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ASCENSION is seeking an experienced Federal Contract Program Manager to provide day-to-day leadership and contract management for a mission-critical Air National Guard Security Forces analytical support program.

The ideal candidate will combine strong federal contract execution experience with disciplined project management, staff coordination, customer relationship management, performance monitoring, quality oversight, and scope control. This individual will serve as ASCENSION’s principal operational interface with Government leadership and will be responsible for ensuring that contractor personnel remain coordinated, responsive, properly resourced, and focused on the requirements of the Performance Work Statement.

This is not intended to be a senior executive or Program Director position. The Government requirement is fundamentally a hands-on contract operations and project management role, which is why ASCENSION’s Project Manager I labor category is the appropriate contractual mapping. The Project Manager I category requires a bachelor’s degree and at least five years of relevant experience and includes responsibility for quality, schedule, cost, scope, client meetings, risk management, and coordination of consultant activities.

The successful candidate should be a highly organized, detail-oriented leader who can manage competing priorities, anticipate execution risks, communicate clearly with Government and contractor stakeholders, and resolve operational issues before they affect mission performance.

Position Summary

The Federal Contract Program Manager will oversee the daily administration and execution of ASCENSION’s support to the Air National Guard Security Forces Division.

The PWS requires the designated Contract Manager, or an approved alternate, to have full authority to act for the contractor on matters relating to the daily operation of the contract. The Contract Manager will work through the Contracting Officer’s Representative to resolve performance issues, receive technical direction, coordinate contractor activities, and ensure personnel do not perform work outside the authorized contract scope.

The role therefore extends beyond conventional project scheduling. The Program Manager will integrate contract administration, workforce coordination, quality management, schedule management, performance monitoring, risk and issue management, customer communications, deliverable oversight, and scope control across a multidisciplinary team supporting ANG Security Forces analytical activities.

The position will also help maintain workforce continuity, facilitate periodic performance meetings, coordinate corrective actions when needed, and ensure ASCENSION’s internal management practices remain synchronized with Government expectations. ASCENSION has demonstrated related capabilities through federal engagements involving program management, risk identification, project tracking, quality processes, stakeholder coordination, reporting, and contract operations.

Day-to-Day and Recurring Responsibilities

• Serve as ASCENSION’s primary operational point of contact for the Government Contracting Officer’s Representative and other designated Government stakeholders.
• Direct the daily execution of contractor activities to ensure work remains aligned with contract requirements, authorized scope, priorities, schedules, and performance standards.
• Coordinate personnel assignments, schedules, workload priorities, leave coverage, and staffing continuity to maintain uninterrupted contract performance.
• Monitor contract performance across quality, schedule, staffing, cost, scope, deliverables, and customer satisfaction.
• Maintain integrated project schedules, action trackers, risk and issue logs, deliverable trackers, staffing records, and management dashboards.
• Conduct recurring team coordination meetings to review priorities, assignments, deadlines, risks, dependencies, and upcoming Government requirements.
• Lead contract status meetings, progress reviews, post-award meetings, and other Government-contractor coordination sessions as required.
• Communicate emerging issues, risks, staffing concerns, performance challenges, and recommended corrective actions to ASCENSION leadership and Government stakeholders.
• Resolve routine operational and contract-performance issues before they affect schedules, deliverables, or mission support.
• Escalate contractual, performance, security, staffing, or scope matters requiring executive leadership or Contracting Officer involvement.
• Ensure contractor personnel understand their assigned responsibilities, performance expectations, reporting requirements, and limitations regarding out-of-scope work.
• Prevent unauthorized work by verifying that Government requests are within contractual scope and elevating potential scope changes for appropriate contractual review.
• Coordinate preparation, internal review, approval, and delivery of required reports, briefings, presentations, plans, meeting materials, and other contract deliverables.
• Review deliverables for completeness, accuracy, timeliness, consistency, and compliance before Government submission.
• Implement ASCENSION’s quality management practices and support execution of the contract Quality Control Plan.
• Track corrective actions and ensure identified deficiencies are addressed, documented, and monitored for recurrence.
• Analyze performance indicators and operational trends to identify emerging schedule, staffing, quality, or execution risks.
• Facilitate communication among ASCENSION personnel, subcontractors, Government analysts, functional leads, and other stakeholders.
• Coordinate onboarding and offboarding activities, including Government access requirements, CAC processing, security requirements, mandatory training, equipment, and knowledge transfer.
• Verify personnel maintain required security clearances, installation access, mandatory training, and system access needed for assigned duties.
• Support workforce continuity and succession planning by maintaining adequate staffing coverage and identifying potential replacement or surge personnel.
• Coordinate Government-approved travel and ensure activities remain aligned with applicable contract requirements and authorization procedures.
• Maintain organized contract records, correspondence, meeting documentation, staffing information, approvals, performance documentation, and management artifacts.
• Prepare executive-level status summaries and recommendations for ASCENSION leadership regarding overall program health.
• Identify opportunities to improve internal coordination, reporting, workflow, quality, and contract administration processes.