Water Science Jobs in Wisconsin (NOW HIRING)

Position:  Program Manager - USGS Mid-Continent Federal Science & Technical Support Services Contract Proposal

Clearance:   Must pass federal background investigation (FISMA / DOI personnel screening).  U.S. Citizenship

Location:  Hybrid - primary on-site presence at one or more USGS Mid-Continent science centers (Madison, WI; La Crosse, WI; Middleton, WI; Jamestown, ND; Great Lakes; OH/KY/IN), with limited remote work allowed per FAR 7.108 and government approval.  Occasional domestic; potential international travel in support of task orders

Role Overview

Inalab is seeking an experienced Program Manager (PM) to serve as the named Key Personnel lead for the USGS Mid-Continent IDIQ contract proposal.   The PM will support non-personal science and technical services across the National Wildlife Health Center, Great Lakes Science Center, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Science Center, and Upper Midwest Water Science Center.

The PM owns end-to-end contract performance - from staffing and task order shaping through delivery, financial tracking, and client relationship management - and is the single point of accountability between contractor staff and the government. This is a high-visibility role for a federal-services PM who thrives running a multi-site, multi-discipline workforce (administrative, research, IT/sysadmin, GIS/geospatial, web/database, technical PM, and facilities support) and can translate ambiguous government requirements into priced, scoped, and resourced task orders.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, science, engineering, IT, or related discipline (Master's preferred).
• Minimum 8-10 years of progressive program/project management experience, with at least 5 years managing federal services contracts (IDIQ experience strongly preferred).
• Demonstrated experience as named Key Personnel on a federal contract, or equivalent prime-contractor PM responsibility.
• Working knowledge of the FAR (especially Parts 7, 15, 16, 52) and federal task order management lifecycle.
• Proven track record managing geographically distributed staff (multi-site or multi-state) across multiple skill categories.
• Experience preparing task order pricing, basis-of-estimates, and counter-proposals; comfort negotiating with Contracting Officers.
• Strong financial acumen - labor-category burn tracking, EAC/ETC analysis, ODC management, and FAR-compliant invoicing.
• Database / tracking-tool fluency sufficient to design or administer a contract personnel and task order tracking system.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to produce executive-level monthly status and cost reports.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. federal background investigation and complete required training (FISMA, security awareness, ethics).

Preferred Qualifications

• PMP certification (Project Management Professional) - note: PMP is required for the separate Technical Project Management labor category and is highly valued in this role.
• Prior experience supporting USGS, DOI, NOAA, USDA, EPA, or comparable science-mission civilian agency.

Key Responsibilities

Contract & Task Order Management

• Serve as the primary liaison between contractor staff and the USGS Task Order Manager (TOM) and Contracting Officer (CO); ensure contract objectives and operational requirements are met.
• Review and analyze incoming task order requirements; determine appropriate contractor support categories, level of effort, schedule, and cost; deliver written analyses to the CO and TOM.
• Participate in task order negotiations, offering counter-proposals and technical/cost justifications.
• Ensure all work is performed in accordance with contract terms, statements of work, FAR clauses, and DOI/USGS policy.

Workforce Leadership

• Recruit, hire, retain, and supervise qualified staff across nine PWS service categories: Administrative; Program Management; Research/Science; Data & Information Management; Computer Systems Administration; Geospatial Applications & Modeling; Web & Database Applications; Technical Project Management; and Facilities Support.
• Assign and supervise staff to task orders; manage employee training, career development, and performance.
• Provide information and assistance to employees on benefits, security, and safety; maintain a safe and secure on-site working environment.

Financial & Reporting Oversight

• Develop and maintain an automated tracking system for contract personnel, task orders, due dates, and financial data.
• Prepare and submit monthly status reports identifying tasks in progress/completed, hours by labor category, projected workload, and issues encountered.
• Produce monthly Performance and Cost Reports showing cumulative hours and dollars expended by labor category, remaining funding, and burn-rate forecasts; flag funding shortfalls and provide additional-funds estimates.
• Maintain financial records sufficient to substantiate charges against task orders; deliver quarterly and annual reports as required.

Operations, Quality & Compliance

• Implement and maintain standard operating procedures, security measures, and safety regulations across all sites.
• Ensure conformance with FISMA, FAR 52.245-1 (Government Property), Federal Travel Regulations, USGS Section 508, USGS Occupational Hazards & Safety (SM 445-2-H), and DOI Safety & Occupational Health Manual (DM485).
• Oversee Quality Control Program development and execution.
• Coordinate off-site task execution at secondary sites and ensure IT security requirements are satisfied for any remote performance.

• Familiarity with one or more of the contract service areas: GIS/geospatial (ArcGIS, ERDAS, GeoServer), scientific computing, hydrology/biology/geology research support, or scientific data lifecycle management.
• Experience with DOI/USGS personnel security and IT security processes.
• Experience standing up new IDIQ contracts, including transition-in, recruiting ramp, and quality control program rollout.
• Lean/Six Sigma, ITIL, or Agile credentials a plus.

Success Profile

• Calm under ambiguity - task orders arrive with limited definition and tight turnaround.
• Customer-obsessed in a federal sense: builds trust with COs, TOMs, and scientists; never lets a deliverable surprise the client.
• Hands-on operator who can write a clean status report on Friday and lead a recruiting push on Monday.
• Bias toward documentation, repeatability, and SOPs - this contract spans nine service categories and six science centers.