Ascension LLC is seeking an experienced PTAC Program Director to provide strategic, operational, and thought leadership support to the U.S. Department of Education’s Privacy Technical Assistance Center. This role is critical to ensuring that PTAC effectively delivers high-quality privacy, data governance, and compliance technical assistance to state and local educational agencies, postsecondary institutions, and other education stakeholders nationwide.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned program leader with deep expertise in education data privacy, FERPA and PPRA compliance, federal privacy frameworks, and stakeholder-facing technical assistance programs. This individual will serve as the primary interface between Ascension, ED leadership, and external stakeholders, ensuring PTAC services align with federal priorities, statutory requirements, and evolving privacy risks in the education ecosystem.

This role is well suited for candidates who bring a blend of policy expertise, program management discipline, and the ability to translate complex privacy requirements into actionable guidance for diverse audiences. The Program Director plays a pivotal role in advancing PTAC’s mission to strengthen privacy practices and safeguard student data across the nation.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The PTAC Program Director is responsible for overall leadership, coordination, and execution of PTAC program activities in accordance with Department of Education requirements and performance objectives. This role requires a detail-oriented, highly organized leader who can operate effectively in a dynamic and sometimes ambiguous environment, anticipate risks, and proactively guide solutions.

The Program Director will oversee program planning, resource allocation, stakeholder engagement, quality assurance, and reporting across all PTAC task areas. The ideal candidate brings strong judgment, a collaborative leadership style, and the ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining consistent delivery excellence.

The role requires comfort working with federal policy staff, legal and privacy professionals, technical experts, and external education stakeholders. The Program Director is expected to solve complex programmatic and operational challenges, ensure compliance with applicable laws and standards, and continuously improve PTAC processes, tools, and outputs.

Tools and processes commonly used in this role include project and portfolio management tools, collaboration platforms such as Microsoft 365, data tracking and reporting dashboards, and structured technical assistance delivery frameworks.

Position Day-to-Day Activities

• Provide overall program leadership for the PTAC contract, ensuring alignment with ED goals, priorities, and statutory requirements.
• Serve as the primary point of contact with ED leadership, including SPPO, for program status, risk management, and strategic planning.
• Oversee planning and execution of PTAC technical assistance activities, guidance development, training, and outreach initiatives.
• Manage contractor staff and subcontractors, including workload planning, performance monitoring, and professional development.
• Ensure compliance with FERPA, PPRA, FISMA, OMB Circular A-130, and other applicable federal privacy and data governance requirements.
• Lead quality assurance efforts to ensure all PTAC deliverables are accurate, timely, and meet ED standards.
• Anticipate program risks and challenges, develop mitigation strategies, and implement corrective actions as needed.
• Coordinate stakeholder engagement activities, including webinars, workshops, technical assistance sessions, and interagency collaboration.
• Oversee data collection and reporting, ensuring performance metrics and contract reporting requirements are met.
• Support continuous improvement by refining processes, tools, and methodologies used to deliver PTAC services.
• Prepare and present briefings and written reports for ED leadership and other federal stakeholders.