Senior Program Manager

The Ascendancy Group LTD•Virginia Beach, VA

About The Position

The Ascendancy Group (TAG) is seeking a Senior Program Manager to join their Headquarters Operations team. This customer-facing role is responsible for leading complex government programs, contracts, task orders, and strategic initiatives that support TAG's mission, growth, and federal customers. The Program Manager will work directly with executive leadership, customers, internal support teams, and external partners to manage contract performance from capture and proposal development through transition, execution, and closeout. This position provides leadership and accountability for assigned programs, ensuring customer satisfaction, effective staffing, budget adherence, schedule management, quality standards, risk mitigation, compliance, and timely contractual deliverables. The role also serves as a key liaison between TAG, government customers, Contracting Officers (KOs), Contracting Officer Representatives (CORs), Technical Points of Contact (TPOCs), subcontractors, and internal teams.

Requirements

U.S. citizen with an active Secret security clearance.
Minimum 8 years of program management, project management, operations management, or relevant leadership experience.
Minimum 5 years managing complex programs, projects, contracts, task orders, or operational initiatives with responsibility for schedule, budget, staffing, deliverables, and performance.
Minimum 3 years supporting the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, federal government, government contracting, or SOF-related organizations.
Bachelor’s degree in business, Management, Program Management, Operations, Finance, Communications, Organizational Leadership, or a related field.
Experience leading multiple concurrent programs/projects and cross-functional teams in a fast-paced environment.
Experience managing schedules, budgets, resource plans, risks, milestones, deliverables, and performance metrics.
Experience providing executive-level reports, briefings, dashboards, and recommendations to leadership and customers.
Experience serving as a customer-facing representative and reviewing contractual documents, including Statements of Work, Performance Work Statements, task orders, and modifications.
Experience supporting proposal development, capture, transition planning, staffing plans, or post-award contract execution.
Working knowledge of FAR and DFARS requirements related to government contract performance.
Strong leadership, communication, organization, problem-solving, and follow-through skills.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, and Teams.
Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, and make sound recommendations under pressure.

Nice To Haves

PMP, PgMP, DAU, FAC-P/PM, Agile, Scrum, Lean Six Sigma, or comparable project/program-management certification.
Master’s degree in business, management, operations, finance, leadership, or related discipline.
10+ years of program management, operations leadership, military leadership, or government-contracting experience.
Experience with Cost-Plus, Time-and-Materials, Firm-Fixed-Price, or hybrid government contracts.
Experience with contract start-ups, transitions, rebids, recompetes, closeouts, subcontractors, vendors, or geographically dispersed teams.
Active Top Secret clearance preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead assigned programs, contracts, task orders, and strategic operational initiatives.
Serve as the primary interface with customers, KOs, CORs, TPOCs, subcontractors, and TAG leadership.
Manage program execution from proposal and award through transition, performance, follow-on opportunities, and closeout.
Develop and maintain program execution, staffing, transition, risk-management, quality-control, and communication plans.
Ensure contractual requirements, deliverables, milestones, budgets, schedules, staffing, and quality standards are met.
Oversee and mentor Project Managers, project coordinators, and operational staff; establish priorities and resolve barriers to execution.
Coordinate with Recruiting, Finance, Contracts, Operations, Facility Security, and executive leadership on staffing, financial performance, invoicing, security, compliance, and program profitability.
Monitor budgets, funding, labor utilization, forecasts, cost-to-complete estimates, risks, and schedule or performance variances.
Prepare executive briefings, customer updates, status reports, dashboards, risk assessments, and recommendations.
Review Statements of Work, Performance Work Statements, task orders, modifications, staffing requirements, and deliverable schedules to ensure requirements are understood and executable.
Identify and mitigate program risks, staffing challenges, compliance concerns, customer issues, and schedule or budget deviations.
Lead program reviews, customer meetings, transition meetings, status meetings, and executive-level briefings.
Ensure compliance with contract requirements, company policies, and applicable FAR/DFARS requirements.
Support capture and proposal efforts, including staffing strategy, technical and management inputs, pricing coordination, proposal reviews, and transition planning.
Improve processes that strengthen program performance, compliance, and customer satisfaction.