Program Manager, Workforce Development ($80,000 – $105,000, based on experience)

Opportunity Consulting; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 105,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid schedule

Healthcare benefits

Sick leave

Life insurance

401K company match

Professional learning and development

Mentorship and coaching

Conferences and industry events

Job summary

Opportunity Works is seeking a Program Manager, Workforce Development to lead and scale our youth and adult workforce programs in the Washington, DC area. You will oversee program operations, partnerships, and data-informed delivery to advance participant outcomes.

You’ll translate scope into implementation plans, supervise staff and contractors, and ensure alignment with funder requirements and organizational goals. This role blends program design with hands-on execution.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required or equivalent professional experience.
• Minimum 5 years of progressively responsible experience in workforce development or related fields.
• Experience managing direct-service or training programs with defined deliverables, compliance, and reporting requirements.
• Experience supervising staff and/or managing contractors.
• Ability to build and sustain employer, community, or public-sector partnerships.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day implementation of workforce development programs serving youth and adults.
• Translate grant requirements and program designs into detailed implementation plans, timelines, and deliverables.
• Coordinate calendars, staffing, facilities, materials, technology, and resources for successful implementation.
• Manage multiple programs and cohorts, keeping projects on time and meeting performance goals.
• Oversee participant recruitment, enrollment, onboarding, attendance, credential attainment, and employment outcomes.
• Recruit, onboard, and support instructors, case managers, and contractors; observe delivery and provide feedback.
• Monitor documentation, prepare timely reports for funders and leadership; maintain compliance and QA.

Skills

Program management

Stakeholder engagement

Team leadership

Data analysis

Budgeting & reporting

Process improvement

Education

Bachelor's degree in Social Work, Public Administration, Human Services, Education, Business, Workforce Development, or related field

Tools

Google Workspace

Microsoft Office

Job description

Program Manager, Workforce Development

Location: Washington, DC

Salary range: $80,000 – $105,000, based on experience (new hires will most likely start in the lower half of this range)

Position Type: Full-time

Included Benefits: Hybrid schedule, healthcare benefits, sick leave, life insurance, 401K company match, professional learning and development opportunities, mentorship and coaching, and opportunities to attend conferences and industry events.

Opportunity Works, a DBA of IBG Consulting Group, designs and delivers workforce development programs that help youth and adults build skills, earn credentials, connect to employment, and advance toward greater economic mobility. Our work brings together training, career preparation, employer engagement, participant support, and strong program implementation to create meaningful pathways to opportunity.

We partner with government agencies, employers, community organizations, educators, and other stakeholders to design and operate programs responsive to the needs of both participants and the labor market. Our programs may serve young people preparing for their first work experiences, adults seeking new skills or credentials, or individuals navigating transitions into new careers. Across that work, we value equity, practical impact, continuous improvement, and a deep commitment to the people we serve. We believe strong workforce programs require more than good training. They require thoughtful program design, high-quality instructors and staff, effective employer relationships, strong operations, meaningful participant support, and consistent attention to outcomes.

That means no two days look quite the same. One day our team might be preparing to launch a new training cohort; another, troubleshooting participant barriers, coaching an instructor, meeting with an employer partner, reviewing attendance and outcomes data, preparing a funder report, or improving a program model based on what we're learning.

About the Role

We're looking for an experienced Program Manager, Workforce Development to lead the implementation of workforce development programs serving youth and adult populations. This role is the operational hub for our direct-service programs and is designed for someone who can take ownership of both the big picture and the many details required to deliver high-quality programming.

You’ll oversee established programs while also helping to launch new programs. That may mean developing program infrastructure, translating a scope of work into an implementation plan, recruiting participants, supervising contractors, building employer partnerships, monitoring performance, and ensuring that programs meet funder requirements.

We're a tech-savvy team that is constantly looking for smarter and more effective ways to work. You’ll have opportunities to use and strengthen tools for participant and outcome tracking, project management, social media, employer engagement, and program operations. We're also increasingly exploring how AI can strengthen program design, analysis, communications, training development, and day-to-day operations. We expect our team to be curious and experimental with new technology while pairing it with strong judgment, established best practices, and company policies for responsible use.

What You’ll Do

Program Management & Implementation

Lead the day-to-day implementation of workforce development programs serving youth and adult populations

Translate grant requirements, scopes of work, program designs, and organizational goals into detailed implementation plans, timelines, workflows, and deliverables

Coordinate program calendars, training schedules, staffing plans, facilities, materials, technology, and other resources needed for successful implementation

Manage multiple programs, cohorts, or workstreams simultaneously and keep projects moving against deadlines and performance goals

Participant Experience & Outcomes

Oversee participant recruitment, enrollment, onboarding, attendance, engagement, completion, credential attainment, and employment-related outcomes

Work with case managers, instructors, and partners to address participant needs and connect individuals with appropriate resources and supports

Review participant feedback and performance data to identify opportunities to strengthen program design and delivery

Maintain a strong focus on measurable outcomes, including completion, credentials, job placement, retention, and other funder-defined performance measures

Staff & Contractor Management

Recruit, onboard, and support instructors, case managers, facilitators, and other program staff and contractors

Observe program delivery and provide actionable feedback to instructors and facilitators

Ensure staff and contractors have the information, tools, materials, and support they need to succeed.

Compliance, Reporting & Quality Assurance

Monitor documentation for completeness, accuracy, and timeliness

Prepare and submit timely programmatic reports and other required documentation to funders and organizational leadership

Maintain organized, accurate, and monitoring-ready program records

Employer & Partner Engagement

Cultivate and manage a pipeline of employer partners to create job placement, work-based learning, apprenticeship, internship, and career exposure opportunities for participants

Maintain productive relationships with government agencies, workforce organizations, community-based organizations, educational institutions, and other partners

Represent Opportunity Works professionally at community convenings, industry events, partner meetings, and funder meetings

Identify opportunities for new partnerships that strengthen participant outcomes or expand programming

Develop and oversee participant outreach and recruitment strategies to meet program enrollment goals

Collaborate on program materials, recruitment collateral, social media content, newsletters, success stories, and impact reports

Create, coordinate, and schedule social media content across relevant platforms, working with staff and contractors to capture photos, videos, participant stories, and other content from program activities

Serve as an organizational representative for direct-service programs with participants, families, partners, and community stakeholders

Use program data, participant feedback, staff observations, and employer input to identify opportunities for improvement

Document lessons learned and translate them into changes to program design, systems, and implementation

Research workforce trends, promising practices, credentials, training models, and industry needs relevant to current and future programming

Support grant proposals and new business efforts by contributing program models, implementation plans, data, narratives, budgets, and partner commitments

Who You Are

We're looking for someone who is entrepreneurial, highly organized, grounded, and genuinely excited about helping people connect to education, training, careers, and economic opportunity.

Mission-aligned. You care about workforce development, economic mobility, education, youth development, and creating meaningful pathways to employment

An implementer. You don't just develop plans. You enjoy turning plans into programs, building the infrastructure underneath them, and seeing the work through

Comfortable with ambiguity. You don't need every detail fully defined before you start. You can take a goal or scope of work, figure out what needs to happen, and build a path forward

Proactive. You anticipate what might be needed next and address problems before they become crises.

A resourceful problem-solver. You make a thoughtful effort to work through challenges independently, use the resources available to you, and exercise good judgment about when to bring others in

Willing to absorb the unglamorous work. You understand that successful programs are built on details, and you're willing to jump into logistics, data, participant issues, materials, or other hands‑on work when necessary

A relationship builder. You're comfortable developing authentic relationships with employers, government partners, community organizations, participants, and other stakeholders

Highly organized and detail-oriented. You can manage multiple programs, deadlines, people, partners, deliverables, and participant needs without losing track of what matters

A strong communicator. You communicate clearly and professionally with participants, staff, contractors, employers, funders, and community partners

Tech‑savvy. You learn new tools and systems quickly and look for ways technology can improve program operations and outcomes

An active learner. You're comfortable digging into unfamiliar industries, credentials, workforce trends, funder requirements, and program models and building expertise over time

Adaptable across altitude. You can move between strategic planning, partner meetings, data review, participant problem-solving, and hands‑on implementation throughout the day

Requirements

Able to work in the DC office with a set schedule and travel locally to program sites, employer locations, and community events, as needed

Availability for occasional evening and weekend program activities

Bachelor's degree in Social Work, Public Administration, Human Services, Education, Business, Workforce Development, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience

Minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience in workforce development, human services, education, youth development, nonprofit direct service, or a related field

Demonstrated experience managing direct-service or training programs with defined deliverables, compliance requirements, and reporting obligations

Experience supervising staff and/or managing contractors

Demonstrated ability to build and sustain employer, community, or public-sector partnerships.

Comfort with digital productivity, data, and collaboration tools, including Google Workspace and Microsoft Office; willingness and ability to quickly learn new systems

Strongly Preferred:

Experience using social media and digital communications to support program recruitment, community engagement, employer outreach, or organizational visibility; comfort creating and coordinating basic digital content is strongly preferred

Experience developing or delivering workforce development training for youth or adults is strongly preferred

Experience with workforce development programs funded through WIOA, the U.S. Department of Labor, DC government, or other public workforce systems is a plus

Experience launching or scaling a new program is strongly preferred

Bilingual proficiency, particularly English/Spanish or another language commonly spoken by program participants, is a plus

Growth Path

This is a role for someone who wants to manage and support high-quality workforce development programs in a growing organization. We're looking for someone who can take increasing ownership of program design, implementation, employer partnerships, and performance as our direct-service work develops. Strong performance can lead to responsibility for a larger portfolio of programs, staff and contractors, employer and community partnerships, and new program development. The Program Manager will also have opportunities to contribute to the evolution of Opportunity Works' workforce development models and help shape how successful programs grow and scale over time.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Opportunity Consulting does not provide employment-based immigration sponsorships for this position.