Program Manager / Program Director

Position Description
ERT is seeking a Program Director (PD) / Program Manager (PM) to support upcoming work at NASA to modernize, enhance, optimize and maintain critical IT systems for science data. Duties include:

Program Management and Leadership:

• Overall responsibility for program execution of a $200+M contract. Includes responsibility for technical areas such as: Cloud, Earth Science, Data Collection, Modeling, etc; schedule and cost
• Coordination across multiple workstreams (e.g. infrastructure build, application development, application and migration, security / compliance, testing and operations)
• Risk and opportunity management including the identification and mitigation of risks to maintain continuity of services and smooth program operations. Ensure progress, risks and blockers are clearly reported to leadership and other appropriate stakeholders
• Ensure compliance with contract terms, deliverables, and performance requirements and experience managing subcontractor partners

Stakeholder and Client Engagement:

• Serve as a liaison between the customer, contractors, subcontractors, and other stakeholders, ensuring effective communication and alignment.
• Collaborate with customer and project leads to understand evolving needs and strategic direction.
• Work with technical staff to generate, validate and propose solutions, and report progress on deliverables
• Facilitate regular meetings, status updates, and progress reports to customer leadership and external partners

Team and Operations Oversight:

• Support, mentor, and manage cross-functional team leads, including scientists, engineers, and technical staff executing in an agile environment.
• Monitor personnel performance, provide coaching as needed, and ensure a high standard of work quality and accountability
• Drive operational excellence through continuous process improvement initiatives
• Support onboarding, role clarity and team alignment
• Experience managing a dispersed (potentially nationwide) team of software developers, systems analysts, cloud architects, database administrators, integration engineers, test engineers, etc.

Project Management and Reporting:

• Track and manage project schedules, budgets, and milestones using program management tools and methodologies
• Assist in the preparation of detailed reports and presentations on program status, contract performance, and future priorities
• Coordinate with subcontractors to ensure quality and timeliness of services

Contract Administration and Compliance:

• Ensure program activities meet federal regulations and adhere to all contractual obligations
• Coordinate with contract specialists in responding to contract modifications and task order proposal requests

Required Skills

• 15+ years of experience in program management, project management, or operations management, preferably with previous experience supporting NASA, NOAA, USGS or similar technology-focused federal agencies and managing an agile environment.
• Experience with leading the implementation or managing cloud migrations executed via multiple development trains for a mission critical government IT system
• Strong leadership skills, program management experience, and technical expertise to help lead multidisciplinary teams working at the intersection of science and technology.
• Proven experience in managing teams and large, complex projects which are compliance-heavy. Experience with both development and sustainment contract execution.
• Strong knowledge of project management methodologies and tools
• Experience with SAFe or other enterprise agile framework
• Excellent organizational, leadership, and problem-solving abilities.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills with experience in client engagement and reporting.
• Experience with budgeting and resource management on Firm, Fixed Price or Labor Type contracts.
• Experience executing enterprise level risk and opportunity management strategies.
• Must be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident and be able to pass a background investigation to obtain a security badge to enter the applicable government facility.

Desired

• Prior experience working with federal government contracts, especially with NASA, NOAA, USGS, or other technology-focused organizations.
• Familiarity with scientific data management or Atmospheric observation science.
• Knowledge of cloud terminologies, platforms and data management services (e.g., AWS, Google Cloud).
• PMP, PgMP or similar certification.

Education
Bachelor's degree (Master's preferred) in Computer Sciences, Engineering, or a related field.

Location
The position supports work in Greenbelt, MD and is eligible for an onsite or hybrid work schedule.

Compensation
The salary range for this role is $122,000 - 276,000/year. This range is a good faith estimate based on similar roles across the organization. ERT uses several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the position's scope and expected duties, a candidate's work experience, education/training, and key skills.

Benefits
All full-time employees are eligible to participate in our flexible benefits package, which includes:

• Medical, Rx, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan with company-matching
• 11 Paid Federal Government Holidays
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Basic Life & Supplemental Life
• Health Savings Account, Flexible Spending and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
• Short-Term & Long-Term Disability
• Employee assistance program (EAP)
• Tuition Reimbursement, Personal Development & Learning Opportunities
• Skills Development & Certifications
• Professional Membership Reimbursement
• Employee Referral Program
• Competitive compensation plan
• Discretionary variable incentive bonuses based on factors such as individual performance, business unit performance, and/or the company's performance
• Publication and Conference Presentation Awards with bonuses

ERT is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor and Equal Opportunity employer - All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected Veteran status.

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