Program Director

Code for America believes government can work for the people, by the people, in the new digital age, and that government at all levels can and should work well for all people. For more than a decade, we’ve worked to show that with the mindful use of technology, we can break down barriers, meet community needs, and find real solutions.

Our employees build and transform government and community tools and services, making them so good they inspire change. We merge the best parts of technology, nonprofit, and government to help support the people who need it most.

With a focus on transparency and fairness, and deep empathy for partners in government and community organizations and the people that our partners serve, we’re building a movement of motivated change agents driven by meaningful results and lasting impact.

At Code for America, you contribute to exciting work while learning and developing in a supportive and flexible environment. Our compensation and benefits are holistic and thoughtfully curated to represent our employees and our mission. Help us drive real generational change that lasts.

Code for America is looking for a talented Program Director who will own delivery and strategic direction across a portfolio of high-impact programs. In this role, you will manage a team of Associate Program Directors and program staff, setting the conditions for excellent execution while maintaining the external relationships and policy fluency that government work requires. You will ensure that Code for America's programs not only deliver for clients and partners today, but build the organizational learning, government trust, and policy foundations that enable systemic, lasting change.

About the role:

Code for America's Program Directors lead portfolios of work that sit at the intersection of technology, policy, and government service delivery. At the core of this role is the belief that government services can and should work better for the people who depend on them most — and that achieving that requires sustained, expert leadership over complex, multi-stakeholder programs.

As a Program Director at Code for America, you will own a portfolio of approximately four to six projects and the teams that deliver them. Your portfolio may include work across areas such as Safety Net benefits access (including multi-benefit enrollment and Medicaid and SNAP delivery), Tax programs, or Criminal Justice initiatives, depending on organizational need and your area of expertise.

You will be externally facing, building and sustaining relationships with federal agencies, state-level leadership, county partners, and/or community-based organizations, while supporting your direct reports in doing the same. You will also work closely with other delivery colleagues to ensure our projects achieve their intended impact and that your portfolio is aligned with Code for America's strategy.

This role will report to the Senior Director of Safety Net and is expected to travel no more than 15%-25% of the time.

Code for America is based in California and can employ those who reside full-time within the United States. This is a remote position.

In this position you will:

Portfolio Oversight

Own partnership escalation and/or strategic direction across a portfolio of approximately four to six projects, ensuring each project meets its commitments to government partners, funders, and clients, and outputs are high-quality and delivered on time and within budget.

Collaborate with the Partnerships team to ensure efficient scoping and smooth handoffs, including clear kickoff processes and well-defined responsibilities during project kickoffs and transitions.

Ensure programs staff apply consistent delivery management practices, focused on setting clear project timelines and goals, clarifying roles, and running appropriate meeting cadences, leveraging Code for America's standard best practices, tools, and processes.

Ensure ongoing project-level direction & strategy aligns with organizational strategy, ensuring your portfolio advances mission priorities and contributes to measurable client outcomes.

Work with programs team members, programs leadership, and discipline leads to ensure each project has a clear, realistic plan for success aligned with organizational goals, partner expectations, client outcomes, and/or philanthropic commitments, and that programs staff understand how to drive aligned progress.

Anticipate risks, staffing needs, and resource constraints across your portfolio; serve as the primary escalation point for APDs and programs staff , escalating to programs leadership when the decision has implications beyond your purview.

Support APDs in driving clear, frequent communication internally and with external stakeholders to maintain alignment on program progress, scope changes, risks, and emerging opportunities.

Partner with programs and resource management leadership to ensure project teams are staffed appropriately from a programs perspective; contribute to headcount recommendations and support recruitment and onboarding of new team members.

Ensure APDs serving as Project Sponsors surface staffing needs across delivery disciplines early and escalate when tradeoffs or reprioritization are required. Proactively flag when teams need resource adjustments to ensure strong delivery across multiple teams.

People Management

Directly manage Associate Program Directors (APDs) and, where applicable, other Program ICs within your portfolio; provide coaching, feedback, and development support that builds their effectiveness as program leaders.