Assistant Program Manager 1, ICE 2026P-0367
Protect our Land, Ascend with Us!
Ascension LLC is seeking a highly experienced Assistant Program Manager 1, ICE to support the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Professional Responsibility, External Review and Analysis Unit, in the execution of PREA auditing services. This role supports the ICE Program Manager with the day-to-day coordination, oversight, quality assurance, documentation tracking, auditor training coordination, issue management, and schedule support required to ensure PREA audits are performed accurately, consistently, and in accordance with DHS PREA Standards.
The ideal candidate is a disciplined, detail-oriented program operations professional with direct or highly relevant experience in detention, corrections, confinement, law enforcement, investigative, monitoring, quality control, or compliance environments. This person must be comfortable working in a sensitive government environment, managing multiple audit-related workstreams, reviewing complex written products, coordinating with senior personnel, and helping ensure that audit findings and corrective action determinations are objective, evidence-based, and aligned strictly to DHS PREA requirements.
Position Summary
The Assistant Program Manager 1, ICE will assist with management and oversight of contracted personnel and functions supporting ICE PREA auditing services. The SOW specifically states that ICE APMs support auditor training and assist the PM in ensuring the accuracy, consistency, and quality of work products provided to the Government.
This role is critical because PREA audits involve sensitive facility information, detainee/staff interviews, audit documentation, findings of compliance or non-compliance, corrective action tracking, and formal reports submitted to DHS. The APM 1 will help keep audit operations organized, ensure auditors are prepared and trained, support quality reviews before submission to the Government, maintain documentation and issue logs, and help ensure audit schedules and deliverables remain on track.
The successful candidate should bring strong judgment, professional writing skills, knowledge of detention or correctional environments, comfort working with sensitive information, and the ability to support a geographically distributed audit team. The role requires a person who can anticipate problems, organize competing deadlines, track commitments, communicate clearly, and maintain high standards for report quality and compliance.
Day-to-Day Activities
The Assistant Program Manager 1, ICE will be expected to:
- Assist the ICE Program Manager with day-to-day oversight of PREA audit support operations, including schedule coordination, staff coordination, issue tracking, and documentation control.
- Coordinate auditor readiness activities, including training completion tracking, DHS PREA certification coordination, and maintenance of required training records.
- Support quality control reviews of auditor work products to ensure reports are accurate, consistent, objective, professionally written, and aligned with DHS PREA Standards.
- Review draft audit reports, interim reports, provisional reports, final reports, CAP final determination reports, issue logs, and other written products for clarity, consistency, grammar, structure, and compliance with required templates.
- Verify that audit findings clearly explain the basis for compliance or non-compliance and that corrective action requirements are actionable, measurable, and based only on DHS PREA requirements.
- Track audit schedules, report due dates, CAP review timelines, extension requests, open issues, and required follow-up actions.
- Monitor auditor access, communication, and administrative readiness to reduce delays related to network access, training, documentation, or government coordination.
- Maintain key personnel lists, staffing updates, documentation trackers, and internal controls to support continuity of performance.
- Coordinate with the PM, auditors, and authorized Government representatives to ensure audit communications follow required protocols and are routed through approved channels.
- Assist with preparation of management reports, trend summaries, quality assurance inputs, meeting materials, and status updates.
- Support the preparation and implementation of the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan and other quality control methods.
- Identify risks, delays, quality concerns, staffing issues, training gaps, or process improvement opportunities and elevate them to the PM.
- Ensure that sensitive information, PII, audit materials, work products, and government-furnished information are handled in accordance with DHS requirements.
- Participate in post-award meetings, progress meetings, audit readiness discussions, and internal coordination meetings as needed.
- Support new auditor onboarding and, with COR approval, observe initial audit activities in a supportive capacity without interfering with the audit process, interviews, or established onsite procedures.
How to Apply
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| Job Category | Project Management |
| MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS | Bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution. | Ability to work independently, exercise sound judgment, and maintain professionalism when handling sensitive or confidential government information. | Ability to travel to DHS immigration detention facilities and holding facilities, including CONUS and occasional OCONUS locations, as required. | Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to review and improve complex written products. |
| REQUIRED SKILLS | Minimum of 10 years of experience working in, with, or auditing one or more of the following environments: state prisons, local jails, federal prisons, short-term lockups, community confinement facilities, juvenile facilities, or a Federal Government agency that oversees the confinement of individuals, including agencies such as BOP, ICE, CBP, or HHS. | Minimum of 3 years of project management experience supporting large, high-risk, sensitive projects or division-level management activities involving projects and staff of comparable scope. |
| TECHNICAL SKILLS | Demonstrated ability to review technical, compliance, audit, inspection, investigative, or monitoring reports for accuracy, consistency, quality, and adherence to standards. | Strong knowledge of detention, corrections, short-term confinement, facility operations, compliance monitoring, or audit support functions. |
| DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS | Prior experience supporting DHS, ICE, CBP, BOP, DOJ, HHS, state corrections, local corrections, detention monitoring, facility inspection, civil detention, or custodial compliance programs. | Experience supporting PREA audits, detention standards inspections, custodial compliance reviews, corrective action plan reviews, quality assurance reviews, or investigative oversight. | National PREA Resource Center training, PREA auditor knowledge, or familiarity with DHS PREA Standards. | Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Manager of Quality / Organizational Excellence, Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional, Lean Six Sigma, or similar credential. | Experience reviewing audit reports, CAP documentation, policy compliance findings, facility documentation, interview summaries, or evidence-based compliance determinations. | Familiarity with Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Teams, Excel, Word, Adobe Acrobat, document control tools, issue logs, trackers, and quality review checklists. | Experience supporting Federal contracts, COR-facing deliverables, staffing plans, quality assurance plans, transition plans, or key personnel management. | Excellent editing skills, including grammar, formatting, logical structure, professional writing standards, and report consistency. |
| SUITABILITY/SECURITY REQUIREMENT | Must be able to successfully complete DHS employment eligibility and background investigation requirements. | Must be a U.S. Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident with a Social Security card issued and approved by the Social Security Administration, as required by the SOW. | Must be able to obtain a favorable preliminary or final fitness determination before accessing sensitive information, systems, detainees, or Government facilities. | Must be able to complete required security forms, background investigation documentation, fingerprints, PREA-related questionnaires, and other DHS-required vetting documents. | Must comply with DHS information handling, confidentiality, PII protection, encryption, and government system use requirements. | Must sign and comply with DHS Non-Disclosure Agreement requirements, as applicable. | Must have no actual or apparent conflict of interest that would impair performance under DHS PREA auditing standards. |