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Ascension is seeking a Program Manager / Engagement Lead to provide overall contract leadership, stakeholder coordination, deliverable management, quality control, risk management, and client engagement support for a federal data analytics and data governance initiative supporting the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education.

This position is central to the success of the effort. The selected candidate will serve as Ascension’s primary management lead responsible for keeping the project organized, compliant, timely, and responsive to ED/OPE priorities. The role will support OPE’s effort to strengthen data governance across the data management lifecycle, including coordination of needs assessments, gap analysis, survey/interview activities, data governance board support, reporting, and related analytic work. The PWS requires support for OPE data governance implementation, stakeholder support, data management activities, survey/interview frameworks, data visualization, reports, and work related to OPE data governance and strategy.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Program Manager / Engagement Lead will manage the full scope of contract execution and serve as the primary interface among Ascension, ED/OPE leadership, the Contracting Officer’s Representative, technical staff, data analysts, subject matter experts, and any subcontractor resources. The role requires a highly organized, client-facing professional who can manage schedules, deliverables, risks, communications, and quality controls across multiple workstreams.

The ideal candidate is a detail-oriented federal project leader who is comfortable working in a structured but evolving environment. This person must be able to anticipate issues, coordinate across technical and non-technical stakeholders, drive accountability, and translate client priorities into executable project plans. The PWS specifically requires the contractor to manage quality and timeliness of deliverables, mitigate risk and staff turnover, oversee subcontractors, and control costs while performing the work.

The role will require strong command of project management processes, including integrated schedules, action item tracking, risk registers, quality control checklists, meeting facilitation, monthly reporting, and deliverable acceptance tracking. Tools expected for the role may include Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Microsoft Project or Smartsheet, Power BI dashboards, and document version control processes.

Day-to-Day / Recurring Responsibilities

• Lead overall contract execution, including schedule, scope, cost, risk, quality, staffing, and deliverable oversight.
• Serve as Ascension’s primary engagement lead with ED/OPE, the COR, and other relevant Department staff.
• Plan and facilitate the post-award kickoff meeting, including agenda development, meeting coordination, meeting summary, action items, and deliverable schedule.
• Develop and maintain the project management plan, integrated master schedule, deliverable tracker, risk register, action item log, and quality control procedures.
• Coordinate the activities of analysts, technical specialists, communications support, database resources, and outside technical experts, as needed.
• Monitor project progress against contract requirements, due dates, and client priorities.
• Prepare and submit monthly progress reports summarizing work performed, accomplishments, issues, proposed resolutions, upcoming work, and budget/expenditure status. The PWS requires monthly reports and a report template after kickoff.
• Facilitate or support weekly virtual status meetings, including preparing agendas and meeting notes. The PWS requires weekly status meeting agendas before meetings and notes after meetings.
• Implement quality control processes for each task and document quality results in monthly reporting.
• Track Government review cycles, comment resolution, and deliverable revisions.
• Coordinate support for OPE Data Governance Board activities, including agendas, presentation materials, attendance, minutes, and planning meetings if optional governance tasks are exercised.
• Ensure deliverables are accurate, timely, accessible, and aligned with applicable federal requirements, including Section 508, WCAG, FERPA, PRA, OPEN Data Act, Evidence Act, Federal Data Strategy, and related OMB guidance.
• Identify risks, staffing gaps, dependency issues, and scope concerns early and recommend mitigation strategies.
• Support executive briefings, client communications, stakeholder engagement sessions, and internal project reviews.
• Maintain organized project files, meeting records, deliverable history, version control, and audit-ready documentation.