Position Summary
The Project Manager provides overall leadership, coordination, and accountability for the TANF Program Technical Assistance Team (TA) engagement in support of the TANF program. This individual manages scope, schedule, budget, staffing, and quality across all deliverables, serving as the primary day-to-day point of contact with the client and with state and tribal TANF agencies. The Project Manager ensures that every product and activity is evidence-based, non-partisan, and aligned with the goal of strengthening family economic security while promoting awareness of the social and economic benefits of healthy, stable marriage.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and maintain the integrated project work plan, milestone schedule, staffing plan, and risk register for the full period of performance.
- Serve as the primary liaison to the client's Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) and project officers, leading kickoff, status, and deliverable review meetings.
- Coordinate the seven-member interdisciplinary team, assigning tasks, balancing workloads, and ensuring deliverables meet quality standards and federal deadlines.
- Oversee budget, invoicing, and level-of-effort tracking, and prepare monthly progress and financial reports for the client.
- Ensure all technical assistance products reflect current TANF policy and the marriage, family-structure, and economic-mobility research base.
- Manage subcontractors, consultants, and any state or grantee partners, resolving issues and escalating risks proactively.
- Establish quality-assurance and Section 508 accessibility review processes for all written, visual, and event deliverables.
- Facilitate the design and delivery of TA activities such as peer-learning sessions, webinars, toolkits, and site-based support to TANF agencies.
Required Qualifications
- Demonstrated experience managing federal or state human-services technical assistance, research, or program-support contracts.
- Direct working knowledge of the TANF program, its four statutory purposes, block-grant structure, and state administration.
- Familiarity with the social and economic research on marriage and family structure, including scholarship on marriage, poverty reduction, and economic mobility.
- Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and deliver complex, high-visibility products on schedule and within budget.
- Excellent client-facing communication, facilitation, and stakeholder-management skills.
- Working knowledge of federal deliverable, accessibility (Section 508), and reporting requirements.
Preferred Qualifications
- PMP certification or equivalent project-management credential.
- Prior engagement with state or tribal TANF agencies or family-strengthening grantees.
- Experience coordinating research-to-practice translation and dissemination efforts.
Education & Experience
Bachelor's degree required in public administration, social sciences, public policy, or a related field; Master's degree preferred. Minimum of seven to ten years of progressively responsible project-management experience, including at least three years leading TANF, workforce, or family-strengthening initiatives.
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