International Program Associate (Regional Lead)

Responsibilities

The Regional Lead (PL) works directly with client Program Managers (PM) as well as other Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) personnel contributing to implementation of the Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP) priorities. They are responsible for ensuring that client deliverables meet quality and schedule requirements. The PLs engage and collaborate with government counterparts on a broad range of activities, including project management; financial management; quality assurance; knowledge management; partner relationship management; acquisition life-cycle support; new country engagements as well as recurring and pop-up tasks.

 

PL is primarily a project management role that supports implementation of Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) priorities, acquisition plans, and facilitates collaboration across various government and A&AS teams using the Integrated Project Team (IPT) concept. The PL provides or facilitates comprehensive support to ensure the success of the assigned portfolio under the guidance of the associated PM(s). This includes planning ahead to anticipate needed actions and advice the client in advance.

 

This role requires a thorough understanding of the BTRP mission, nature of biological threats and biological threat reduction approaches, the international nonproliferation regime, and key stakeholders working in the domains of nonproliferation and global health security spanning public and animal health sectors.

 

The role requires excellent communication and teamwork skills, ability to support government clients achieve strategic objectives without losing sight of detail, ability to keep track of formal and informal taskers and deliver necessary advisory and assistance services in support of multiple, competing priorities. The PL is expected to partner with the government PMs as well as A&AS counterparts and be a reliable source of advice and assistance.

 

PLs report to the Division Lead. PLs’ primary client interfaces are the Country, Regional, Science and other government Managers within Integrated Project Teams (IPTs).

 

PLs work across government and A&AS teams to support the BTRP mission through:

• Project-based support advice and assistance: effective management of cost, schedule, and performance of awards as well as planning and execution of acquisitions.
• Ongoing operations advice and assistance: requirements definition/validation as well as all-encompassing support of country/region/program portfolios. Deliverables include the Weekly Activity Report (WAR)/DURC /Annual Report to Congress (ARC) actions, Program Management Reviews (PMRs), Metric Validation Workshop (MVW), Program Objective Memorandum (POM), Country Summaries, Program Budget Management comments, etc.
• Ad hoc tasks: hot taskers, congressional inquiries, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, emergent needs not associated with a specific project and associated tasks

 

PLs are responsible for building relationships with the government counterparts in order to effectively advise on and assist with matters related to the portfolio. PLs are required to understand the limitations and restrictions pertaining to the contractor’s role and authorities/responsibilities that qualify as an inherently government function.

 

Key responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Be familiar with and leverage the full spectrum of expertise available in the A&AS community, applying the IPT construct.
• Provide project management support for the full range of BTRP activities in the assigned portfolio, using project management best practices and approved acquisition processes.
• Facilitate regular and productive coordination and communication with relevant parties in the government-A&AS community and with external stakeholders.
  • Take notes and coordinate action items resulting from meetings.
• Provide advisory and assistant services with regards to linking activities and objectives to National Strategy, Combatant Command plans, Department of Defense (DoD), Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), CTR and BTRP priorities, and efforts of Interagency partners.
• Assist and advise government counterparts in defining requirements, formulating end states and plans to reach them, and defining project success factors.
• Assist and advise government PMs, and engage A&AS counterparts, throughout the acquisition lifecycle including but not limited to requirement validation, project idea development, acquisition planning, project initiation, execution and monitoring, and closeout.
  • Assist the client in drafting and finalizing materials related to acquisition (e.g., Initial Strategy Session worksheets, Acquisition Strategy Review Documents, M