Program Director

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States.

📋 Description

• Take ownership of partnership escalations and strategic direction across a portfolio of roughly four to six projects, ensuring that each project fulfills commitments to government partners, funders, and clients, while delivering high-quality outputs on time and within budget.

• Collaborate with the Partnerships team to facilitate efficient scoping and smooth transitions, including establishing clear kickoff processes and well-defined responsibilities during project initiations and handovers.

• Ensure that program staff implement consistent delivery management practices, emphasizing the establishment of clear project timelines and goals, role clarification, and appropriate meeting cadences, utilizing Code for America's best practices, tools, and processes.

• Guarantee ongoing project-level direction and strategy aligns with organizational goals, ensuring your portfolio advances mission priorities and yields measurable client outcomes.

• Collaborate with program team members, leadership, and discipline leads to ensure that each project has a clear, realistic success plan aligned with organizational objectives, partner expectations, client outcomes, and/or philanthropic commitments, and that program staff comprehend how to drive aligned progress.

• Anticipate risks, staffing requirements, and resource limitations across your portfolio; act as the primary escalation point for Associate Program Directors (APDs) and program staff, escalating to program leadership when decisions have implications beyond your authority.

• Assist APDs in maintaining clear, regular communication internally and with external stakeholders to ensure alignment on program status, scope changes, risks, and emerging opportunities.

• Work with program and resource management leadership to ensure project teams are adequately staffed from a program perspective; contribute to headcount recommendations and assist in the recruitment and onboarding of new team members.

• Ensure that APDs acting as Project Sponsors identify staffing requirements across delivery disciplines early and escalate when trade-offs or re-prioritization are necessary. Proactively notify when teams require resource adjustments to ensure effective delivery across multiple teams.

• Directly manage Associate Program Directors (APDs) and, where relevant, other Program Individual Contributors (ICs) within your portfolio; provide coaching, feedback, and development support to enhance their effectiveness as program leaders.

• Mentor and develop people managers on the team, aiding them in effectively managing their own direct reports.

• Lead goal setting, performance reviews, and regular check-ins to foster team performance, professional development, and team culture.

• Exemplify Code for America's values and operational practices within your team, establishing expectations for how program staff utilize best practices and tools, engage with partners, clients, and each other to ensure effective and efficient program delivery across your portfolio.

⛳️ Requirements

• Over 8 years of experience in program development, policy, or government service delivery, with a proven track record of increased responsibility; some experience working within or closely alongside government is required.

• Knowledge of agile or iterative program delivery methodologies, with experience collaborating with product and engineering teams.

• At least 3 years of experience managing teams, including direct management of at least one people manager.

• Demonstrated success in owning complex, multi-stakeholder program delivery — from strategy to execution — within a government, civic tech, or social sector context.

• Strong familiarity with at least one of Code for America's program areas: Safety Net benefits access (including SNAP, Medicaid, or multi-benefit enrollment), Tax programs, or Criminal Justice; ability to credibly represent Code for America's approach with government partners in that domain.

• Proven ability to establish and maintain trusted relationships with leadership from federal and state agencies, county partners, and community-based organizations across political and institutional divides.

• Comprehensive understanding of government service delivery frameworks, including the social safety net, and the policy landscape influencing program implementation.

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the capacity to present complex program and policy information clearly and succinctly to government partners, funders, and internal leadership.

• Capability to manage multiple programs simultaneously, ensuring clarity and accountability across a portfolio with competing priorities.

• Willingness to travel 15–25% of the time to partner sites, government offices, and program locations.

• A keen interest in emerging AI tools and a commitment to using them responsibly and effectively.

• A profound commitment to Code for America's mission of enhancing government services for those who need them most.

🏝️ Benefits

• A leadership team and colleagues who share a strong work ethic and values, and who respect and support one another.

• A collaborative, cross-functional, diligent, and enjoyable work environment.

• Provision of a laptop.

• A one-time payment of $700 for remote work setup; $200 stipend (included in the first paycheck) and up to $500 reimbursement, in accordance with our equipment policy.

• Monthly reimbursement of $50 for cell phone and/or internet expenses.

• An annual stipend of $500 (per calendar year) for professional development; prorated at the time of hire.

• Up to $500 of professional development funds can be carried over each year, with a maximum rollover limit of $1000.

• Training and guidance for staff required to utilize AI in their roles, along with opportunities for employees to acquire AI-related skills to support career advancement.

• Employees receive a 100% employer match on the first 3% of contributions.

• Employees with over 3 years of service receive an additional 50% match on contributions between 3% and 5%, leading to a maximum employer contribution of 5%.

• At least one no-cost health insurance option for full-time employees for individual coverage.

• A minimum of 80% coverage of dependent insurance costs.

• Code for America employees can work remotely from anywhere in the US.

• Employees' primary residence must be within the US.

• Full-time employees are expected to work 40 hours per week, from Monday to Friday.

• For collaborative working hours, we aim to schedule all internal meetings between 10 AM - 3 PM PT. All Code for America staff are expected to be available during these designated working hours.

• Open personal time off (subject to manager approval), a minimum of 14 paid holidays, and an organization-wide closure from Christmas Day through New Year's Day.

• Paid sick leave; up to 96 hours annually.

• 17 weeks of paid parental and family leave.

• 3 weeks of paid sabbatical after 5 years of service.