readiness Specialist to support the Columbia Association Website Redesign effort by helping end users, content contributors, and internal stakeholders prepare for successful use of the new website management platform. This role is designed for a practical, detail-oriented training and adoption professional who understands how to translate a new content management system, website workflow, and launch process into clear, usable guidance for non-technical users.

This position is important because Columbia Association’s new website must be more than technically functional. It must be usable, sustainable, and manageable by CA staff after launch. The RFP requires the selected team to support training sessions, documentation, responsive support during content building, UAT support, deployment readiness, launch checklist activities, and post-launch support. This role helps reduce handoff risk by ensuring that CA’s content users, reviewers, and support participants understand what to do, how to do it, where to find guidance, and how to escalate issues during and after launch.

The ideal candidate brings experience supporting CMS training, website launch readiness, end-user documentation, stakeholder coordination, and adoption support. This individual should be comfortable working in a fast-moving implementation environment where content workflows, user permissions, page-building steps, and post-launch support needs must be explained clearly to users with varying levels of technical confidence.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The CMS Training & Launch Readiness Specialist will support the vendor team and Columbia Association stakeholders during the content building, testing, deployment, and post-launch transition phases of the website redesign project. The role will focus on developing practical training materials, job aids, content-user instructions, operational documentation, launch readiness checklists, and support handoff materials.

The candidate should be a strong communicator, organized planner, and user-focused documentation specialist who can convert technical or workflow-based information into simple, step-by-step guidance. The role will support readiness activities tied to CMS use, content governance, page-building processes, workflow approvals, accessibility-aware content practices, launch communications, support workflows, and post-launch issue resolution.

This position is expected to help solve the risk that often occurs when a new website platform is launched but users are not fully prepared to manage content, follow governance workflows, submit issues, validate updates, or sustain platform operations after go-live. The specialist will help ensure that CA staff are trained, equipped, and supported during the transition from implementation to operational use.

Key Responsibilities and Anticipated Day-to-Day Activities

The CMS Training & Launch Readiness Specialist will:

• Develop end-user training materials for CMS users, content authors, reviewers, approvers, and operational support participants.
• Create job aids, quick-reference guides, step-by-step instructions, checklists, and FAQs that explain common CMS activities, including content creation, editing, previewing, publishing, versioning, rollback, and media library use.
• Support training sessions for CA content users and stakeholders during the content building phase, including virtual walk-throughs, demonstrations, and reinforcement sessions.
• Prepare role-based guidance for content authors, approvers, administrators, and support users so each group understands its responsibilities within the CMS workflow.
• Document content governance processes, including approval workflows, content update procedures, escalation steps, and handoff expectations.
• Coordinate stakeholder readiness activities to confirm users understand timelines, responsibilities, content deadlines, training expectations, and launch support procedures.
• Develop launch communications and readiness materials, including go-live reminders, user instructions, support contacts, known issue procedures, and post-launch operating guidance.
• Support UAT readiness by helping users understand test scripts, expected outcomes, defect reporting procedures, and validation responsibilities.
• Assist with post-launch QA validation by collecting user feedback, documenting recurring issues, tracking content-user concerns, and coordinating updates with the project team.
• Maintain training and documentation materials as workflows, CMS configuration, page templates, or support procedures are refined.
• Organize handoff materials for CA staff, including training decks, recorded session notes, user guides, support workflow documentation, launch checklists, and operational reference materials.
• Collaborate with the UX/UI lead, CMS developer, accessibility/QA lead, stakeholder engagement lead, and project manager to ensure training content reflects the final solution.
• Translate technical instructions into plain-language guidance that non-technical users can follow without heavy developer support.
• Identify training gaps, adoption risks, unclear workflows, or user confusion points and recommend corrective actions before go-live.
• Support content-user readiness by reinforcing accessibility-aware content practices, including headings, alt text, link text, document handling, and plain-language web content practices.
• Track training attendance, user questions, action items, support issues, and documentation updates during the launch readiness period.

Ascension LLC is seeking a Frontend Accessibility & UAT Validation Lead to support a high-visibility website redesign effort for Columbia Association, a nonprofit community services organization serving residents, members, visitors, and program participants across Columbia, Maryland.

This role is designed for a detail-oriented frontend quality assurance, accessibility, and user acceptance testing professional who can validate that the new website experience is accessible, mobile-first, intuitive, and ready for public launch. The ideal candidate will bring hands-on experience testing responsive websites, validating WCAG 2.1 AA compliance, coordinating UAT with business stakeholders, documenting defects, tracking remediation, and helping cross-functional teams move from design and development into formal acceptance and release readiness.

The selected candidate will serve as Ascension’s quality and validation lead for frontend user experience, accessibility compliance, and stakeholder acceptance activities. This person will not be expected to lead the prime contractor’s enterprise QA strategy or backend technical remediation; instead, this role will provide focused leadership over Ascension’s assigned frontend validation, accessibility review, UAT coordination, stakeholder sign-off, and compliance reporting responsibilities.

Position Summary

The Frontend Accessibility & UAT Validation Lead will support the website redesign by validating that user-facing components, templates, workflows, content experiences, and transactional journeys meet functional, accessibility, usability, and mobile-readiness expectations. The role will support multiple implementation phases, including UX/UI design review, frontend development validation, content build support, UAT, deployment readiness, and post-launch QA review.

The candidate must be comfortable working in a collaborative delivery environment with a prime contractor, technical developers, UX/UI designers, content leads, business stakeholders, and client testing participants. The work will require strong judgment, disciplined documentation, and the ability to translate defects, accessibility findings, and stakeholder feedback into clear, actionable items for remediation.

The ideal candidate should be self-driven, organized, and able to work effectively in an ambiguous project environment with minimal supervision. This person should be skilled at anticipating quality risks, building practical validation checklists, managing multiple testing cycles, and ensuring that frontend issues are clearly tracked through resolution.

Day-to-Day Activities and Responsibilities

The Frontend Accessibility & UAT Validation Lead will:

• Review mobile-first wireframes, high-fidelity designs, design system components, and frontend templates for accessibility, usability, and consistency.
• Validate frontend implementation against approved designs, functional requirements, and responsive behavior expectations.
• Conduct WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility reviews using manual checks, assistive technology, browser tools, and automated testing tools.
• Assess website pages, forms, navigation, filters, search experiences, registration flows, member-facing journeys, and content templates for accessibility and usability barriers.
• Develop frontend QA checklists, accessibility validation checklists, UAT scripts, regression test scripts, and release readiness criteria.
• Coordinate UAT sessions with business stakeholders, content owners, and client testing participants.
• Document defects, accessibility findings, usability issues, and stakeholder feedback in a clear, prioritized, and actionable format.
• Track defects from identification through remediation, retesting, closure, and final sign-off.
• Support testing of mobile-first experiences across browsers, devices, and screen sizes.
• Validate frontend behavior tied to search, filtering, personalization, registration, scheduling, member/non-member journeys, and content discovery.
• Coordinate with developers and the prime contractor’s technical team to confirm frontend defects are understood and appropriately assigned.
• Perform regression testing after defect remediation, configuration changes, content migration updates, or release candidate updates.
• Prepare accessibility testing summaries, UAT status updates, defect reports, and release readiness recommendations.
• Support stakeholder sign-off workflows by confirming open issues, resolved issues, deferred items, and launch-impacting risks.
• Contribute to go-live readiness reviews, launch checklists, rollback readiness discussions, and post-launch QA validation.
• Maintain clear testing evidence, screenshots, issue logs, validation notes, and compliance support documentation.

Ascension LLC is seeking a Senior Frontend & Club Automation Integration Developer to support the Columbia Association Website Redesign effort. This role is intended for a senior hands-on developer who can translate approved UX/UI designs, mobile-first wireframes, CMS components, and integration requirements into a responsive, accessible, high-performing user experience.

The ideal candidate will serve as Ascension’s primary frontend production resource for implementing dynamic UI components, responsive templates, personalization-ready interfaces, search and discovery experiences, registration workflows, scheduling and availability displays, member/non-member pricing presentation logic, and secure transactional user journeys. The Columbia Association RFP requires a modern, mobile-first, audience-intelligent website that supports program registration, membership purchasing, event registration, contextual experiences, secure integrations, and a flexible CMS platform.

This position is especially important because CA’s website must support users who may move between informational, discovery, and transactional needs in a single session. The frontend experience must therefore be intuitive, accessible, fast on mobile devices, and capable of adapting based on authentication state, intent, and membership context.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Senior Frontend & Club Automation Integration Developer will support Phase 3 development and related build, testing, and launch-readiness activities for Ascension’s technical workshare. The contractor will implement responsive frontend templates, integrate dynamic UI components, support CMS component configuration, and build frontend experiences that align with the project’s mobile-first, accessibility-compliant, and audience-aware goals.

The role requires a developer who is comfortable working in a CMS-driven environment, integrating with APIs and third-party systems, collaborating with UX/UI designers and backend/platform developers, and translating user journeys into production-ready frontend functionality. The contractor must be able to build search/filtering interfaces, faceted navigation patterns, registration and scheduling workflows, member-facing Club Automation interfaces, authentication-aware display logic, and frontend personalization behaviors.

The ideal candidate should be detail-oriented, highly organized, self-directed, and comfortable working in an agile delivery environment where requirements may evolve through discovery, design validation, integration constraints, and user acceptance testing. This individual must be able to anticipate technical risks, propose practical solutions, and collaborate effectively with the project manager, UX/UI lead, CMS/platform architect, QA/accessibility resources, and integration team.

This role will help solve the practical implementation challenge of turning CA’s strategic vision into a reliable digital experience: a website that is not just visually modern, but also fast, usable, secure, accessible, integrated, and easy for CA users to navigate across programs, membership, events, policies, and transactions.

Anticipated Day-to-Day Activities

The Senior Frontend & Club Automation Integration Developer will be expected to:

• Implement responsive frontend templates based on approved mobile-first wireframes, high-fidelity designs, and design system standards.
• Develop reusable frontend components for CMS-managed pages, landing pages, program detail pages, registration pathways, membership pages, search results, and transactional flows.
• Integrate frontend components with CMS content models, page builders, reusable modules, centralized media libraries, and structured content.
• Support frontend implementation of Club Automation user-facing workflows, including registration, scheduling, availability, waitlist displays, member/non-member pricing presentation, and account-aware user journeys.
• Build authentication-aware frontend experiences that adjust content, calls-to-action, navigation, and interface states for logged-in versus anonymous users.
• Implement personalization-ready interface patterns that support rules-based or context-aware content delivery based on user intent, membership status, and session context.
• Develop search and discovery interfaces, including unified search, faceted navigation, filtering, document search presentation, and audience-aware discovery journeys.
• Optimize frontend performance for mobile users, including page speed, responsive layout behavior, image handling, lazy loading, caching support, and Core Web Vitals considerations.
• Ensure frontend accessibility alignment with WCAG 2.1 AA or the most current applicable accessibility standard required at implementation.
• Validate frontend behavior across major browsers, devices, screen sizes, and assistive technology considerations.
• Collaborate with UX/UI, backend, CMS, integration, QA, accessibility, and project management resources to resolve implementation issues.
• Translate integration requirements into user-facing interface behavior for APIs, middleware, authentication, CRM, calendar, payment, and Club Automation touchpoints.
• Support test planning, UAT, defect remediation, accessibility remediation, and launch-readiness activities.
• Document component behavior, integration assumptions, configuration steps, and frontend implementation notes for handoff to CA and the prime team.
• Participate in sprint planning, technical reviews, status meetings, defect triage, and launch checklist validation.
• Identify frontend risks related to performance, accessibility, browser compatibility, CMS constraints, personalization logic, and integration dependencies.
• Recommend practical solutions that balance user experience, maintainability, integration complexity, and project schedule.

Ascension LLC is seeking a Mobile-First UX/UI & Content Experience Lead to support the Columbia Association Website Redesign effort. This role is designed for a senior digital experience professional who can lead mobile-first UX strategy, translate stakeholder and community needs into intuitive user journeys, and support the design of a modern, contextual, audience-aware website experience.

The ideal candidate will bring a strong blend of UX strategy, UI design, frontend experience planning, accessibility-aware design, information architecture, content governance, search/discovery experience design, and stakeholder facilitation. This role is important because Columbia Association’s future website must support users who may register for programs, explore policies, search events, purchase memberships, and discover community resources within the same session. The RFP specifically states that the website must support fluid journeys, adapt dynamically, and avoid rigid audience segmentation.

This position will help ensure that CA’s digital experience is not only visually modern, but practical, accessible, mobile-optimized, content-driven, and usable by residents, members, non-members, staff, and community stakeholders.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Mobile-First UX/UI & Content Experience Lead will support Ascension’s assigned workshare by leading UX/UI strategy and execution for mobile-first, audience-aware website experiences. The contractor will create or support user flows, wireframes, prototypes, mobile-first layouts, high-fidelity mockups, reusable design system guidance, frontend UI standards, and accessibility-aware design validation.

This role will work closely with Ascension, the prime partner, technical development resources, CA stakeholders, content owners, and integration leads to ensure that the website experience aligns with the RFP’s objectives: improving program discovery and registration, enabling contextual experiences, supporting mobile-first performance, providing flexible CMS content management, and ensuring compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA and ADA accessibility requirements.

The ideal candidate should be a structured, detail-oriented UX leader who can operate in a fast-moving project environment, synthesize input from multiple stakeholders, convert discovery findings into actionable design artifacts, and balance usability, accessibility, content strategy, and technical feasibility. The candidate should be comfortable working in an agile or iterative project model where designs, content structures, and experience decisions are validated through stakeholder reviews, usability feedback, accessibility checks, and implementation coordination.

Anticipated Day-to-Day Activities

• Lead UX/UI strategy and execution for mobile-first website experiences, including user flows, wireframes, prototypes, high-fidelity mockups, and responsive layouts.
• Translate stakeholder needs, business requirements, audience behaviors, and content priorities into clear user journeys and frontend experience recommendations.
• Design mobile-first experiences for key website flows, including program discovery, registration pathways, membership-related journeys, event exploration, search experiences, and content consumption.
• Develop reusable design system guidance, frontend UI standards, component behavior notes, and interaction patterns to support consistent implementation across the website.
• Coordinate with technical leads to ensure design decisions are feasible within the selected CMS, frontend framework, integration architecture, Club Automation workflows, and personalization approach.
• Support information architecture planning, content structure, page module needs assessment, navigation logic, and content hierarchy decisions.
• Lead frontend search and discovery experience design, including faceted navigation, filtering, contextual recommendations, document discovery, and user-centric search patterns.
• Validate user experience flows tied to personalization, audience-aware content, member/non-member experiences, resident/non-resident scenarios, and contextual navigation.
• Conduct accessibility-aware design reviews to support WCAG 2.1 AA and ADA compliance expectations.
• Support frontend accessibility validation, usability reviews, and design remediation recommendations.
• Facilitate stakeholder design reviews, gather feedback, document decisions, and manage revisions through approved review cycles.
• Coordinate content migration planning with CA teams, including content restructuring, editorial workflow validation, frontend content QA, migration approvals, and usability validation for migrated content.
• Review frontend templates and page-building experiences to ensure they are intuitive for content managers and consistent with approved design standards.
• Support QA/UAT activities, including usability testing, frontend validation, defect review, accessibility validation, stakeholder sign-offs, and release readiness reviews.
• Prepare design notes, content experience documentation, training inputs, and operational handoff materials as needed.
• Collaborate with the project team during launch readiness activities, including communication workflows, stakeholder readiness coordination, post-launch QA validation, and support coordination.

Ascension LLC is seeking a Stakeholder Engagement, Discovery & Launch Readiness Lead to support its role on the Columbia Association Website Redesign effort. This position is designed for a senior, client-facing professional who can translate stakeholder needs, discovery findings, governance considerations, business workflows, and launch-readiness dependencies into actionable requirements and implementation inputs for a modern, mobile-first, audience-intelligent website.

This role is important because the Columbia Association RFP requires the selected vendor to deliver a full website rebuild that includes strategy, design, development, systems integration, testing, deployment, and ongoing support. The new platform must support contextual user experiences, improve program discovery and registration, enable robust analytics, provide a flexible CMS, ensure secure integrations, and optimize mobile-first performance.

The ideal candidate will be comfortable operating at the intersection of stakeholder engagement, business discovery, requirements facilitation, project coordination, content governance, training readiness, and launch support. This is not a hands-on development role. It is a delivery coordination and discovery leadership role that helps ensure Ascension’s assigned workshare is well organized, well documented, and aligned to the prime contractor’s implementation approach and CA’s business objectives.

Summary of Contractor Role

The Stakeholder Engagement, Discovery & Launch Readiness Lead will support discovery, strategy, governance, implementation planning, training coordination, stakeholder communication, and post-launch readiness activities for the Columbia Association Website Redesign project. The role will help facilitate stakeholder workshops, document business and operational requirements, coordinate CA resource dependencies, support sprint and implementation planning, and ensure that business needs are translated into clear work products for the broader delivery team.

The Columbia Association RFP requires vendors to provide a detailed implementation plan, including timeline, milestones, dependencies, risks, resource allocation, deliverables by phase, project team structure, roles and responsibilities, estimated hours by role, and required CA staffing needs. This position directly supports those expectations by serving as the business-facing coordination lead for Ascension’s assigned scope.

The ideal candidate should be a detail-oriented, organized, and highly responsive facilitator who can work in an ambiguous project environment with limited supervision. The candidate should be able to anticipate risks, identify decision points, manage competing priorities, and help stakeholders clarify what they need from the redesigned website. The candidate should also be able to support communication between business users, technical teams, content owners, designers, testers, and leadership stakeholders.

This position is especially aligned to Ascension’s documented strengths in project coordination, meeting facilitation, data collection and analysis, reports and presentation development, SharePoint and workflow support, curriculum development, and training facilitation. Ascension’s past performance also includes stakeholder engagement, workshops, surveys, interviews, regular meetings, executive briefings, SharePoint communications, website-related enhancements, Section 508-aware communications, training support, and project coordination.

Anticipated Day-to-Day Activities

The contractor will be expected to:

• Facilitate discovery workshops, stakeholder interviews, and business requirements sessions with CA representatives, the prime contractor, and project team members.
• Document stakeholder needs, business rules, operational workflows, content governance needs, approval processes, and launch-readiness dependencies.
• Translate discovery inputs into structured requirements, decision logs, action item trackers, risk items, and implementation planning inputs.
• Coordinate with the prime contractor’s UX/UI, technical architecture, CMS, integration, testing, and deployment teams to ensure stakeholder findings are reflected in project execution.
• Support user journey mapping, information architecture discussions, page module needs assessment, and requirements validation activities associated with Phase 1 Discovery & Strategy.
• Track CA resource dependencies, including content resources, IT support, testing participants, training participants, and stakeholder review availability.
• Maintain meeting agendas, meeting notes, action item logs, decision registers, issue logs, and stakeholder follow-up documentation.
• Assist with sprint coordination, backlog refinement inputs, stakeholder review cycles, and acceptance planning for assigned workstream activities.
• Support training planning, training documentation, user readiness materials, and content build support activities aligned to the RFP’s training, documentation, and content-building requirements.
• Coordinate launch readiness reviews, stakeholder signoffs, go-live checklist inputs, rollback planning inputs, and post-launch support handoff documentation.
• Monitor risks, dependencies, and open decisions that could affect discovery completion, design review, content readiness, UAT, deployment, or post-launch support.
• Prepare concise status updates, briefing materials, and stakeholder summaries for Ascension leadership, the prime contractor, and project stakeholders.
• Support accessibility-aware coordination by ensuring stakeholder-facing content, communications, review materials, and training artifacts consider WCAG/ADA expectations identified in the RFP.
• Ensure documentation is organized, version controlled, and available to appropriate team members through approved collaboration tools.

Ascension LLC is seeking a responsive, customer-centered Help Desk / Support Specialist to support the Maryland Department of Labor’s Federal Worker Loan Program. This role will provide front-line applicant and awardee support for individuals using the loan application portal, repayment platform, and related program communications.

The ideal candidate will bring strong customer service skills, technical troubleshooting ability, professional communication judgment, and the patience to support applicants who may be navigating urgent financial circumstances related to federal employment disruptions or shutdowns. This role is important because MD Labor’s program requires timely applicant assistance via email and phone, bilingual support in English and Spanish, accurate ticket tracking, escalation of complex eligibility or tax questions, and sustained customer support during high-volume shutdown periods. The RFP specifically requires applicant support in English and Spanish, dedicated email and telephone support, ticketing platform management, and escalation of programmatic questions beyond the customer support team’s knowledge.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Help Desk / Support Specialist will serve as a key member of the customer support team responsible for helping applicants, borrowers, and awardees successfully use the Federal Worker Loan Program’s online systems. The role will support applicants with account access, portal navigation, document upload questions, additional documentation requests, repayment questions, FAQs, and general troubleshooting. The position will also document support interactions in the ticketing system, monitor case status, escalate issues to MD Labor or the appropriate technical/program lead, and help ensure applicants receive accurate, timely, and respectful support.

This role requires a detail-oriented and service-minded professional who can work in a structured remote environment, follow approved scripts and FAQs, protect sensitive applicant information, and maintain composure during periods of increased public demand. The program may need to support up to 5,000 applications during a four-week shutdown scenario, while also maintaining year-round support for the lower-volume Federal Worker Emergency Loan Program.

Position’s Day-to-Day Activities

The Help Desk / Support Specialist is expected to:

• Respond to applicant and awardee inquiries via email and telephone during assigned support hours.
• Provide customer support in English and, where applicable, Spanish for applicants using the portal, application review process, and repayment platform.
• Assist applicants with portal navigation, account access, document upload questions, application status questions, repayment reminders, and basic technical troubleshooting.
• Document all customer interactions, actions taken, and case status updates in the designated support ticketing platform.
• Monitor support tickets to ensure timely response, proper routing, and closure in accordance with MD Labor response time expectations.
• Escalate complex programmatic questions, eligibility questions, tax-related questions, disputed determinations, or unresolved technical issues to MD Labor or designated project leads.
• Use approved FAQs, scripts, knowledge articles, and training materials to ensure consistent and accurate applicant communications.
• Support applicant communications related to additional documentation requests, missing information, repayment reminders, late notices, and other approved message templates.
• Track recurring applicant issues and recommend updates to FAQs, user guides, scripts, or knowledge articles.
• Protect applicant data, personally identifiable information, tax-related information, and case details in accordance with program privacy and security requirements.
• Participate in onboarding, refresher training, quality reviews, and surge-readiness activities before and during high-volume shutdown periods.
• Coordinate with the Customer Support / Training / Communications Lead and Bilingual Customer Support / Surge team members to maintain service levels during peak demand.
• Support reporting by ensuring ticket categories, issue types, resolution notes, and escalation reasons are accurately entered into the system.
• Maintain professionalism, empathy, and accuracy when communicating with applicants experiencing financial stress or uncertainty.

Ascension LLC is seeking a detail-oriented QA / Testing Specialist to support the testing, validation, and quality assurance of a secure, AI-enabled SaaS solution for the Maryland Department of Labor’s Federal Worker Loan Programs. This role is critical to ensuring that the applicant portal, application review system, repayment workflows, file transfer processes, dashboards, customer support integrations, and AI-enabled eligibility features operate accurately, securely, and consistently before launch and throughout contract performance.

The ideal candidate will bring hands-on experience developing and executing test plans, user acceptance testing, manual and automated testing, defect tracking, regression testing, and production readiness validation for public-sector, financial assistance, benefits, loan, case management, or customer-facing SaaS platforms. This individual will help ensure the platform is fully tested and ready for use by the required launch date, supports high-volume application processing, and maintains compliance with data security, accessibility, privacy, and workflow requirements.

The RFP requires the selected solution to be fully tested and ready for use by March 10, 2027, and specifically calls for automated and manual UAT, test case development, test execution, issue tracking, retesting, and sign-off support.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The QA / Testing Specialist will support Ascension’s project management, software engineering, implementation, cloud/security, and customer support teams by validating system functionality across the full application lifecycle. The role will focus on ensuring the Federal Worker Loan Program platform performs as intended for applicants, State reviewers, administrators, customer support staff, and reporting users.

This position will support test planning, test case development, manual and automated testing, defect documentation, regression testing, UAT coordination, workflow validation, accessibility testing, data validation, file transfer testing, AI-enabled process validation, and post-launch monitoring. The specialist will help verify that the solution supports application intake, document upload, W-2 parsing, deduplication, automated data comparisons, applicant communications, payment tracking, repayment servicing, reporting, dashboards, and secure data exchange through State-approved methods.

The ideal candidate should be highly organized, methodical, quality-driven, and comfortable working in a fast-paced implementation environment where the system must support surge application volume during federal shutdown events. The candidate must be able to translate requirements into test scenarios, communicate defects clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders, and support timely resolution of issues that could affect program launch, applicant experience, eligibility determination, payment processing, reporting, or compliance.

Ascension’s capabilities in Agile software development, application design and development, data analytics, dashboard development, business process automation, and customer experience solutions directly align to the type of testing and validation support required for this role.

Position’s Expected Day-to-Day Activities

The QA / Testing Specialist is expected to perform the following activities:

• Develop test plans, test scripts, test cases, and acceptance criteria based on RFP requirements, user stories, workflows, business rules, system designs, and MD Labor-approved processes.
• Execute manual functional testing across the applicant portal, application review system, document upload workflows, reviewer workflows, appeals processes, correspondence functions, payment tracking, repayment features, reporting tools, and administrative dashboards.
• Support automated testing activities by helping define repeatable test scenarios for workflow validation, regression testing, data validation, application routing, notifications, and system-triggered actions.
• Validate AI-enabled and automation-supported features, including document processing, confidence scoring, application summaries, discrepancy flags, automated routing, applicant self-service assistance, and reviewer-facing recommendations.
• Test data parsing and extraction workflows for uploaded documents, including W-2 document parsing, SSN validation, employer EIN capture, address capture, and automated comparison against applicant-entered data.
• Verify deduplication logic using SSN/ITIN, mailing address, bank account information, and other applicant data fields.
• Confirm that USPS address validation, identity verification integrations, document upload formats, and automated data comparison workflows operate as expected.
• Perform user acceptance testing support by coordinating test cases, documenting test results, capturing issues, tracking retesting outcomes, and preparing UAT status summaries.
• Document defects using clear reproduction steps, screenshots, severity levels, expected results, actual results, affected requirements, and recommended resolution priorities.
• Track defects through resolution using the project’s approved issue management tool, ticketing system, backlog, or defect tracker.
• Conduct regression testing after configuration updates, workflow changes, bug fixes, security updates, or enhancements to verify that existing functionality remains stable.
• Validate file transfer requirements, including SFTP data exchanges, incremental file generation, transmission reports, retransmission capability, manual export to CSV, and file format compliance.
• Support accessibility testing to verify that forms, content, and web experiences meet WCAG 2.1 AA and State of Maryland Digital Accessibility Policy requirements.
• Review applicant communications, stored templates, automated notifications, additional documentation request workflows, repayment reminders, and late notice triggers.
• Test customer support workflows, including support ticket creation, escalation routing, dashboard visibility, customer support reporting, and applicant response mechanisms.
• Coordinate with software engineers, implementation specialists, project managers, cloud/security engineers, customer support leads, and MD Labor stakeholders to resolve testing issues.
• Prepare QA status updates, testing metrics, defect reports, readiness summaries, risk logs, and acceptance recommendations for project leadership.
• Support post-launch monitoring by reviewing issue patterns, system performance indicators, user feedback, defect trends, and operational risks.
• Ensure testing activities support privacy, security, data quality, fraud prevention, and accurate eligibility determination.

Ascension LLC is seeking a Cloud/Security Engineer to support a mission-critical public sector technology initiative for the Maryland Department of Labor. This role will help safeguard a secure, scalable, and privacy-conscious SaaS environment supporting loan application intake, eligibility review, identity verification, payment data exchange, repayment tracking, reporting, customer support workflows, and audit-ready data management.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on cloud and security professional with strong experience supporting secure SaaS platforms, cloud hosting environments, encrypted file transfer, identity and access controls, privacy protections, and compliance-driven system operations. This role is well-suited for a detail-oriented engineer who understands that security is not a back-office function. It is central to public trust, applicant confidence, data integrity, and successful program performance.

Ascension is looking for a candidate who can work effectively in a fast-moving implementation environment, collaborate with software engineers, project managers, customer support teams, data/reporting specialists, and State stakeholders, and translate security requirements into practical technical controls. The selected candidate must be comfortable supporting systems that process sensitive applicant information, identity documents, tax-related data, banking/repayment information, and audit records.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Cloud/Security Engineer will support the design, configuration, monitoring, and continuous improvement of the secure cloud and application environment used to operate the Federal Worker Loan Program. The role will help ensure that the platform protects applicant data, supports secure identity verification, enables encrypted file transfer with State systems, maintains appropriate access controls, and aligns with applicable security, privacy, accessibility, AI governance, and data handling requirements.

This position will support cloud security architecture, secure configuration management, encryption, privacy controls, system monitoring, incident response readiness, vulnerability coordination, audit logging, user access governance, secure integration, and data transfer validation. The role will also support compliance documentation, security testing, background check verification tracking for personnel with access to sensitive data, and coordination with MD Labor and State stakeholders regarding security and data protection expectations.

The successful candidate should be self-driven, organized, risk-aware, and capable of operating with minimal supervision. They should be able to anticipate security and privacy issues before they become operational risks, document technical decisions clearly, and help the project team balance program speed with strong governance and system integrity.

Position’s Day-to-Day Activities Expected or Anticipated

The Cloud/Security Engineer will be expected to:

• Configure secure cloud hosting environments, access controls, storage, encryption, monitoring, and logging capabilities for the SaaS solution.
• Implement security controls that support protection of sensitive applicant information, identity documents, tax-related verification data, payment data, repayment records, and audit logs.
• Support compliance with State security, privacy, responsible AI, data classification, digital accessibility, and secure file transfer requirements.
• Administer identity and access management controls, including user roles, least privilege access, privileged account management, and periodic access reviews.
• Validate secure file transfer processes using SFTP or other State-approved secure transmission methods for eligibility, payment, repayment, reconciliation, and reporting files.
• Monitor system security events, access logs, transmission reports, and exception activity to identify potential risks or suspicious behavior.
• Coordinate vulnerability management activities, including scan review, remediation tracking, patch coordination, and security configuration updates.
• Support secure integrations with identity verification tools, payment processing channels, State-approved systems, ticketing platforms, reporting tools, and data export functions.
• Document cloud architecture, data flows, security controls, encryption methods, access permissions, incident response procedures, and system dependencies.
• Participate in user acceptance testing, security testing, data validation, and production readiness reviews prior to launch.
• Assist with implementation of AI governance safeguards, including monitoring, guardrails, auditability, and expert review provisions for AI-enabled features.
• Develop and maintain incident response support materials, escalation procedures, security checklists, and remediation workflows.
• Verify that system audit logs, timestamps, schema, and data exports are available to support MD Labor audit, archival, and close-out requirements.
• Coordinate with project managers, developers, data analysts, customer support leads, and State stakeholders to resolve technical risks and security issues.
• Support background check compliance tracking for personnel requiring access to sensitive State data, including documentation of completion prior to assignment.
• Prepare security-related status updates, risk summaries, technical notes, and recommendations for project leadership and customer stakeholders.

Ascension LLC is seeking a Senior Full-Stack Software Engineer to support the design, configuration, integration, testing, and sustainment of a secure SaaS-based platform for the Maryland Department of Labor’s Federal Worker Loan Programs. This role is ideal for a hands-on technical professional who can support both front-end and back-end solution delivery, configure application workflows, integrate data exchange processes, support AI-enabled eligibility review capabilities, and help deliver a reliable user experience for applicants, reviewers, program administrators, and customer support teams.

The ideal candidate will bring strong experience with SaaS platforms, secure web applications, application portals, workflow automation, data parsing, API/SFTP integrations, reporting dashboards, user acceptance testing, accessibility compliance, and production support. This role is especially important because the solution must support rapid application intake and review during federal shutdown events, continuous administration of emergency loan applications, secure transfer of applicant and payment data, repayment tracking, and real-time program reporting.

Ascension is seeking a technical professional who is detail-oriented, highly organized, security-minded, and comfortable working in a fast-paced public-sector environment where accuracy, privacy, accessibility, and timely implementation are mission-critical.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Senior Full-Stack Software Engineer will support the technical implementation and sustainment of a secure SaaS platform that enables eligible applicants to apply for no-interest loans, upload identity and eligibility documents, sign loan agreements, receive communications, track application status, and repay loans electronically. The role will also support the application review system used by MD Labor staff to verify identity, employment, residency, eligibility documentation, duplicate records, repayment activity, and exception cases.

The engineer will work closely with the Project Manager, Product/Platform Lead, AI/Automation Engineer, data/reporting resources, customer support lead, and MD Labor stakeholders to configure workflows, build forms, validate integrations, support file transfers, troubleshoot defects, and maintain system performance. The role requires the ability to translate business rules into technical configurations, ensure data flows are accurate and secure, support WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility requirements, and participate in UAT and post-launch monitoring. The RFP specifically requires application portal functionality, automated data comparison, document upload, data parsing, deduplication, secure SFTP file exchange, reporting, repayment tracking, and project closeout data export capabilities.

This position will be performed under Ascension prime oversight and in coordination with a subcontractor technical team responsible for SaaS platform and AI/data/automation responsibilities, as applicable.

Position’s Expected Day-to-Day Activities

The Senior Full-Stack Software Engineer will be expected to:

• Configure applicant portal workflows, application review workflows, user roles, form logic, status rules, notifications, and reviewer queues within the selected SaaS platform.
• Develop and maintain front-end portal components that support applicant intake, document upload, eligibility certification, loan agreement submission, application updates, withdrawals, and appeals.
• Support back-end configuration and integrations needed for identity verification, eligibility checks, data parsing, deduplication, automated comparison, payment tracking, repayment reporting, and secure file exchange.
• Implement application logic to parse required data from uploaded documents, including W-2 name, address, SSN, and Employer EIN fields, where supported by the platform and approved AI/automation tools.
• Build automated validation rules, reason codes, confidence scores, mismatch flags, duplicate indicators, and workflow routing logic to support human reviewer decision-making.
• Integrate platform functionality with State-approved identity verification, payment, repayment, reporting, and secure file transfer mechanisms, including SFTP, API, CSV, Excel, or other approved data exchange methods.
• Configure applicant communications, pre-written message templates, automated correspondence triggers, repayment reminders, late notices, and two-way communication mechanisms.
• Support multilingual portal content, FAQ pages, applicant communications, and customer support workflows in English, Spanish, and other languages required by Maryland law.
• Ensure portal pages, forms, content, documents, and web experiences meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards and the State of Maryland’s Digital Accessibility Policy.
• Develop or support dashboards, extracts, reports, reconciliation files, payment activity files, delinquency reports, exception reports, audit logs, and final data export packages.
• Execute unit testing, system testing, integration testing, regression testing, accessibility testing, and user acceptance testing in coordination with the project management team.
• Document technical configurations, workflows, data mappings, integration specifications, release notes, issue resolutions, and system operating procedures.
• Troubleshoot production defects, data discrepancies, portal performance issues, failed transmissions, user access problems, customer support escalations, and repayment reporting exceptions.
• Collaborate with project leadership to assess technical risks, support change control, implement approved changes, and maintain platform readiness before launch and throughout the contract period.
• Participate in post-launch monitoring to confirm system performance, data accuracy, user adoption, issue resolution, and continuous improvement opportunities.
• Support project closeout activities, including final data exports, audit logs, schema documentation, transition materials, and system access support for MD Labor audit or archival needs.

Protect our Land, Ascend with Us!

Ascension LLC is seeking a Project Manager / Business Analyst to support a mission-critical Maryland Department of Labor initiative focused on implementing and maintaining an IT and customer support solution for the Federal Worker Loan Program. This role is designed for a highly organized, detail-oriented professional who can bridge project management, business analysis, implementation support, stakeholder coordination, testing, reporting, and operational oversight.

The ideal candidate will help ensure the successful execution of a secure, user-friendly software solution that supports application intake, eligibility review, document upload, identity verification, customer support, repayment tracking, reporting, and program closeout. The role is especially important because the Federal Worker Loan Program must be able to process high volumes of loan applications quickly, accurately, securely, and with strong customer service during time-sensitive federal shutdown or worker displacement events. The RFP requires the solution to support application submission and review, AI-enabled eligibility assistance, fraud prevention, customer support, payment tracking, dashboards, project management, UAT, training, implementation, and closeout activities.

This position is best suited for someone who understands how to manage ambiguity, translate program needs into clear requirements, coordinate across technical and non-technical stakeholders, manage risks and milestones, and support a public-sector customer through implementation and steady-state operations.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Project Manager / Business Analyst will support Ascension’s delivery team by managing project execution, documenting requirements, coordinating implementation activities, supporting user acceptance testing, tracking risks and milestones, facilitating communications, and helping ensure that deliverables meet Maryland Department of Labor expectations. The role combines project management discipline with hands-on business analysis support to ensure that the solution aligns with program goals, user needs, security expectations, reporting requirements, customer support workflows, and operational timelines.

The contractor will help the client define scope, objectives, success criteria, timelines, dependencies, deliverables, communications protocols, escalation procedures, risk mitigation actions, training needs, and post-launch monitoring activities. The RFP specifically requires project management support for timeline and schedule management, communication management, risk management, test management, change management, documentation and training, post-launch monitoring, data analytics coordination, user acceptance testing, issue tracking, sign-off, closeout, and transition.

The ideal candidate should be self-driven, highly responsive, structured in their approach, and comfortable operating in a fast-moving environment where application volume, customer support demand, reporting needs, and implementation priorities may shift quickly. The candidate should bring the ability to anticipate problems, document decisions, support solution adoption, manage multiple workstreams, and help the customer maintain control over schedule, quality, risk, and accountability.

Position’s Day-to-Day Activities

The Project Manager / Business Analyst will be expected to:

• Develop and maintain project plans, integrated schedules, milestone trackers, action item logs, decision logs, and deliverable status reports.
• Coordinate with MD Labor stakeholders, technical teams, customer support teams, application reviewers, payment/reconciliation stakeholders, and subcontractor resources.
• Document business, functional, reporting, file transfer, customer support, training, and operational requirements.
• Translate program requirements into clear user stories, process flows, acceptance criteria, standard operating procedures, and implementation tasks.
• Track project scope, schedule, risks, issues, dependencies, assumptions, changes, and approvals.
• Facilitate recurring project meetings, stakeholder working sessions, implementation reviews, UAT planning sessions, and closeout meetings.
• Prepare meeting agendas, minutes, action items, executive summaries, briefing materials, status reports, and issue escalation summaries.
• Support configuration, implementation, and validation of applicant portal, application review, customer support, reporting, repayment, and file transfer processes.
• Coordinate user acceptance testing by developing test cases, tracking defects, documenting retesting results, and supporting final acceptance.
• Analyze process gaps, operational risks, stakeholder feedback, and implementation blockers.
• Support change control by documenting requested changes, assessing impacts, routing approvals, and updating project documentation.
• Assist with dashboard and reporting requirements to help MD Labor track application activity, applicant characteristics, outcomes, customer support trends, payment status, repayment status, and exceptions.
• Coordinate training materials, user guides, reviewer instructions, job aids, and knowledge-based resources.
• Monitor post-launch performance, user adoption, customer support trends, issue resolution, and reporting outputs.
• Support project closeout, including lessons learned, transition planning, stakeholder sign-off, data export coordination, and final presentation materials.

Ascension is seeking a highly organized documentation and reporting professional who can support the project team by preparing high-quality written materials, maintaining accurate project records, formatting deliverables, documenting meetings, tracking action items, and supporting compliance-ready documentation throughout the planning effort.

The successful candidate will be comfortable working in a fast-moving, stakeholder-driven planning environment. The candidate should be able to listen carefully, synthesize discussion points, organize technical and non-technical content, and produce clear written documentation that reflects the project’s purpose, decisions, next steps, and outcomes. This person should be self-driven, responsive, and capable of managing multiple documentation priorities with minimal supervision.

This role is well suited for a professional with experience supporting grant-funded projects, public-sector consulting, nonprofit planning, economic development initiatives, community engagement projects, strategic planning efforts, or business plan development teams.

Anticipated Day-to-Day Activities

The CDFI Planning Documentation Specialist will:

• Draft and edit project reports, progress updates, meeting summaries, final deliverables, and administrative documentation.
• Prepare clear meeting notes, decision logs, action item trackers, and follow-up summaries from advisory workgroup meetings, stakeholder interviews, listening sessions, and roundtables.
• Support development and refinement of written deliverables, including the needs assessment, financing gap analysis, governance roadmap, capitalization strategy recommendations, final CDFI business plan, and implementation proposal support materials.
• Review documents for grammar, clarity, consistency, formatting, pagination, headings, citation style, and alignment with project instructions.
• Ensure deliverables are professionally formatted, organized, and ready for client review.
• Maintain project documentation needed to support grant compliance, progress reporting, and project recordkeeping.
• Track deliverable deadlines, version control, comments, revisions, and status updates.
• Convert technical input from subject matter experts into plain-language, client-ready narrative content.
• Assist with development of PowerPoint slides, one-pagers, summaries, tables, and appendices as needed.
• Coordinate with the Project Manager, CDFI subject matter experts, stakeholder engagement leads, and data/research staff to collect inputs for reports and deliverables.
• Support preparation of draft and final submissions in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, SharePoint, Teams, Adobe PDF, and other standard collaboration tools.
• Identify inconsistencies, missing information, open action items, or unresolved comments that may affect deliverable quality or compliance.
• Maintain a professional documentation structure that allows the project team to easily retrieve source materials, meeting notes, draft content, stakeholder inputs, and final approved documents.

Ascension LLC is seeking a detail-oriented Rural Economic Data & Engagement Analyst to support a regional planning initiative focused on expanding access to capital for rural entrepreneurs in Western Maryland. This role will support the development of a sustainable, community-rooted Community Development Financial Institution model serving Allegany, Garrett, and Washington Counties.

The ideal candidate will bring strong research, data analysis, stakeholder coordination, and documentation skills. This position is especially well suited for a professional who understands rural economic development, small business ecosystems, community development finance, entrepreneurship support systems, nonprofit or public-sector planning, and regional stakeholder engagement.

The Analyst will support research-heavy and coordination-intensive activities across ecosystem mapping, financing gap analysis, listening sessions, stakeholder interviews, roundtables, and documentation of findings. The RFP requires the selected contractor to conduct research and analysis of the entrepreneurial finance ecosystem, identify financing barriers and capital gaps, review public and regional data sources, organize stakeholder engagement activities, and incorporate findings into final recommendations and planning documents.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Rural Economic Data & Engagement Analyst will support the Subject Matter Expert and Project Lead by collecting, organizing, analyzing, and documenting information needed to understand rural capital access conditions across Western Maryland. The role will help translate qualitative and quantitative inputs into practical findings that inform the needs assessment, financing gap analysis, governance roadmap, capitalization strategy, final CDFI business plan, and ARC implementation-phase support materials.

The successful candidate should be a strong writer, structured researcher, and organized engagement support professional who can work independently in a remote-first project environment. The candidate must be comfortable reviewing public data sources, synthesizing interview and listening session notes, tracking stakeholder outreach, preparing analytic summaries, and supporting facilitation logistics. Because the RFP emphasizes community development finance, rural economic development, small business lending ecosystems, strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, data analysis, needs assessment, report writing, and multi-county partnerships, candidates with experience in these areas should be prioritized.

The candidate should be comfortable using Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint or similar collaboration tools, survey tools, virtual meeting platforms, and publicly available data sources such as census, economic development, business lending, labor market, regional planning, or small business ecosystem data.

Anticipated Day-to-Day Activities

• Collect public, regional, and stakeholder-provided data related to rural entrepreneurship, small business lending, access to capital, business formation, workforce conditions, economic development assets, and nonprofit/community finance resources.
• Analyze entrepreneurial finance conditions across Allegany, Garrett, and Washington Counties to identify financing barriers, capital gaps, service gaps, and opportunities for alignment.
• Support ecosystem mapping by cataloging lenders, chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, workforce partners, entrepreneurship support organizations, nonprofit partners, public agencies, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Develop draft data tables, summary charts, issue logs, interview trackers, engagement trackers, and research notes to support the needs assessment and financing gap analysis.
• Coordinate stakeholder session logistics, including scheduling support, calendar tracking, attendance lists, participant outreach tracking, materials preparation, and follow-up documentation.
• Document listening sessions, interviews, roundtables, and workgroup meetings by preparing notes, action items, emerging themes, and high-level summaries.
• Synthesize qualitative input from entrepreneurs, small businesses, lenders, chambers, workforce partners, economic development organizations, and other stakeholders into clear themes and findings.
• Support preparation of the written needs assessment and financing gap analysis by drafting sections, compiling evidence, and organizing supporting documentation.
• Maintain well-organized project files, data folders, stakeholder lists, version-controlled documents, and supporting materials necessary for grant compliance and project reporting.
• Prepare draft briefing materials, PowerPoint slides, tables, issue summaries, and written inputs for review by the SME, Project Manager, and Ascension leadership.
• Track open questions, data gaps, stakeholder follow-ups, risks, and dependencies that could affect timely completion of deliverables.
• Contribute to the governance and sustainability roadmap, capitalization strategy, final CDFI business plan, and ARC implementation-phase proposal materials by ensuring that findings are grounded in documented evidence.

Ascension LLC is seeking a Senior CDFI Planning Consultant / Project Manager to lead a 12-month regional planning initiative focused on expanding access to capital for rural entrepreneurs in Western Maryland. This role will support Allegany College of Maryland’s Appalachian Business Builders: Expanding Capital Access for Rural Entrepreneurs in Western Maryland initiative, an ARC-funded planning project designed to develop the framework for a sustainable, community-rooted Community Development Financial Institution serving Allegany, Garrett, and Washington Counties.

The ideal candidate is a senior-level consultant with demonstrated experience in CDFI planning, rural economic development, community development finance, small business lending ecosystems, stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, and business plan development. This person must be comfortable leading a complex planning effort that involves multiple counties, public-sector partners, lenders, chambers, economic development organizations, entrepreneurs, and community stakeholders.

This role is critical because the consultant will serve as the primary technical and project lead responsible for turning stakeholder input, financing gap analysis, governance planning, and capitalization strategy into a practical CDFI business plan and future ARC implementation-phase proposal support materials. The RFP specifically requires leadership across project planning, ecosystem mapping, stakeholder engagement, governance and sustainability planning, business plan development, and reporting/documentation.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Senior CDFI Planning Consultant / Project Manager will provide hands-on leadership for the full planning lifecycle, from project kickoff and workplan development through final business plan and implementation proposal support. The consultant will work closely with Allegany College of Maryland, project partners, and regional stakeholders to assess rural capital access needs, identify financing and service gaps, recommend a sustainable governance model, and develop the roadmap for a future regional CDFI.

The ideal candidate should be a strategic, organized, and self-directed planner who can operate with limited supervision while managing ambiguity, competing stakeholder priorities, and evolving project inputs. This role requires the ability to translate complex economic development and community finance concepts into clear, actionable recommendations. The consultant should be highly skilled in facilitation, research, writing, project controls, relationship management, and executive-level reporting.

The contractor will be expected to solve practical planning questions, including how the proposed CDFI should be governed, capitalized, staffed, partnered, sustained, and positioned for future implementation funding. The role will require strong use of project management tools, structured meeting documentation, stakeholder tracking, research frameworks, needs assessment methods, and professional report-writing processes.

Anticipated Day-to-Day Activities

The contractor’s activities will vary by project phase, but may include the following:

• Lead the 12-month regional planning process and maintain accountability for project execution, milestones, and deliverables.
• Develop a detailed project workplan, timeline, task tracker, meeting cadence, and deliverable schedule aligned to the RFP’s four-quarter timeline.
• Coordinate regularly with Allegany College of Maryland staff, project partners, advisory workgroups, and regional stakeholders.
• Conduct research on the entrepreneurial finance ecosystem in Allegany, Garrett, and Washington Counties.
• Analyze financing barriers, capital access gaps, lending needs, rural entrepreneurship conditions, service gaps, and partnership opportunities.
• Review relevant public, regional, economic development, and lending data sources to support the written needs assessment and financing gap analysis.
• Organize county listening sessions, stakeholder interviews, lender discussions, entrepreneur conversations, and regional roundtables.
• Facilitate stakeholder meetings in a professional, inclusive, and structured manner that produces usable findings and clear next steps.
• Document meeting notes, stakeholder themes, recommendations, decisions, risks, action items, and follow-up requirements.
• Develop a governance framework for the proposed regional CDFI, including board structure, advisory participation, operational roles, and partnership responsibilities.
• Prepare a sustainability and capitalization roadmap identifying potential revenue streams, investment opportunities, leverage strategies, and future funding pathways.
• Draft the regional CDFI business plan, incorporating findings from engagement, data analysis, ecosystem mapping, and partner consultations.
• Support preparation of future ARC implementation-phase proposal materials, including measurable outcomes, partner commitments, and leverage strategy.
• Prepare regular progress reports and final project summary materials for Allegany College of Maryland.
• Maintain documentation needed for grant compliance, project reporting, and institutional recordkeeping.
• Anticipate project risks, stakeholder concerns, scheduling challenges, and information gaps before they affect delivery.
• Present clear findings and recommendations to client leadership, partners, and regional stakeholders.