SME HR Specialist

Think Consulting; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Think Consulting in Washington, DC seeks an experienced Subject Matter Expert (SME) in Human Resources & Workforce Management to lead personnel management, workforce planning, onboarding, and staffing operations for a large federal modernization program. You will own workforce accountability and reporting across contractor, civilian, and military personnel in both classified and unclassified environments.

The ideal candidate holds an active TS/SCI clearance, a Bachelor’s degree with 12+ years of

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; 12+ years in HR, workforce planning, or related fields.
• PMP certification and experience with government or defense programs preferred.
• Proven ability to manage workforce accountability, readiness, and staffing for multi-component teams.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain workforce management plans with staffing projections.
• Provide workforce reports on readiness, vacancies, and hiring priorities.
• Oversee end-to-end onboarding, security processing, and program orientation.
• Manage offboarding, backfill planning, and personnel transitions.
• Brief senior leaders on workforce status, risks, and actions.

Skills

Leadership

Staff management

Strategic planning

Executive briefing

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree preferred

PMP certification

Tools

Jira

Confluence

ServiceNow

Job description

On-site M-F in Washington DC Active TS/SCI Clearance Required Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Subject Matter Expert (SME) Human Resources & Workforce Management Specialist to lead personnel management, workforce planning, and staffing operations for a large-scale federal modernization program. This individual will serve as the central authority for workforce accountability, staffing readiness, onboarding, offboarding, and personnel reporting across a diverse team of contractor, military, and government personnel operating in both classified and unclassified environments.

The ideal candidate will provide leadership with a clear, real-time understanding of workforce capacity, staffing risks, hiring pipelines, personnel readiness, and future workforce requirements. This role will work closely with security, recruiting, program management, and project leadership teams to ensure staffing remains aligned with mission objectives and program schedules.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain a comprehensive workforce management plan that tracks positions, labor categories, skill levels, clearance requirements, staffing status, and projected arrivals and departures.
• Provide recurring workforce and staffing reports to program leadership, highlighting personnel readiness, vacancies, staffing trends, and hiring priorities.
• Manage end-to-end onboarding activities for incoming personnel, coordinating security processing, start dates, workspace readiness, account provisioning, required training, and program orientation.
• Track personnel from offer acceptance through full operational readiness and successful integration into the program.
• Oversee offboarding activities, including transition planning, account and access termination coordination, knowledge transfer requirements, and backfill planning.
• Maintain workforce accountability and readiness metrics including:
  • Fill rates
  • Time-to-fill performance
  • Clearance processing pipeline status
  • Attrition trends
  • Staffing forecasts and gap analysis
• Identify workforce risks and recommend mitigation strategies to maintain program execution schedules.
• Serve as the primary liaison between program leadership, human resources, talent acquisition teams, and operational stakeholders regarding staffing actions, requisitions, workforce planning, and labor category alignment.
• Coordinate personnel actions for contractor, civilian, and military personnel, including onboarding, transitions, assignments, personnel tracking, leave management, and workforce reporting activities.
• Maintain training, certification, and workforce compliance records, ensuring personnel remain qualified and authorized to perform assigned duties.
• Develop and enforce workforce management standard operating procedures (SOPs), recordkeeping processes, and personnel governance standards.
• Support strategic workforce planning by translating project schedules and mission requirements into future staffing forecasts and hiring plans.
• Brief senior leaders on workforce status, staffing challenges, hiring priorities, readiness indicators, and recommended actions.

Required Qualifications

• Active TS/SCI security clearance.
• Bachelor's degree and 12+ years of progressive experience in human resources, workforce planning, Client management, personnel administration, or a related field. Master's degree preferred.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
• Demonstrated experience managing personnel accountability, workforce readiness, and staffing activities across organizations consisting of contractor, civilian, and military personnel.
• Experience developing and maintaining workforce management plans, staffing reports, and personnel readiness metrics for large, complex programs.
• Knowledge of security clearance processing and access onboarding requirements, including classified environments and associated staffing impacts.
• Experience coordinating personnel actions, workforce planning activities, and staffing operations in support of government or defense-related programs.
• Strong understanding of workforce reporting, Client analysis, personnel records management, and staffing lifecycle processes.
• Proven ability to communicate effectively with senior leaders and prepare executive-level briefings, reports, policies, and SOPs.

Preferred Qualifications

• SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or equivalent senior-level HR certification.
• Experience supporting highly sensitive, mission-critical, or national security programs.
• Experience using workforce tracking, reporting, or collaboration platforms such as Jira, Confluence, ServiceNow, or similar enterprise tools.
• Familiarity with government contract staffing models, labor category management, and workforce planning within federal programs.
• Experience supporting workforce planning and personnel management in classified environments.
• Prior military service or experience supporting defense, intelligence, communications, or government modernization initiatives.
• Background working within joint organizations, workforce management offices, or large-scale program management environments.

Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status