Associate Director, Program Management

The Program Management team sits within the Insights division of BlueLabs. The Insights division drives high quality, innovative research and analysis across BlueLabs’ client sectors. Insights team members manage the underlying data that drives our day-to-day work, analyze and interpret data, provide strategic program insight, drive innovation across sectors, and collaborate closely with both our client and technical teams. The BlueLabs Insights practice works with non-profit, political, and private sector clients to provide them with high quality analysis to better understand the environment they operate in and inform future decision making. About the Role

Reporting to the VP of Insights, the Associate Director of Program Management is a central leadership figure responsible for shaping programmatic strategy and leading the project management team to design and implement project delivery frameworks across political, advocacy, non-profit, and commercial sectors. This leader will drive operational excellence by not only standardizing tools and frameworks but also evolving them to scale with business growth. Combining a technical understanding of research methods and product management with business acumen, this role will manage resource allocation, mitigate high-level risks, and cultivate deep relationships with cross-functional stakeholders to ensure projects meet ambitious deadlines and drive impactful results. Beyond overseeing the execution of complex public opinion surveys and data programs, the Associate Director will serve as a mentor to a team of project managers, fostering a culture of accountability and professional growth. In this position you will:

• Program execution: oversee the full lifecycle of large-scale survey research, data, and analytics programs, translating multi-layered client roadmaps into detailed project plans, timelines, and budgets. - Process optimization: design and implement standardized workflows and tools (e.g., Asana, Jira, GitHub, G-Suite) to track project performance, mitigate risks, and maintain high standards of delivery. - Cross-functional collaboration: act as the primary bridge between data science, polling, and analytics teams to remove roadblocks and ensure the rapid, smooth execution of programmatic initiatives. - Client management: serve as a key point of contact for client-stakeholders, managing internal and external project communications, aligning tasks with shifting priorities, and ensuring clear status reporting. - Team leadership: lead, mentor, and resource a team of project managers, ensuring they have the support needed to drive operational excellence across the organization. - Meeting facilitation: lead internal stand-ups and client check-ins, ensuring all meetings have clear agendas, documented action items, and accountability for next steps. - Resource management & capacity planning: monitor team bandwidth and project allocation across the division, forecasting future resource needs to prevent bottlenecks and ensure equitable workload distribution. - Strategic Operations: partner with Insights leadership to translate high-level business goals into operational realities, identifying opportunities to scale processes and improve profit margins or delivery speed. What we are seeking:

• Experience: 5-7+ years of relevant program management experience, with a track record of progressive responsibility. Must include 2+ years of people management focused on coaching, performance development, and team scaling. - Technical program management: deep experience working directly with data science, engineering, and analytics teams. Familiarity with analytical concepts, statistics, or research methods is required; an advanced degree in a related field is a plus. - Process architecture: expertise in designing and optimizing project management ecosystems (e.g., Asana, Jira, Monday). You don't just use the tools; you architect them to drive efficiency and reporting. - Change management: demonstrated success in driving the adoption of new workflows across diverse teams, navigating resistance and ensuring cultural alignment with new operational standards. - Operational execution: a proven track record of managing complex technical projects from inception to delivery, including master scheduling, resource forecasting, budgetary oversight, and proactive risk mitigation. - Cross-functional influence: the ability to negotiate and build consensus across internal teams without direct authority, particularly when balancing competing priorities between technical execution and client needs. - Communication: exceptional communication skills, with the specific ability to synthesize complex technical, statistical, or political concepts for non-technical audiences and executive stakeholders. - Work style: highly organized and self-motivated, with the judgment to operate independently in a fast-paced environment while maintaining a collaborative, solution-oriented attitude. What recruitment looks like:

We strive to hire efficiently and transparently. We expect to onboard this position in March 2026. To get there, we anticipate the successful candidate will complete three interviews (HR 15 minutes, hiring manager 45 minutes, and panel interview 60 minutes), all virtually, as well as a technical skills assessment. What We Offer:

BlueLabs offers a friendly work environment and competitive benefits package including:

• Salary:  $125,000-140,000
• Premier health, dental, and vision insurance plans
• 401K matching
• Unlimited paid time off
• Paid personal and volunteer leave
• 13 paid holidays
• 15 weeks paid parental leave
• Professional development stipend & tuition reimbursement
• Macbook Pro laptop & tech accessories
• Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) stipend for mobile device
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Supportive & collaborative culture
• Flexible working hours
• Remote friendly (within the U.S.)
• Pre-tax transportation options for commuting to our office in Washington, DC
• Lunches and snacks
• And more! At BlueLabs, we celebrate, support and thrive on differences. Not only do they benefit our services, products, and community, but most importantly, they are to the benefit of our team. Qualified people of all races, ethnicities, ages, sex, genders, sexual orientations, national origins, gender identities, marital status, religions, veterans statuses, disabilities and any other protected classes are strongly encouraged to apply. As an equal opportunity workplace and an affirmative action employer, BlueLabs is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. BlueLabs endeavors to make reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of qualified applicants with a disability unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business. If an applicant believes they require such assistance to complete the application or to participate in an interview, or has any questions or concerns, they should contact the Senior Director, People Operations. BlueLabs participates in E-verify. EEO is the Law (Link to external DOL site)

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