Program Support Specialist

Position Overview

The Program Support Specialist provides comprehensive programmatic, administrative, operational, and project coordination support across CDC programs, offices, centers, divisions, and branches. The role supports day-to-day mission execution by coordinating administrative operations, managing program support activities, assisting with documentation and reporting, and enabling effective communication across internal and external stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide programmatic, administrative, and operational support across CDC activities, serving as a flexible resource to support multiple teams, business functions, and program priorities.
• Cook up and track program activities, schedules, deliverables, events, communications, and action items using internal planning tools, spreadsheets, trackers, and established administrative systems.
• Support program and project performance tracking by helping monitor progress against objectives, timelines, scope, deliverables, risks, challenges, and budget considerations.
• Aid in preparing reports, briefings, presentations, correspondence, meeting materials, and status updates for leadership, program managers, senior management, and other stakeholders.
• Collect, compile, organize, and maintain program data and information to support reporting, tracking, analysis, decision-making, and response to data calls or leadership requests.
• Aid in analyzing and interpreting administrative, operational, and program information to identify trends, support recommendations, and improve program execution.
• Aid in developing, refining, documenting, and maintaining workflows, procedures, trackers, templates, and internal processes to improve program and operational efficiency.
• Collaborate with supervisors, program managers, leadership, internal teams, external stakeholders, and cross-functional partners to gather requirements, provide updates, coordinate tasks, and support alignment with program goals.
• Support logistical and technical support for meetings, including scheduling, room or virtual platform coordination, material preparation, agenda support, note-taking, action item tracking, and follow-up coordination.
• Maintain leadership and program calendars, schedule meetings, resolve calendar conflicts, manage RSVPs, coordinate across stakeholders, and support executive or program-level scheduling needs.
• Support domestic and international travel activities, including preparation, submission, tracking, reconciliation, authorization, voucher support, and compliance with applicable federal travel requirements.
• Support timekeeping, attendance, onboarding, in-processing, out-processing, conference approvals, training requests, purchase requests, visitor access, and other CDC administrative workflows or systems.
• Maintain accurate electronic and hardcopy files, records, reports, documentation, spreadsheets, and related materials in accordance with federal records management practices and retention requirements.
• Aid in budget planning, resource tracking, procurement coordination, purchase requests, invoice or payment support, and monitoring of program resources, as applicable to the assigned CDC office or program.
• Communicate professionally with CDC staff, leadership, contractors, partners, and external stakeholders while demonstrating discretion, diplomacy, responsiveness, and confidentiality.
• Provide surge support, backup coverage, and cross-functional assistance to program assistants, analysts, project managers, leadership teams, or other support staff as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in public health, business administration, management, public administration, communications, health sciences, or a related field is preferred as the minimum education baseline for this role.
• Four or more years of relevant experience supporting programmatic, administrative, project coordination, executive support, operational, or analytical functions in a federal, public health, government contracting, or large organizational environment.
• Additional directly relevant experience may be substituted for education.
• Suggested equivalency: eight or more years of directly relevant experience may substitute for a Bachelor’s degree when the candidate demonstrates strong CDC, federal administrative, program support, project coordination, or operational support experience.
• Prior experience supporting federal agencies is preferred; prior CDC experience is strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting program or project tracking, status reporting, data collection, workflow documentation, schedule coordination, and stakeholder communications.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and SharePoint.
• Experience using or supporting CDC or federal administrative systems is strongly preferred, including systems related to timekeeping, travel, onboarding, conference approvals, training, purchasing, records management, or related operational workflows.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, including the ability to prepare professional documents, correspondence, reports, trackers, presentations, and meeting materials.
• Ability to conduct internet-based research, gather information, compile data, and organize findings to support program needs, decision-making, and leadership requests.

Required Skills And Competencies

• Strong organizational and time management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, stakeholders, and administrative requirements simultaneously.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with supervisors, program managers, leadership, administrative staff, contractors, and external partners.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy in data collection, documentation, reporting, calendars, travel materials, records, correspondence, and tracking tools.
• Ability to handle sensitive information with discretion, including confidential information and Personally Identifiable Information.
• Professional communication skills with the ability to support leadership, respond to stakeholder inquiries, prepare written materials, and facilitate information flow across teams.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to identify administrative or operational issues, recommend improvements, and support workflow efficiency.
• Ability to support project managers or program managers in coordinating schedules, resources, deliverables, documentation, changes, and outcomes.
• Ability to collect, organize, and interpret information from multiple sources to support reporting, decision-making, tracking, and data calls.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience supporting CDC centers, institutes, offices, divisions, or branches in a contractor or federal support capacity.
• Experience using CDC or federal systems such as Concur, TASNET, CAMS, CCPS, VSTS, EASI, ICE, IOP, or similar administrative platforms listed in the attached resume.
• Experience supporting travel coordination, timekeeping, onboarding, conference approvals, procurement requests, training requests, executive calendars, records management, or administrative operations in a CDC environment.
• Experience assisting with project plans, timelines, documentation, reporting, workflow improvement, and communication between departments or stakeholder groups.
• Experience preparing reports, presentations, trackers, spreadsheets, briefing materials, correspondence, and other professional documentation for leadership or program teams.