Thomas and Reed, LLC is a consulting firm in Indianapolis, IN with focus on Government Contracting. We are currently searching for a Program Manager to join the Team at the Rural Export Center in Fargo, ND.
The Program Manager shall work to promote the services of the REC to USCS Trade Specialists, State Trade Offices, District Export Councils, and other stakeholders, so that rural companies in the United States are aware of the service and enlist the REC for assistance. The Program Manager and REC Analysts and Assistants shall support the REC Director in responding to relevant requests from ITA leadership, USCS clients and external stakeholders REC. The Program Manager shall conduct training of Market Research Analysts and Assistants in accordance with procedure manuals, templates, and training documents. The Program Manager shall oversee and assist with the completion of research reports that the Market Research Analysts and Market Research Assistants develop, to ensure high quality and timely delivery of reports according to the schedule established with clients. The Program Manager shall ensure that training seminars and webinars with actionable and timely content are available to rural companies, with planning and scheduling closely coordinated with Trade Specialists from around the United States. The Program Manager shall perform and direct the following tasks:
Promotion of Services:
- Shall promote the services of the REC to Rural Team members, Trade Specialists, State Trade Offices, District Export Councils and other stakeholders via phone calls, videoconferencing, and emails, so that there are a sufficient number of research requests to maintain a full workload for all REC contractors.
- Shall maintain the Trade Specialist Guide to ensure US CS Trade Specialists have clear guidelines on the services of the REC. Any edits to the Trade Specialist Guide must be approved by the REC Director.
Oversee Research Quality and Activity:
- Oversee the status and research quality of market research reports being completed by the Market Research Analysts and Market Research Assistants.
- Shall use and train staff to use project management techniques, high-quality REC approved and other research tools (including those in the Common Data Platform) and effective communication strategies with the clients.
Oversee Documentation of Operations:
- Oversee the maintenance of a Works in Progress (WIP) project tracking document for REC Research Reports, Website Globalization Reviews, and client training. The fields in the WIP will be determined by the REC Director.
Maintenance of Training Materials:
- Shall oversee the maintenance of procedure manuals, templates, and training documents to ensure consistency of onboarding, systems access, work, communication and reports for the Market Research Analysts and Assistants. Training materials shall be approved by the REC Director prior to being used whether for contract staff or interns. The Market Research Manager shall confirm that new contractors and interns fully comprehend the research methodologies through a mentor / check-in / oversight system approved by the REC Director.
Deliver Research Results:
- Shall participate in meetings with clients and include / invite the local USCS Trade Specialist and REC Director to the client meetings including the introductory discussion, the matrix criteria discussion, the results of the matrix analysis discussion, the polling results discussion, and the final project review discussion ensuring that research findings are clear, actionable and that they incorporate U.S. Commercial Service programs, events and services.
- Coordinate with local USCS Trade Specialists and the REC Director to invite the Congressional offices to participate in final research presentations to clients.
Record Counseling Interactions in Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) and Folder System:
- Responsible for working with local USCS Trade Specialists to ensure that REC Cases are recorded in the client management system (CRM), presently Salesforce, and the client folder system, so that all CS staff have visibility into the activities.
- Record or ensure that staff record details of client interactions in a document known as coaching notes including the names of participants in discussions, dates, specific research requests the client stated, intervention strategies discussed conference calls, research updates from overseas USCS colleagues around the world, matrix findings, outcomes, client feedback and future actions the client may take as a result of the research.
Coordinate Weekly and Monthly Status Meetings:
- Shall coordinate a call at least once a week including all contractors and interns to brief the REC Director on the status of research projects.
- Shall also coordinate a call at least once a month with the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), Contractor management and the REC Director. The Market Research Manager will record and publish meeting minutes from these monthly meetings which will include meeting discussions, issues, and follow-up actions with assignments and timing.
Evaluate and Recommend Additional New Data Tools:
- Continually seek out additional new data tools and research databases that are useful to include in the current suite of research tools being used to generate reports. Examples of these tools may include buyer details, granular industry research updates, trade data, etc.
- Advise on the effectiveness and frequency of use of databases to which the REC has a subscription, whether as part of the International Trade Administration’s Common Data Platform or as a standalone subscription.
Evaluate and Advise on Burn Rate, Research Efficiency and Staffing:
- Work with the Contractor management and COR to monitor the contract burn rate, to record hours following the agreed upon format and provide weekly activity reports.
- Ensure contractors are utilizing the Contractor’s time tracking system and shall send a weekly report detailing each contractor’s start time, activities, time tracking and end times for each contractor each day.
- Assess quarterly the number of hours taken to complete reports and determine what efficiencies are needed to further streamline the report drafting. Results of the assessment will be shared with the REC Director.
Hiring and performance management:
- Shall be a key part of the recruiting and hiring process for new full-time and part-time contractors; and shall advise on critical staffing situations and needs. When deficiencies or issues arise with staff, the Program Manager shall report them to key government and Contractor leadership and work together to resolve them.
- Shall keep the REC Director and COR apprised of developments with candidates and hiring and provide an onboarding schedule for all new hires. Contractor management shall manage onboarding documentation and security documentation requests for all applicants and provide the REC Director the opportunity to join a ‘Meet & Greet’ prior to final hiring decisions.
Administrative Oversight:
- Ensure that government property that is issued to REC contractors is properly tracked in a mutually accessible inventory tracking spreadsheet that documents location, Commerce Department (CD) number, the name of the person responsible for the equipment, and other key details tracked in the GM inventory management system.
Working with Interns:
- Shall periodically have access to interns who are referred and managed by the REC Director.
- Support the work of the interns while they are working on REC projects in the following ways upon request by the U.S. Commercial Service: scheduling interviews of candidates once they have been identified by the U.S. Commercial Service, taking notes during interviews, providing interns training on the tools, standards and processes used by the REC, interpreting research assignments provided by the U.S. Commercial Service, providing feedback and assisting in reviewing interns’ drafts of documents during the research and writing phase, including interns in meetings where research projects and methods are being discussed.
Promote Exporter Training Classes:
- On a monthly basis, the Program Manager shall communicate via meetings, video conferencing, emails or phone calls the value, content and schedule of exporter training classes offered by the REC to Rural Team members, partners, Trade Specialists and/or Global Team members.
- On a monthly basis, shall propose the adequate number of exporter training sessions needed per month to maintain a full workload for REC staff in close coordination with the REC Director. The number of exporter training sessions will be based on demands for REC Research Reports, which is the primary focus of the REC.
- Shall communicate in writing potential exporter trainings to the REC Director prior to scheduling them to ensure priority regions and partners are aligned with the needs of the program.
Coordinate the Planning and Scheduling of Exporter Training Classes:
- Work with Trade Specialists stationed in areas proximate to rural regions to coordinate, schedule, plan and deliver exporter trainings in Website Globalization, e-Commerce, Market Research, and other topics developed by the REC or specialized CS subject matter experts.
- Shall deliver the exporter training along with the Market Research Analysts and local Trade Specialists.
- Provide current event planning tools to the local Trade Specialist to facilitate effective and efficient event planning for the classes being coordinated through the REC.
Develop Additional Training Content:
- As needed, work with Trade Specialists, REC contractors and subject matter experts including using the resources of the eCommerce Innovation Lab to develop new training programs with a focus on a rural audience.
Client Follow Up:
- The Program Manager or one of the Market Research Analysts under the Manager’s oversight shall schedule follow-up discussions with clients within 90 days of project completion, with periodic additional follow-up on an as-needed basis, until the project either records a Written Impact Narrative (WIN) in the CRM (Salesforce) or is de-activated by the U.S. Commercial Service.
- Incorporate lessons learned and continuous improvement into the market research design and delivery process. The goal of follow-up is to provide high quality client service and identify Written Impact Narratives (WINs) that can be captured to understand and demonstrate the impacts of the program.
Reporting:
- Ensure that projects and trainings are being logged on a daily basis in the WIP document; and will use that data to assist the REC Director in the creation of tracking dashboards and reports. Key indicators to track include number of clients assisted, number of inquiries received, number of prospects, conversion rate of prospects to paid clients, number of REC reports in progress, number of REC reports completed, number of companies assisted, number of industries, types of reports being booked, number of countries researched, names of countries most often chosen, total revenue, number of Website Globalization Reviews in progress, number of Website Globalization Reviews completed, number of states assisted (total and annual), number of new states in the past year, number of Congressional offices engaged, number of client testimonials, number of CS services booked and number of REC and WGR related Written Impact Narratives.
Training for Contractors and Professional Development:
- When contractors need additional training or professional development related to their day-to-day work, the costs of such training should be at the expense of the Contractor. These training topics include, but are not limited to, website analytics tactics, business writing, market research tactics and project management.
Qualifications
- At least 3 years of management experience, preferably including completing research projects and supervising research staff.
- Excellent analytical and written communication skills
- Proficient in advanced Excel
- Proven track record in business development
- Experience leading seminars geared toward business owners, with proven track record of delivering high-quality oral presentations and experience with adult instructional methods.
- Must be comfortable operating in rural environments working with a rural client base.
- Preference to have private sector experience, including private sector exporting experience.
- Be able to work independently on tasks
- A Bachelor’s degree in business or economics, Master’s degree preferred.
- Minium of five (5) years of related experience
- Must be a U.S. Citizen
- Must be able to pass a Public Trust background investigation
