WHAT DOES A DEPUTY PROGRAM MANAGER DO?
Published: Oct 14, 2024 - The Deputy Program Manager orchestrates the monthly business rhythm, overseeing variance analysis, forecasting, and scheduling, while ensuring adherence to compliance standards through rigorous schedule reviews. This role supports key program reviews and serves as the Level 1 WBS Manager for hardware and tooling on production contracts, enhancing data integrity and project delivery. Additionally, responsibilities include leading Integrated Baseline Reviews, managing risks, and representing the Program Management Office in customer and internal reviews, driving continuous improvement in program management processes.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Deputy Program Manager
1. Deputy Program Manager Duties
- Project Management: Provide expert project management to assist with program and research coordination of multiple sites, projects, and complex issues, including 16 sites throughout the United States and overseas.
- Compliance Management: Ensure full compliance with the contract, budget, and schedule requirements.
- Administrative Oversight: Provide on-site administrative assistance to the PM for oversight of contract personnel, including pay, promotions, leave, work hours, conflict resolution, work performance, and disciplinary actions.
- Recruitment Coordination: Coordinate hiring of new contractors and serve as a key resource for all contract personnel.
- Collaboration: Collaborate with the government to hire personnel who meet the research project and mission objectives.
- Budget Tracking: Support budget tracking and ensure that financial obligations follow approved budgets.
- Reporting: Ensure timely preparation and delivery of summaries, and regularly scheduled and ad hoc reports for TBICoE leadership and others.
- Risk Management: Identify and evaluate potential risks to research goals and mission, offering solutions.
- Operational Improvement: Provide advice on manpower utilization, workflow, and operational procedures to increase efficiency, productivity, and overall program improvement.
- Documentation: Draft requests for actions, proposals, and other project-related activities.
- Market Analysis: Support leadership in understanding market trends and the technical direction of the DOS, translating customer intelligence into compelling capture strategies and solutions.
- Mission Understanding: Possess and leverage a mission understanding of the DOS’ needs and objectives.
- Program Monitoring: Support monitoring the program and ensure it is meeting predetermined objectives.
- Customer Relationship Management: Manage customer relationships and opportunity tracking, with experience in a variety of contract types.
2. Deputy Program Manager Details
- Program Management: Provide program management in support of program work scope activities.
- Quality Assurance: Learn and understand organization processes and procedures, and implement the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP). Oversee the development and maintenance of Standard Operating Procedures.
- Process Improvement: Drive process improvements to increase overall efficiency and reduce costs in meeting the mission needs of the organization and its stakeholders.
- Complex Problem Solving: Resolve the complexities and difficulties that are characteristic of operating a large-scale information warehouse, where information is captured and translated between different media.
- Performance Management: Establish a flexible, transparent, and responsive performance management information system that provides insightful, accurate, and timely information and data on program status and performance reporting.
- Decision Making: Make decisions based on full consideration of the organization’s business processes, functional requirements, and economic and technical feasibility to produce the desired project outcomes.
- Resource Coordination: Work in coordination with the Program Manager and Task Managers to prioritize multiple initiatives and tasks, and effectively utilize resources to meet deliverables.
- Staff Training: Provide sufficiently trained staff to perform the requirements of this contract.
- Employee Incentives: Establish appropriate and effective employee incentives that maximize performance.
- Reporting: Provide detailed oral and written reports as needed.
- Customer Service: Ensure organization needs are met in a courteous and professional manner.
- Regulatory Compliance: Comply with all applicable regulations, policies, and procedures.
3. Deputy Program Manager Responsibilities
- Executive Communication: Prepare and present executive-level briefings to business leadership teams, senior executives, internal and external customers.
- Financial Planning: Accountable for financial forecasting and planning activities, including AOP and EAC reviews.
- Vision Development: Create the vision for the program organization.
- Process Implementation: Implement EVMS, Risk and Opportunity, and other primary program processes.
- Subcontractor Management: Manage subcontractor relationships and ensure stellar subcontract performance.
- Customer Solutions: Work with cross-functional and multi-company teams to translate customer needs and technology trends into solution definitions that provide customers with a flexible, cost-effective staffing and technical framework.
- Strategic Leadership: Provide strategic leadership to the program and other matrixed functional leadership responsible for day-to-day execution of the program.
- Milestone Achievement: Partner with businesses, mission areas, and functional leaders to successfully execute and achieve all program milestones.
- International Interface: Interface with external, international customers in the execution of all aspects of the program.
- Project Management: Provide expert program and project management support to ensure technical, cost, schedule, staffing, and performance meet and exceed customer expectations.
- Reporting: Provide ongoing formal and ad hoc reporting for contract deliverables.
- Documentation Management: Develop and maintain all required program management documentation, including plans, requirements, schedules, rosters, and related artifacts to GDIT and client expectations.
- Staff Management: Support staff management for cross-functional teams, including hiring, performance management, and day-to-day contract operations.
- Stakeholder Communication: Support clear and transparent communications across diverse stakeholder groups and project teams.
4. Deputy Program Manager Job Summary
- Business Management: Manage and execute the monthly business rhythm, working with CAMs and analysts to complete variance analysis, forecasting, EAC analysis, scheduling, and customer reporting.
- Data Analysis: Lead schedule reviews to ensure quality data analysis, schedule management, and adherence to compliance standards.
- Program Review Support: Support program reviews, including Comprehensive EAC Reviews, Schedule Risk Assessments, and production status meetings.
- WBS Management: Serve as Level 1 WBS Manager for hardware and tooling on production contracts.
- EAC Approval: Review and approve monthly EACs and top drivers.
- EVMS Guidance: Provide EVMS guidance to CAMs with data analysis, forecasting, variance reports, and cost/schedule management.
- Risk Management: Support the Program Manager at Risk Review Meetings and disposition risks/opportunities on production contracts.
- Customer Representation: Represent the PMO at monthly customer reviews, providing a comprehensive view of the program data and analysis.
- Quarterly Reviews: Lead quarterly EAC reviews for production hardware.
- Baseline Reviews: Lead Integrated Baseline Reviews with customers and DCMA.
- Team Collaboration: Collaborate with Program Management Teams across the F135 program.
- Performance Tracking: Track performance to the monthly business rhythm and drive continuous improvement in EVMS tools and processes.
- Risk Tracking: Identify, manage, and track risks through resolution.
- Compliance Assurance: Ensure project deliverables adhere to appropriate government and regulatory compliance requirements.
5. Deputy Program Manager Accountabilities
- Operational Support: Assist the Program Manager in managing the operations and performance of the contract supporting the Defense Information Systems Agency, ensuring the timelines, deliverables, and quality standards of all activities are achieved.
- Contract Execution: Overall execution of the contract, including the specific task order.
- Program Oversight: Oversee the execution of all contractual and technical aspects of the program.
- Technical Implementation: Ensure that the technical solutions and schedules in the specific delivery orders are implemented according to program schedules.
- Liaison Management: Serve as a liaison between the contract team, Government customers, and ManTech leadership.
- Project Coordination: Organize, direct, and coordinate the planning and execution of all activities associated with assigned delivery order projects.
- Communication Skills: Demonstrate competent writing and oral communication skills.
- Quality Assurance: Provide quality assurance and implement quality controls to minimize or eliminate defects.
- Milestone Management: Ensure that program milestones and goals are met and adhere to specific policies and procedures.
- Team Development: Manage, develop, and provide feedback to subordinates per corporate-directed timelines, focusing on performance and long-term career goals.
- Customer Support: Provide support to a wide array of customers as part of a complex team of multiple contractors and government personnel.
- Proposal Management: Participate in and manage the preparation of proposals in response to RFPs from potential customers.