Associate Director, Program Management

BlueLabs, Inc.•Washington, DC

51d•Remote

About The Position

Reporting to the VP of Insights, the Associate Director of Program Management is a central leadership figure responsible for shaping programmatic strategy and leading the project management team to design and implement project delivery frameworks across political, advocacy, non-profit, and commercial sectors. This leader will drive operational excellence by not only standardizing tools and frameworks but also evolving them to scale with business growth. Combining a technical understanding of research methods and product management with business acumen, this role will manage resource allocation, mitigate high-level risks, and cultivate deep relationships with cross-functional stakeholders to ensure projects meet ambitious deadlines and drive impactful results. Beyond overseeing the execution of complex public opinion surveys and data programs, the Associate Director will serve as a mentor to a team of project managers, fostering a culture of accountability and professional growth.

Requirements

Experience: 5-7+ years of relevant program management experience, with a track record of progressive responsibility. Must include 2+ years of people management focused on coaching, performance development, and team scaling.
Technical program management: deep experience working directly with data science, engineering, and analytics teams. Familiarity with analytical concepts, statistics, or research methods is required; an advanced degree in a related field is a plus.
Process architecture: expertise in designing and optimizing project management ecosystems (e.g., Asana, Jira, Monday). You don't just use the tools; you architect them to drive efficiency and reporting.
Change management: demonstrated success in driving the adoption of new workflows across diverse teams, navigating resistance and ensuring cultural alignment with new operational standards.
Operational execution: a proven track record of managing complex technical projects from inception to delivery, including master scheduling, resource forecasting, budgetary oversight, and proactive risk mitigation.
Cross-functional influence: the ability to negotiate and build consensus across internal teams without direct authority, particularly when balancing competing priorities between technical execution and client needs.
Communication: exceptional communication skills, with the specific ability to synthesize complex technical, statistical, or political concepts for non-technical audiences and executive stakeholders.
Work style: highly organized and self-motivated, with the judgment to operate independently in a fast-paced environment while maintaining a collaborative, solution-oriented attitude.

Responsibilities

Program execution: oversee the full lifecycle of large-scale survey research, data, and analytics programs, translating multi-layered client roadmaps into detailed project plans, timelines, and budgets.
Process optimization: design and implement standardized workflows and tools (e.g., Asana, Jira, GitHub, G-Suite) to track project performance, mitigate risks, and maintain high standards of delivery.
Cross-functional collaboration: act as the primary bridge between data science, polling, and analytics teams to remove roadblocks and ensure the rapid, smooth execution of programmatic initiatives.
Client management: serve as a key point of contact for client-stakeholders, managing internal and external project communications, aligning tasks with shifting priorities, and ensuring clear status reporting.
Team leadership: lead, mentor, and resource a team of project managers, ensuring they have the support needed to drive operational excellence across the organization.
Meeting facilitation: lead internal stand-ups and client check-ins, ensuring all meetings have clear agendas, documented action items, and accountability for next steps.
Resource management & capacity planning: monitor team bandwidth and project allocation across the division, forecasting future resource needs to prevent bottlenecks and ensure equitable workload distribution.
Strategic Operations: partner with Insights leadership to translate high-level business goals into operational realities, identifying opportunities to scale processes and improve profit margins or delivery speed.