The Program Operations Manager of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (the Foundation) is a key position responsible for daily coordination and administration of all operations of assigned portfolio of Foundation programs in the Conservation & Science mission areas.
The Program Operations Manager will work closely with the Foundation’s staff as well as federal partners in the National Marine Sanctuary System to operationalize project work and provide detailed review and sustained analysis for programs and projects under their portfolio, including managing applications and review processes for grant and contract awards made by the Foundation.
This position supports the project management of programs funded by both non-federal awards and federal financial assistance awards, including cooperative work with various offices in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other federal agencies. The Program Operations Manager supports the operational management and monitors the pace of completion of not just federally funded projects, but dozens of privately supported programs, and programs fiscally sponsored by the Foundation.
The Program Operations Manager for Conservation & Science is expected to troubleshoot program implementation issues, as well as manage the tracking of funds, including developing and executing spending priorities for several funded projects. They are the point of contact for technical program managers and other staff on program implementation and communicate guidance on compliance and procurement. The Program Operations Manager will co-administer the Foundation’s project and award management database to enhance efficiency of workflow throughout programs.
The Program Operations Manager will join an existing team in the Foundation’s Program Operations Division that currently includes two other Program Operations Managers, two Program Operations Coordinators, an HR Generalist, and an HR Assistant. The Program Operations Team is part of a larger team of approximately 75 employees nationwide.
The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation is committed to a culture of inclusion, equity, and belonging. We are dedicated to attracting and retaining a diverse staff. We honor experiences, perspectives, and unique identities, and welcome the contributions that you can bring to the dedicated team. With a diverse team of employees, we can grow and learn better together and achieve our mission to protect the ocean's health, coasts and Great Lakes for current and future generations.
What You’ll Do:
Program and Award Management
- Monitor award spending and address deviations from spending plans, including monthly reconciliations.
- Develop positive relationships and host check-in meetings with program managers and field liaisons to help facilitate program implementation and foster progress toward project completion according to planned timelines and budgetary goals.
- Monitor subrecipients for compliance within their implementation and reporting.
- Maintain calendar and provide content for bi-annual federal award reports or private funder reports, working with Vice President or Director of Development as needed in report generation and extension requests to funders.
- Work with Finance Team and Development Team to assign appropriate and consistent financial details and tracking information for incoming funds, and work with these teams to finalize closeout of incoming fund awards, including equipment or inventory disposition reports as needed.
- Lead internal kick-off meeting for incoming awards to review funded programs in detail and delegate responsibilities, and initiate set up in systems and calendars.
- Help identify cross-functional opportunities between internal departments including federal partner programs, conservation funded programs, and privately funded programs.
- Identify and develop strategies and techniques to optimize project administration process.
- Keep staff informed about upcoming deadlines and deliverables.
Program Implementation
- Ensure program implementation is compliant with the Foundation’s policies and procedures and aligns with the strategic plan. Supervise procurement, logistics, and administration, and coordinate across divisions and teams as needed to ensure operational support systems including spend plans and metrics for all field activities under portfolio.
- Develop and generate Statements of Work (SOWs), No-Cost Extensions (NCE), selection memos, and agreements for outgoing grants and contracts. Guide these awards through compliance.
- Act as primary point of contact with grantees, contractors, and subrecipients, maintaining positive awardee relationships and troubleshooting issues; develop and track agreement details; conduct risk check-ins as may be required by internal determination. Coordinate with grantees for timely submission of financial and narrative progress reports.
- Support proposal development process and/or renewals for federal and private award opportunities and write budget modifications as may be needed for received awards to address project needs and timelines.
- Coordinate application process for public and invitational competitive grant programs, including acting as liaison for applicants, preparing materials for reviewers, and coordinating with selected awardees.
- Connect communications staff with content generated by grantees, and impact analysis results, for potential use in public communications including social media, web content, and printed publications.
- Increase collaboration, learning, and adapting (CLA) by playing a key role in the implementation of the Foundation’s new project management database, including training new users, setting up programs/projects as they are initiated, identifying new needs and efficiencies, and working with the database platform tech support.
- Work on special projects that align with organizational, departmental, and project related goals.
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning
- Track and analyze reported results from grantees and contractors using project management database.
- Influence and provide support for annual budget process in relationship to funded projects in portfolio.
- Support coordination with relevant programs and foster growth by recommending to senior leadership partnership and leadership opportunities aligned with strategic goals and objectives.
- Support the evaluation of personnel capacity for programs, staff hours applied to different grants, and provide recommendations that support growth.
- Incorporate program evaluation and lessons learned into future workplans for similar programs.
- Conduct any necessary monitoring and site visits, regular phone/video-conference check ins, and internal document audits of programs and projects in the portfolio.
Compliance & Knowledge Management
- Keep up-to-date with OMB and agency-specific federal financial assistance award procedures and review and update federal award compliance guidance and procedures documents as needed.
- Submit FFATA reports for federal subaward agreements that are part of portfolio.
- Review invoices, agreements, and other field documentation to ensure compliance.
- Work with the project teams to ensure proper document collection and storage.
- Support and help finance team with audit; conduct internal audits of external and internal award documentation throughout the year to ensure the Foundation is audit-ready at all times.
- Work with finance team on procurement standards for vendors and risk/monitoring review for subrecipients, in compliance with federal award and internal policies.
- Support systems and procedures transitions within the Foundation and with partners, contractors, and field liaisons, disseminating new information on a technical, operational, or a tool enhancement to the staff on a periodic basis.
- Identify needs among the staff related to technology, compliance, procurement, etc., and implement solutions.
Supervisory
- Supervise Foundation project employees working in partner agency locations.
- Foster a culture of inclusion and belonging.
- Assist in the development of annual SMARTIE performance and professional development goals, support and monitor progress towards goals, and conduct annual performance evaluations.
- Approve travel requests, timecards, and time off requests.
Who You Are:
You are a collaborative team player with a keen interest in supporting conservation and science projects taking place in the National Marine Sanctuary System. You show meticulous attention to detail, and are flexible and adaptable, working with a variety of teams, people, and geographies to accomplish project work. You are a key team member in the Program Operations Division who builds positive working relationships with the Foundation’s Conservation team, Finance team, and partner organizations to accomplish your work.
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree and at least 3–5 years of experience in grant administration and/or project management, or 5 years minimum experience in lieu of degree.
- Experience working with grant programs; experience with federal financial assistance award Uniform Guidance compliance and procurement preferred
- Experience with basic financial management including developing and monitoring budgets and financial reports.
- Ability to perform in a cross-functional team approach and job responsibilities.
- Strong organizational skills, with ability to prioritize work, meet deadlines, and produce quality results with attention to detail.
- Personable in-person and phone demeanor, diplomatic disposition balanced with ability to defend positions and policies.
- Fluency in computer software programs (i.e., Microsoft 365, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and databases) required.
- Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing; experience producing reports and proposals.
- A sincere interest in, and commitment to, our mission.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience managing database programs (work on SmartSimple platforms beneficial) as well as intermediate-advanced Excel spreadsheet capabilities are preferred.
- Some familiarity with government partnership programs helpful.
