Ascension LLC is seeking a Technical Working Group Coordinator / Meeting Facilitation Specialist to support the planning, coordination, and documentation of a Technical Working Group for a federal education evaluation effort focused on the next cycle of Regional Educational Laboratories and Comprehensive Centers. The Department anticipates using a technical working group of national experts in evaluation and/or relevant content areas to provide input on the quality, usefulness, and relevance of the evaluation and related derivative products. The requirement notes that the working group may provide input asynchronously and/or through virtual panel meetings, and that the contractor will be responsible for virtual meeting logistics, agendas, materials, allowable honoraria, and post-meeting proceedings or documentation.

This role is ideal for a detail-oriented meeting coordinator and facilitation professional who understands how to organize expert advisory groups, manage virtual panel logistics, prepare clean and professional meeting materials, track expert input, and produce accurate proceedings and action-item documentation. The position does not require a senior program manager. It requires a highly organized, responsive, and polished coordinator who can support technical experts, federal staff, and project leadership while keeping the working group operating smoothly across an annual engagement cycle.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Technical Working Group Coordinator / Meeting Facilitation Specialist will support Ascension’s project team by coordinating the onboarding, scheduling, engagement, and documentation activities associated with an up to 8-member Technical Working Group. The role will help ensure that technical experts are engaged within the required timeframe, prepared to provide meaningful input, and supported through well-run virtual meetings and structured asynchronous review processes.

The selected contractor will prepare agendas, pre-read materials, meeting packets, logistics communications, attendance records, meeting notes, action item trackers, expert input trackers, honoraria coordination materials, and proceedings. The role will also support recurring project coordination with Ascension’s evaluation, data, and reporting teams to ensure technical working group input is captured, organized, and routed to the appropriate workstream leads.

The ideal candidate will be comfortable working in a federal consulting environment, managing multiple deadlines, communicating professionally with senior subject matter experts, maintaining version control, and producing accurate documentation. The candidate should be self-driven, organized, proactive, and able to anticipate logistical issues before they disrupt expert engagement or project delivery.

Expected Day-to-Day / Periodic Activities

The day-to-day activities for this role will vary by project phase and annual working group cycle. Anticipated responsibilities include:

• Coordinate onboarding activities for up to 8 Technical Working Group members, including welcome communications, meeting expectations, availability collection, and administrative tracking.
• Schedule virtual panel meetings, planning sessions, preparatory calls, and asynchronous review windows with technical experts, ED/IES staff, and Ascension project leadership.
• Prepare meeting agendas, run-of-show documents, pre-read packets, presentation materials, discussion guides, and logistics instructions.
• Manage virtual meeting logistics using Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, or similar platforms, including calendar invitations, access links, participant tracking, technical support, and meeting setup.
• Moderate administrative portions of virtual meetings, including opening logistics, timekeeping, transition cues, attendance tracking, and coordination of participant questions.
• Capture meeting notes, expert comments, decisions, recommendations, action items, risks, and follow-up needs.
• Develop post-meeting proceedings, meeting summaries, action item logs, and expert input trackers that can be used by the evaluation and reporting teams.
• Track asynchronous expert input, comments on draft materials, review status, due dates, and unresolved issues.
• Coordinate honoraria-related documentation and tracking in accordance with project direction and applicable federal guidance, noting that the requirement caps technical working group honoraria at the GS-15 Step 10 level.
• Maintain organized project files, version-controlled meeting materials, distribution lists, and documentation repositories.
• Support biweekly or milestone-based coordination with Ascension’s project team to confirm upcoming working group needs, schedule dependencies, and deliverable deadlines.
• Ensure all meeting materials and derivative documentation are professional, accessible, and suitable for federal review.
• Identify scheduling conflicts, missing inputs, late responses, and other risks that could affect working group engagement.
• Communicate professionally with senior experts, federal staff, and project stakeholders in a manner that reflects Ascension’s standards for responsiveness, accuracy, and client service.

Tools and Processes Used

The role is expected to use or be comfortable learning the following tools and processes:

• Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, or Webex for virtual meeting coordination
• Microsoft Outlook for scheduling and calendar management
• Microsoft Word and PowerPoint for agendas, proceedings, meeting materials, and briefing support
• Microsoft Excel or SharePoint Lists for tracking action items, expert input, honoraria status, attendance, and deliverable progress
• Microsoft SharePoint or Teams for file management, version control, and collaboration
• Adobe Acrobat for PDF preparation and final meeting packets
• Accessibility tools in Microsoft Office and Adobe for Section 508-aware document preparation
• Structured meeting facilitation practices, including agendas, run-of-show documents, decision logs, and action item tracking
• Federal-style documentation practices for meeting records, proceedings, and stakeholder input summaries