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

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

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

Summary of Contractor Role

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

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

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

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

Position Responsibilities / Expected Activities

The Program Manager will:

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