Project Manager

Aptive is seeking a Project Manager to lead contract operations supporting the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships (HAP) implementation of Section 129 of the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act. The effort supports VA’s review and recognition of unpaid organizations and individuals that help Veterans, families and caregivers navigate VHA programs and services.

The Project Manager will serve as the primary day-to-day contractor lead, coordinating approximately 30 recognition requests per month and integrating technical review, applicant communication, quality assurance, audit and resource-development activities. This role is responsible for disciplined planning, performance monitoring, risk management, deliverable quality and clear communication with VA leadership.

The ideal candidate is a highly organized federal program manager who can establish repeatable workflows, maintain accountability across a multidisciplinary team and deliver accurate, timely results in a documentation-intensive environment.

• Serve as the primary contractor point of contact for day-to-day performance and coordinate activities across all contract functional areas.
• Develop and maintain the Monthly Review Work Plan, integrated schedules, workload forecasts, staffing plans and performance trackers.
• Prepare Monthly Status Reports that summarize accomplishments, upcoming activities, workload, risks, issues, decisions and corrective actions.
• Assign and monitor recognition requests through review, clarification, quality assurance and final recommendation stages.
• Establish and maintain governance routines, escalation paths, decision logs, action-item tracking and internal communication protocols.
• Monitor performance against required turnaround times, acceptance criteria and quality standards; implement recovery plans when needed.
• Identify operational, staffing, quality and compliance risks and coordinate practical mitigation strategies.
• Facilitate recurring team meetings, reviewer calibration sessions and leadership briefings.
• Coordinate with VA stakeholders while clearly distinguishing contractor recommendations from Government approval authority.
• Promote continuous improvement through workload analysis, root-cause analysis, lessons learned and refinement of SOPs, templates and checklists.

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, public administration, project management, healthcare administration or a related field.
• Minimum of 7 years of project or program management experience, including responsibility for schedules, deliverables, risks, staffing and client communications.
• Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary teams performing high-volume, deadline-driven business operations or case-review work.
• Experience preparing executive-ready status reports, work plans, dashboards and decision-support materials.
• Ability to organize and prioritize simultaneous workstreams while maintaining accuracy, traceability and document control.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and demonstrated commitment to superior client service.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 applications, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Teams and SharePoint or comparable collaboration tools.
• Legal authorization to work in the U.S.

• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
• Experience supporting VA, VHA, HAP or another federal healthcare or benefits program.
• Experience managing eligibility, compliance, credentialing, recognition, grants, claims or other document-intensive review operations.
• Experience applying Lean process improvement, workflow automation, performance dashboards or quality-management methods.
• Familiarity with Veterans’ health, benefits, caregiver or community-navigation programs.