Overview Understood is seeking a contractor to support program development on a deliverables-driven, time-limited basis. This is a contract role—not a full-time employee position—and the contractor will be engaged for their specialized expertise to complete clearly defined outputs within the contract term. Scope of Work / Key deliverables The contractor will be responsible for the following: Design and support the launch of new programs from concept to rollout, pulling together existing tech and non-tech capabilities into coherent, well-defined offerings.

Audit current capabilities across teams, identify gaps and overlaps, and shape them into structured programs with clear goals, scope, and ownership. Establish the operational foundation for each program, including workflows, documentation, tooling, and processes, that internal teams can run independently after handoff. Engage with cross-functional stakeholders (product, engineering, operations, leadership) to align program design with company priorities and resourcing.

Define KPIs and reporting frameworks, establish baselines, and illustrate early impact to leadership. Provide a clean handoff to internal owners, including documentation, training, and transition support. Note: Contractors maintain control over the means and methods of completing their work, provided they meet all deliverables.

Required Qualifications

Proven track record designing and launching programs from scratch, ideally in a tech or tech-enabled environment. Strong systems thinking, able to take scattered capabilities and organize them into something coherent and operable. Excellent stakeholder management, able to align senior leaders and working teams without formal authority.

Bias toward action and self-direction; you can operate with ambiguity and minimal ramp-up. Experience building lightweight, durable processes and documentation.

Preferred Qualifications

Familiarity with STEM education, workforce development, or neurodiversity Experience with school- or educator-facing program models Comfort working across both technical and non-technical teams and translating between them. Existing relationships with STEM funders, implementation partners, or evaluation organizations Contract Details Estimated Hours ~20 hours a week for approximately 6 months, with a defined scope of standing up to 2-3 programs and handing them off.

Compensation

: $100/hour, rate commensurate with experience Contractor is responsible for all taxes, insurance, and equipment required to perform services.

Program Development Consultant