Director of Program Operations, CAL-WIDA Partnership

Company Description

***Please submit Cover Letter and Resume when applying**

The Center for Applied Linguistics is a nonprofit organization promoting access, equity and mutual understanding for linguistically and culturally diverse people around the world.

The mission of the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) is to promote language learning and cultural understanding by serving as a trusted source for research, resources, and policy analysis. Through its work, CAL seeks solutions to issues involving language and culture as they relate to access and equity in education and society around the globe.

The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) is located in Washington DC. This is a hybrid position, and the employee may choose to work in their preferred combination of in person at the office in a hoteling capacity, or remotely. However, this position requires regular attendance at CAL’s offices so qualified candidates must reside locally to Washington DC or be willing to relocate to the area. CAL does not compensate or reimburse candidates for relocation expenses.  

Job Description

Direct and oversee the diverse program operations related to the development, execution, and closing of the CAL-WIDA Partnership, a large and complex, annually funded contract with WIDA to develop test materials and conduct psychometric activities for WIDA’s suite of assessments.  

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

• Budget development, coordination, and monitoring (using CAL’s financial software and policies):
  • Lead project directors and managers in the development of client-facing budgets, scope formulation, and resource allocation.
  • Perform initial reviews and cost analyses for new project initiatives.
  • Coordinate and monitor budget across the various WIDA contracts, preparing routine financial reports to track revenue and expenses for all projects.
  • Draft budgets and scope narratives, oversee their submission, and manage negotiations for new and annually renewable contracts.
  • Develop and manage the internal CAL annual budget for CAL-WIDA Partnership activities.
  • Develop, implement, and manage tracking of project deliverables across functional teams of the CAL-WIDA Partnership.
  • Implement continual reviews of project processes and procedures leading to deliverables, to improve scope narratives and prevent scope creep in future iterations of project scopes.
  • Implement new systems to better track and manage procurement, tracking, and payment of consultants and contractors.

• Project planning, monitoring and program resource management:
  • Lead project directors and managers in the creation and execution of project work plans.
  • Set priorities for projects across the CAL-WIDA Partnership to ensure the efficient and effective allocation of staff and resources to meet project deliverables and deadlines.
  • Lead strategic forward planning and initiate action to ensure that needs are met for the CAL-WIDA Partnership.

• Quality Assurance, Test Security, and Compliance:
  • Ensure project adherence and compliance with established Quality Control procedures and standards.
  • Organize material and implementation of internal and external Quality Control reviews.
  • Update, direct, and manage the CAL-WIDA Partnership’s collective submissions of quality control audit-related materials and collect and manage data on CAL’s successes and shortcomings in audits to improve future submissions.
  • Monitor and update the CAL-WIDA Partnership Test Security and Archiving policy and implement systems for continual monitoring of compliance to the policy.
  • Ensure monitoring and reporting compliance of awards, expenditure of funds, and audit compliance.
  • Prepare responses to funder requests and specific reporting requirements.
  • Provide relevant information to CAL finance staff to assist proper recording of financial data.

• Administration and Policy Implementation:
  • Develop and implement management procedures to achieve the CAL-WIDA Partnership’s goals.
  • Direct internal management and staff to ensure a streamlined workflow for each aspect of the CAL-WIDA Partnership and the proper application of policies, procedures and methods.
  • Ensure that standard procedures are followed when third parties are hired and that necessary administrative, legal and test security formalities are completed.

• Coordination, Liaison, and Communication:
  • Coordinate project managers meetings and other cross-work team meetings, internally and with external partners.
  • Oversee communication with external partners and the documentation of project deliverables.