Senior MEL Program Director — USG Contract Lead

Q2Impact; Washington; On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

Q2IMPACT in Washington, DC seeks a Project Director / Task Order Manager to lead the EAP MEL Platform contract execution, ensuring technical and operational performance and high-quality delivery for U.S. government clients.

The role serves as the primary Government point of contact, directing cross-functional teams, managing budgets and schedules, and ensuring compliance with security and quality standards. Position contingent on award and travel to affected posts as required.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in international development, public policy, evaluation, international affairs, public administration, or a related field.
• 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in foreign assistance, MEL, project design, evaluation, performance management, or program management.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex, multi-country USG task orders or contracts, preferably for the Department of State or other foreign affairs, diplomacy, security, or development clients.
• Experience managing demand-driven assignments, interdisciplinary technical teams, subcontractors or consultants, and rapid-response staffing for short-notice or field-based tasking.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Q2IMPACT’s primary point of contact with the COR, CO, EAP/RASP, EAP operating units, embassies, consulates, Activity Managers, and other Department stakeholders.
• Provide central management and oversight for all task order requirements, including deliverable requests, work planning, staffing, schedules, budgets, reporting cycles, quality control, and risk mitigation.
• Lead rapid, responsive planning for demand-driven assignments, including technical implementation plans, activity budgets, staffing plans, and location-specific security plans.
• Select, guide, place, and support technical experts, subject matter experts, embedded personnel, regional consultants, monitors, subcontractors, and surge staff required to carry out the task order’s technical requirements.
• Ensure all contracted tasks use consistent and transparent quality control methods and meet Department of State standards, 18 FAM 301.4 requirements, Section 508 requirements, and agreed schedules and deliverable expectations.
• Oversee delivery across the full anticipated scope of work, including strategic planning, project design, performance monitoring, evaluations, data management and analysis, training and capacity development, third-party monitoring, infrastructure support, learning, short-term technical assistance, embedded personnel, and regional support.
• Maintain strong coordination and communication systems for Washington-based and regional tasking, including clear escalation, issue resolution, and documentation of decisions, assumptions, and approvals.
• Review and approve major deliverables, reports, briefs, tools, work plans, financial reports, and client-facing products prior to submission to ensure technical soundness, responsiveness, and readiness for Government acceptance.

Skills

Contract management

Task order leadership

Client engagement

Team supervision

Written and oral communication

Security clearance

Education

Master's degree in international development or related field

10+ years foreign assistance/MEL/PM experience

Experience leading USG task orders/contracts

Experience with rapid-response staffing

Job description

Q2IMPACT in Washington, DC seeks a Project Director / Task Order Manager to lead the EAP MEL Platform contract execution, ensuring technical and operational performance and high-quality delivery for U.S. government clients.

The role serves as the primary Government point of contact, directing cross-functional teams, managing budgets and schedules, and ensuring compliance with security and quality standards. Position contingent on award and travel to affected posts as required.