Position: Program Manager — USGS Mid-Continent Federal Science & Technical Support Services Contract Proposal
Clearance: Must pass federal background investigation (FISMA / DOI personnel screening). U.S. Citizenship
Location: Hybrid — primary on-site presence at one or more USGS Mid-Continent science centers (Madison, WI; La Crosse, WI; Middleton, WI; Jamestown, ND; Great Lakes; OH/KY/IN), with limited remote work allowed per FAR 7.108 and government approval. Occasional domestic; potential international travel in support of task orders
Role Overview
Inalab is seeking an experienced Program Manager (PM) to serve as the named Key Personnel lead for the USGS Mid-Continent IDIQ contract proposal. The PM will support non-personal science and technical services across the National Wildlife Health Center, Great Lakes Science Center, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Science Center, and Upper Midwest Water Science Center.
The PM owns end-to-end contract performance — from staffing and task order shaping through delivery, financial tracking, and client relationship management — and is the single point of accountability between contractor staff and the government. This is a high-visibility role for a federal-services PM who thrives running a multi-site, multi-discipline workforce (administrative, research, IT/sysadmin, GIS/geospatial, web/database, technical PM, and facilities support) and can translate ambiguous government requirements into priced, scoped, and resourced task orders.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in business, science, engineering, IT, or related discipline (Master's preferred).
- Minimum 8–10 years of progressive program/project management experience, with at least 5 years managing federal services contracts (IDIQ experience strongly preferred).
- Demonstrated experience as named Key Personnel on a federal contract, or equivalent prime-contractor PM responsibility.
- Working knowledge of the FAR (especially Parts 7, 15, 16, 52) and federal task order management lifecycle.
- Proven track record managing geographically distributed staff (multi-site or multi-state) across multiple skill categories.
- Experience preparing task order pricing, basis-of-estimates, and counter-proposals; comfort negotiating with Contracting Officers.
- Strong financial acumen — labor-category burn tracking, EAC/ETC analysis, ODC management, and FAR-compliant invoicing.
- Database / tracking-tool fluency sufficient to design or administer a contract personnel and task order tracking system.
- Excellent written and verbal communication; able to produce executive-level monthly status and cost reports.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. federal background investigation and complete required training (FISMA, security awareness, ethics).
Preferred Qualifications
- PMP certification (Project Management Professional) — note: PMP is required for the separate Technical Project Management labor category and is highly valued in this role.
- Prior experience supporting USGS, DOI, NOAA, USDA, EPA, or comparable science-mission civilian agency.
Key Responsibilities
Contract & Task Order Management
- Serve as the primary liaison between contractor staff and the USGS Task Order Manager (TOM) and Contracting Officer (CO); ensure contract objectives and operational requirements are met.
- Review and analyze incoming task order requirements; determine appropriate contractor support categories, level of effort, schedule, and cost; deliver written analyses to the CO and TOM.
- Participate in task order negotiations, offering counter-proposals and technical/cost justifications.
- Ensure all work is performed in accordance with contract terms, statements of work, FAR clauses, and DOI/USGS policy.
Workforce Leadership
- Recruit, hire, retain, and supervise qualified staff across nine PWS service categories: Administrative; Program Management; Research/Science; Data & Information Management; Computer Systems Administration; Geospatial Applications & Modeling; Web & Database Applications; Technical Project Management; and Facilities Support.
- Assign and supervise staff to task orders; manage employee training, career development, and performance.
- Provide information and assistance to employees on benefits, security, and safety; maintain a safe and secure on-site working environment.
Financial & Reporting Oversight
- Develop and maintain an automated tracking system for contract personnel, task orders, due dates, and financial data.
- Prepare and submit monthly status reports identifying tasks in progress/completed, hours by labor category, projected workload, and issues encountered.
- Produce monthly Performance and Cost Reports showing cumulative hours and dollars expended by labor category, remaining funding, and burn-rate forecasts; flag funding shortfalls and provide additional-funds estimates.
- Maintain financial records sufficient to substantiate charges against task orders; deliver quarterly and annual reports as required.
Operations, Quality & Compliance
- Implement and maintain standard operating procedures, security measures, and safety regulations across all sites.
- Ensure conformance with FISMA, FAR 52.245-1 (Government Property), Federal Travel Regulations, USGS Section 508, USGS Occupational Hazards & Safety (SM 445-2-H), and DOI Safety & Occupational Health Manual (DM485).
- Oversee Quality Control Program development and execution.
- Coordinate off-site task execution at secondary sites and ensure IT security requirements are satisfied for any remote performance.
- Familiarity with one or more of the contract service areas: GIS/geospatial (ArcGIS, ERDAS, GeoServer), scientific computing, hydrology/biology/geology research support, or scientific data lifecycle management.
- Experience with DOI/USGS personnel security and IT security processes.
- Experience standing up new IDIQ contracts, including transition-in, recruiting ramp, and quality control program rollout.
- Lean/Six Sigma, ITIL, or Agile credentials a plus.
Success Profile
- Calm under ambiguity — task orders arrive with limited definition and tight turnaround.
- Customer-obsessed in a federal sense: builds trust with COs, TOMs, and scientists; never lets a deliverable surprise the client.
- Hands-on operator who can write a clean status report on Friday and lead a recruiting push on Monday.
- Bias toward documentation, repeatability, and SOPs — this contract spans nine service categories and six science centers.
