Senior Director of Program Management; Center of Excellence Lead

Who We Are: LINK is a fast-growing Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB) that leverages human-centered design to support strategy, innovation, communication, change, and branding within the federal government and adjacent industry partners. At LINK, we partner with engineers, futurists, and thought leaders to untangle complexity, discover opportunity, and communicate clearly with visual stories. 

Let us be your partners in change.

About the Opportunity:

The Senior Director of Program Management; Center of Excellence Lead is responsible for establishing, leading, and enforcing LINK’s enterprise-wide program management standards, tools, and practices. This role owns the design, implementation, training, and continuous improvement of program management operational functions across the company and holds all delivery teams accountable for meeting established requirements.

This leader will serve as the authority on program management, contract compliance, financial management, and security compliance—ensuring LINK consistently maintains operational and regulatory rigor. This is a leadership role with the authority to set expectations, enforce standards, and drive accountability across all programs.

This role is critical to LINK’s success. The Director of Program Management will:

• Establish Program Management best practices to ensure superior contract compliance and account management across the company
• Develop Program Management tools, methods, and standards
• Train, mentor, and grow a cadre of confident Program Managers 
• Protect LINK from compliance and financial risk
• Ensure Program Management is value-added to delivery excellence, not a set of checklists or compliance drills
• Strengthen client trust and long-term contract success

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, management, engineering, or a related field (Master’s preferred)

• 15+ years of experience in program and project management, preferably in:

• Government contracting

• Federal consulting

• Professional services or agency environments

• Demonstrated leadership experience and capability in leading high performing teams

• Proven experience establishing or leading a Program Management Office (PMO) or Center of Excellence

• Strong knowledge of:

• Federal contracts and compliance requirements

• Cost, schedule, and performance management

• Risk and quality management

• Demonstrated ability to influence and enforce standards across multiple teams

• Experience managing complex, multi-disciplinary programs

Responsibilities: 

Program Management Center of Excellence Leadership

• Establish and lead LINK’s Program Management Center of Excellence, a centralized function that defines how program management operates across the organization and setting clear, consistent expectations for execution

• Design and implement standardized frameworks, governance models, and ways of working for program and project delivery

• Develop and maintain enterprise tools, templates, and resources that enable consistent execution across teams

• Assess and evolve program management maturity over time, driving continuous improvement across the organization

Program & Project Operational Governance

• Set clear expectations for how programs are operationally planned, tracked, and closed

• Ensure consistent use of approved program management tools and reporting practices

• Establish governance structures, reviews, and escalation paths to address program-level risks related to budget, compliance, and operational performance

• Partner with Project Team Leadership to monitor program health across cost, schedule, scope, and risk 

Contract & Compliance Oversight

• Ensure compliance with all contractual requirements, including:

• Federal acquisition regulations (FAR and DFARS)

• Contract deliverables and performance metrics

• Security and data protection requirements

• Partner with leadership to ensure programs meet audit, compliance, and reporting standards

• Proactively identify and mitigate contractual and operational risks

Financial & Cost Management

• Establish standards for:

• Program budgeting and forecasting

• Cost tracking and burn rate management

• Profitability and financial performance monitoring

• Partner with finance and operations to ensure accurate financial reporting at the program level

• Understand the various types of federal government contract types including: firm fixed price, time and materials, commercial product contracts, and be able to develop tools and methods to accommodate all

• Hold teams accountable for financial discipline and performance

Training, Mentoring & Enablement

• Design and deliver program management training for program leaders

• Develop onboarding and continuous learning programs to build consistent program management capability across the organization

• Establish and lead a community of program leaders to share best practices, tools, and lessons learned

• Mentor and coach program leaders to strengthen consistency and performance in managing program operations

• Foster a strong, consistent program management culture grounded in operational excellence

Accountability & Performance Management

• Define performance standards for program management and team lead roles

• Hold teams accountable for adherence to established standards and tools

• Identify performance gaps and implement corrective actions

• Partner with leadership on program management staffing, capability development, and performance improvement

• Participate in recruitment and hiring for program managers and team leads

Customer Experience & Stakeholder Management

• Ensure programs consistently deliver a high-quality customer experience

• Establish standards for client communication, reporting, and engagement

• Act as an escalation point for program-level issues impacting client satisfaction

• Strengthen LINK’s reputation as a trusted, reliable government partner

Customer Experience & Stakeholder Management

• Define and operationalize standards for customer experience, including communication, reporting, and engagement practices aligned to the LINK Way

• Develop and scale repeatable tools, templates, and processes that enable teams to deliver a consistent, high-quality client experience

• Establish baseline expectations for program-level interactions (e.g., status reporting, tasking touchpoints), with flexibility for teams to adapt as needed

• Partner with program leaders to address systemic issues impacting client satisfaction, serving as an escalation point for operational challenges

• Contribute to strengthening LINK’s reputation as a trusted, reliable government partner through consistent, high-quality program management practices

Work Schedule:

• Full time, 40 hours per week
• Some travel required to attend relevant events and conferences, and participate in LINK team events

Salary: We're committed to offering competitive compensation. While the salary range for this position is $175,000-$215,000, your final offer may be adjusted based on factors like experience and location.

Benefits:

• $100 monthly internet/cell phone stipend
• LINK sponsored healthcare benefits including medical, dental, vision
• Company-paid Short Term Disability Insurance
• 401K with employer contribution of up to 4%
• 11 Federal Holidays per year 
• 15 days of Paid Time Off (PTO) per year 
• Paid Holiday Time Off (Christmas Eve through the New Year) 
• Annual bonus plan participation
• Annual profit sharing participation
• $2,000 Learning and Development program reimbursement
• Technology package that includes a LINK-owned MacBook Pro, monitor, mouse and keyboard

EOE