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Code for America · 1 day ago

Senior Director of Program Delivery

United States

Full-time

Remote

Director/Executive

$155K/yr - $190K/yr

12+ years exp

Code for America is a leading implementer of human-centered design and technology approaches, with a mission to help make government work well for everyone. The Senior Director of Program Delivery will provide strategic leadership for delivery excellence, ensuring projects consistently meet their goals and strengthen the organization's reputation.

LegalLegal TechNon ProfitOpen Source

H1B Sponsor Likely

Responsibilities

Ensure every project is managed against clear goals, roles, timelines, and accountability, so progress is visible and delivery is reliable; ensure project kick-off and close-out processes are consistent across the portfolio

Proactively identify delivery and partnership risks, ensure clear escalation and timely resolution, and integrate compliance onboarding (e.g., HIPAA, security, data privacy) so new staff can contribute without delays or exposure)

Set consistent expectations for communication, transparency, and collaborative decision-making with government partners, while aligning internal narratives for funders and stakeholders

Ensure relevant leaders and team members understand cost realities, overhead, and philanthropic subsidy to ground decisions in financial feasibility

Ensure goals and decisions are captured and shared consistently to strengthen collaboration and inform future projects and that lessons learned, tools, and templates are captured and reused across projects

Build structured retrospectives and cross-portfolio practices that embed lessons into future delivery

Own accountability for the successful delivery of the full Safety Net portfolio, ensuring projects meet timelines, budgets, and impact goals

Collaborate with the Partnerships team to ensure project scopes are realistic, aligned with Code for America’s delivery standards and impact goals, and incorporate input from delivery staff

Define and drive best-in-class delivery standards across all projects, including: Embed delivery practices across the team by rolling out training, templates, how-to guides, and governance mechanisms (e.g., regular project check-ins, quality assurance reviews). Reinforce adoption through change management, coaching, and feedback loops so that standards are not only defined but consistently applied in practice

Ensure financial stewardship of the portfolio by partnering with Finance, Revenue, and Development teams to align budgets with funding streams, track spend, and proactively anticipate risks and take advantage of opportunities

Develop consistent practices, tools, and training that raise the standard of program delivery across the department

Partner with the Program, Revenue, and Development teams to shape and sustain funding and partnership opportunities

Join cultivation conversations as the accountable delivery voice, helping translate delivery capabilities across disciplines into funder and partner confidence

Build trust with select funders/government leaders as needed to unblock or reinforce delivery

Directly manage programs staff (Directors & Associate Program Directors), setting clear expectations and supporting their growth as program & delivery leaders

Support current Project Sponsors from other disciplines who are leading projects, ensuring they have the systems and guidance needed to succeed; design and implement a more consistent, standardized model for project leadership going forward

Serve as an escalation point and thought partner on complex delivery and partnership challenges

Build consistency in how work is delivered across projects, in close collaboration with other discipline leaders

Help team members navigate ambiguity, resolve cross-functional challenges, and strengthen decision-making skills

Refining scoping practices to streamline the process, reduce inefficiencies, and clarify roles, ensuring scopes are realistic and have strong and consistent delivery leadership in place to carry the work from cultivation to implementation

Building (and overseeing) a clear, repeatable project kickoff process so delivery teams, funders, and government partners start aligned. Clarifying roles and responsibilities during handoffs, reporting, and renewals to avoid gaps or duplication

Establish practices so every project has a clear vision holder (e.g., product, policy, or research lead), with early and consistent involvement of relevant disciplines to maintain alignment on problem framing and outcomes

Drive continuous improvement across the portfolio, raising the standard of program delivery and embedding best practices across teams

Surface insights from government partners to inform organizational strategy and partnership development

Collaborate with the Executive Director of Safety Net Strategy to ensure day-to-day execution is aligned with strategic goals and emerging shifts in the safety net ecosystem

Partner with the Partnerships team to ensure smooth handoffs and shared accountability across the lifecycle of an engagement. This includes (but is not limited to):

Partner with discipline leaders and the Director of Resource Management to move from discipline-by-discipline decisions to coordinated, cross-disciplinary staffing aligned with Safety Net priorities

Ensure projects are staffed with the right skills and seniority to succeed, escalating when tradeoffs or reprioritization are needed

Collaborate with the Partnerships team and the Director of Resource Management to develop a taxonomy of project types and staffing ratios (e.g., cohort/multi-state hub, light-touch advisory, deeper technical builds) to enable predictable scoping, staffing, and scaling

Collaborate with the Director of Resource Management to identify when new skills or roles will be required and collaborate with leadership to inform hiring and staff development plans

Other duties as assigned

Qualification

Safety Net expertiseCivic technology experienceFinancial acumenProject managementPeople managementStakeholder managementChange managementMulti-disciplinary collaborationOperational disciplineTool fluencyOrganization & detailCommunication

Required

12+ years of experience leading complex, multi-disciplinary portfolios of 5+ simultaneous government technology projects, with accountability for on-time, on-budget, and outcomes-focused delivery

Delivery experience in safety net programs (SNAP and/or Medicaid), or transferable experience delivering technology within complex eligibility or benefits programs, with a demonstrated ability to work effectively across government and technology

Proven track record working at the intersection of government and technology, ideally within civic tech, human-centered design, or public sector service delivery

Experience delivering software or digital services with or for government partners, ideally in human services

Skilled at aligning execution with organizational strategy, working closely with peers in strategy, product, design, engineering, and revenue/partnerships

Ability to understand and manage project budgets, align with funding streams, and anticipate risks

Exceptional facilitation, written, and verbal communication skills; able to synthesize complexity and influence across senior leadership and external partners

Experienced manager, with a track record of coaching and developing senior program leaders

Skilled at building trusted relationships with government leaders and funders, and cross-functional collaborators

Experience working with multi-disciplinary teams where designers, policy experts, researchers, product managers, engineers and other technologists collaborate with government partners

Experience leading teams through change, building buy-in for new processes, and ensuring adoption

A proven track record of designing and implementing systems that strengthen delivery practices across an organization

Familiarity with delivery and resource management tools (e.g., Asana, Airtable, Jira) and comfort adopting or embedding new systems to improve delivery consistency

Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment

Preferred

Prior experience leading large-scale safety net programs or portfolios in government or civic tech organizations

Experience overseeing a portfolio of projects and managing delivery at scale in a professional services, nonprofit, or consulting environment

Understanding of the broader safety net and civic tech ecosystem, with relationships that can strengthen Code for America's positioning and partnerships

Company

Code for America

Glassdoor3.3

Government can work for the people, by the people, in the digital age. Let’s make it work for everyone.

Founded in 2009

San Francisco, California, USA

201-500 employees

https://www.codeforamerica.org/

H1B Sponsorship

Code for America has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)

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2023 (1)