Deputy Program Manager

DEPUTY PROGRAM AND OPERATIONS MANAGER INTERN — WORKING LEADERSHIP ROLE

ABOUT PROJECT GUARDIAN

Project Guardian is a structured, multidisciplinary internship initiative operated by Morsby, Gorman, McCarthy LLC. The program focuses on developing research, implementation strategy, partnership frameworks, and funding-readiness materials for a proposed Kenya-centered infrastructure pilot within a broader global infrastructure initiative.

The internship is designed to expose participants to the intersection of infrastructure planning, public policy, international development, research, program operations, risk, communications, and public-private partnership strategy. Project Guardian remains a research, planning, and educational initiative; participation does not authorize an intern to represent the company, implement infrastructure activities, provide regulated professional services, or make commitments to external parties.

PROGRAM TERMS

• Program period: October 19, 2026 through January 29, 2027
• Planned holiday pause: December 19, 2026 through January 3, 2027
• No routine assignments or meetings are expected during the holiday pause
• Fully remote and asynchronous-first
• Participants ordinarily contribute 5–10 hours per week
• Work exceeding 10 hours in a week requires advance written approval and may not exceed approximately 15 hours
• Scheduling will reasonably accommodate academic calendars, examinations, religious observances, disabilities, approved accommodations, and previously disclosed obligations
• The internship is unpaid
• Academic credit may be available only when approved by the participant’s institution
• Academic credit is not guaranteed and is not required to participate
• Participation does not promise or imply future paid employment, compensation, travel, continued engagement, or appointment to a permanent position

The program has a defined and limited duration. Hours may be reduced, assignments may be rescheduled, and participation may be modified when necessary to protect the participant’s academic obligations or comply with institutional requirements.

EDUCATIONAL STRUCTURE

This is a structured, project-based learning experience. Participants receive defined learning objectives, supervised assignments, written instructions, access to relevant background materials, milestone-based feedback, reasonable revision opportunities, and exposure to multidisciplinary infrastructure, policy, research, funding, and program-management work.

Assignments are designed to develop transferable skills through bounded educational projects rather than to substitute for regular paid staff. Interns will not be used to fill routine vacancies or independently perform functions requiring licensed, regulated, or otherwise specially authorized professionals.

The company may derive value from accepted internship work, but educational development, supervision, feedback, and demonstrable learning remain essential features of the program. Assignments may be revised or discontinued when adequate supervision, educational value, appropriate authorization, or safe and responsible execution cannot be maintained.

Participants may produce portfolio-appropriate work, subject to confidentiality, intellectual-property, attribution, security, privacy, and release requirements. No project material may be included in a portfolio or shared externally without prior written authorization.

Academic credit may be available only when approved by the participant’s institution. Participants are responsible for initiating their institution’s academic-credit or internship-authorization process. Morsby, Gorman, McCarthy LLC will reasonably consider requests for learning agreements, supervisor confirmations, progress evaluations, final evaluations, hour verification, or comparable institutional documentation.

Institutional cooperation remains subject to review of the requested terms, administrative capacity, applicable requirements, and company authorization. The company cannot guarantee that it will execute every institution-specific agreement or accept requirements that materially alter the program, create unsupported representations, or impose obligations it cannot responsibly fulfill.

ROLE PURPOSE

The Deputy Program and Operations Manager Intern supports the program’s day-to-day operational coordination under the supervision of the Program Director and Executive Sponsor.

While the Program Director maintains integrated program direction and final internal coordination, the Deputy helps translate approved direction into assignments, schedules, operating records, follow-up actions, capacity information, and continuity measures.

This is a working educational leadership position. The selected participant will coordinate and support other interns while also completing supervised operational, analytical, research, and written assignments.

The position provides meaningful operations and leadership exposure but does not make the intern an officer, employee, legal representative, independent spokesperson, or final decision-maker for Morsby, Gorman, McCarthy LLC or Project Guardian.

Expanded responsibilities may be assigned when educationally appropriate and expressly delegated. The Deputy does not automatically assume the Program Director’s authority when the Program Director is unavailable.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of the internship, the participant should be able to:

• Translate an integrated project plan into manageable weekly assignments and operating priorities
• Maintain clear records of ownership, deadlines, dependencies, decisions, risks, and follow-up actions
• Coordinate distributed work across disciplines, institutions, schedules, and time zones
• Analyze staffing capacity, participation changes, and continuity needs
• Identify delayed, blocked, duplicated, under-resourced, or vulnerable work
• Develop proportionate reassignment, cross-coverage, recovery, and handoff recommendations
• Prepare concise operational updates and decision queues for senior review
• Apply responsible onboarding, documentation, delegation, and transition practices
• Distinguish routine operational coordination from matters requiring executive or professional approval
• Provide and incorporate constructive, documented feedback
• Demonstrate responsible use of AI-assisted tools through disclosure, verification, and human review
• Reflect on operational performance, project outcomes, and areas for continued professional development

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Translate the integrated project plan into weekly assignments, deadlines, follow-up actions, and review points
• Coordinate routine execution across research, policy, funding, data, communications, technical, and quality-assurance teams
• Maintain the master staffing and capacity roster, including assignments, availability, participation status, primary ownership, and cross-coverage arrangements
• Monitor deliverables, dependencies, participation signals, capacity constraints, deadlines, and withdrawal risks
• Maintain meeting records, decision logs, task trackers, escalation queues, continuity records, and operating documentation
• Identify stalled, unclear, duplicated, under-resourced, or vulnerable work and recommend appropriate recovery measures
• Support onboarding, role clarification, cross-training, access coordination, handoffs, and orderly participant transitions
• Coordinate distributed participants working across disciplines, institutions, cultures, schedules, and time zones
• Prepare concise operational updates, exception reports, capacity summaries, and decision queues for the Program Director and Executive Sponsor
• Help ensure completed work is properly named, stored, documented, transferred, and routed for appropriate review
• Coordinate with the Knowledge and Data-Room Manager on document ownership, access, version control, and handoff records
• Coordinate with the Monitoring, Risk and Continuity Lead on capacity risks, dependency failures, withdrawals, and recovery actions
• Coordinate with the Evidence and Quality Assurance Lead on review status, correction tracking, and quality-related delays
• Help verify that critical assignments have an identified primary owner and appropriate backup coverage
• Maintain transparent records when responsibilities, deadlines, or participation status change
• Produce substantive operational, analytical, research, and written work in addition to coordination duties
• Perform broader internal coordination responsibilities only when specifically delegated and appropriately supervised
• Respect Kenyan and regional knowledge, institutions, stakeholders, and context; avoid unsupported assumptions or implied endorsements
• Maintain confidentiality, appropriate records, source traceability, and responsible information-handling practices

The Deputy is not expected to possess expertise in every workstream. The educational objective is to maintain operational visibility, ask informed questions, identify coordination problems, and route specialized matters to the appropriate leader or reviewer.

SUPERVISION AND FEEDBACK

The Deputy Program and Operations Manager Intern reports primarily to the Program Director and remains subject to the authority of the Executive Sponsor or another expressly designated company supervisor.

Supervision is expected to include:

• Written role expectations and assignment instructions
• Regular progress, workload, and capacity check-ins
• Access to appropriate operating templates, standards, and background materials
• Written or documented feedback on substantive work
• Reasonable revision opportunities when educationally appropriate
• Guidance regarding delegation, confidentiality, records, authority, and escalation
• A midpoint review or equivalent developmental checkpoint
• A final performance and learning review
• Institution-required evaluations or hour verification when previously approved and administratively feasible

The participant is expected to communicate promptly when instructions are unclear, workload becomes unmanageable, an assignment conflicts with academic responsibilities, or additional guidance is required.

EXPECTED OUTPUTS

Expected outputs may include:

• Weekly operations and progress updates
• Current assignment, deadline, staffing, capacity, and dependency trackers
• Decision, issue, risk, follow-up, and escalation records
• Primary-ownership, backup, cross-coverage, and continuity records
• Onboarding, role-transition, access-coordination, and handoff documentation
• Recovery plans for delayed, interrupted, unclear, or under-resourced work
• Meeting records, operating procedures, checklists, and decision queues
• Substantive contributions to project research, implementation, strategy, or funding-readiness materials
• A final reflection or learning summary identifying outcomes, challenges, revisions, and transferable lessons

Output scope may be adjusted according to program priorities, participant availability, educational needs, supervision capacity, evidence quality, and applicable institutional requirements.

PERFORMANCE AND LEARNING ASSESSMENT

Performance will be assessed using factors such as:

• Reliability and timely communication
• Quality and completeness of assigned work
• Accuracy of trackers, records, summaries, and handoff materials
• Ability to organize multiple workstreams and competing priorities
• Judgment concerning reassignment, escalation, confidentiality, and authority
• Responsiveness to feedback and quality of revisions
• Documentation, file-management, and continuity discipline
• Respectful and effective multidisciplinary collaboration
• Responsible use of AI-assisted tools
• Demonstrated progress toward the stated learning objectives

The internship is developmental. Feedback or requested revision does not automatically signify failure. However, repeated noncommunication, material misrepresentation, confidentiality violations, unauthorized external activity, fabricated records, plagiarism, or inability to satisfy essential participation requirements may result in narrowed duties, reassignment, suspension, or discontinuation.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Candidates may include undergraduate or graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, recent graduates, alumni, faculty members participating in an eligible structured capacity, early-career professionals, or applicants with comparable experience.

Strong candidates will generally be advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, recent graduates, alumni, early-career professionals, or similarly experienced applicants. Exceptional earlier-stage students may be considered when supported by strong role-relevant evidence, reliability, and mature judgment.

Strong candidates will demonstrate:

• Strong organization, judgment, reliability, and written communication
• Experience coordinating projects, teams, research, events, student organizations, volunteer initiatives, or complex assignments
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams and follow through without constant supervision
• Ability to create and maintain accurate schedules, trackers, records, and follow-up systems
• Dependable availability around major project deadlines, subject to disclosed academic obligations
• Ability to coordinate distributed teams across schedules and time zones
• Comfort identifying routine operational problems and escalating material issues
• Ability to work respectfully across disciplines, institutions, cultures, and professional backgrounds
• Competence with shared documents, spreadsheets, task trackers, and remote collaboration tools
• Ability to accept feedback, revise work, and maintain usable handoff records
• Responsible use of AI-assisted tools, including disclosure, verification, and human review
• Strong confidentiality, file-management, and information-handling discipline

Experience in operations, program management, business, public administration, nonprofit management, research administration, engineering management, or a comparable field may be helpful but is not required.

No single academic major guarantees or precludes selection. Academic standing or title alone will not substitute for availability, execution quality, communication, judgment, ethical conduct, documentation discipline, or continuity readiness.

APPLICATION MATERIALS

Applicants should submit through this Handshake posting:

• Resume or CV
• Cover letter or short statement explaining their interest and relevant project or operations experience
• One relevant project plan, operational document, analytical report, research sample, process map, tracker, presentation, or comparable work sample; clearly labeled classroom work is acceptable
• Availability, time zone, current location, anticipated scheduling conflicts, and any academic-credit or institutional requirements

Applicants should identify their individual contribution to any collaborative work sample. Confidential material should not be submitted unless the applicant has authorization to share it. Redacted samples are acceptable when they still permit meaningful evaluation.

References will be requested selectively when necessary to verify experience, resolve conflicting information, or assess a sensitive responsibility.

SELECTION PROCESS

Initial evaluation will be conducted asynchronously. Applications will be reviewed for role alignment, evidence of readiness, communication quality, availability, and ability to benefit from and contribute to the educational experience.

Shortlisted candidates may complete a bounded role-specific exercise asking them to repair a flawed weekly operating plan, identify capacity and dependency problems, and design a proportionate response to a participant withdrawal.

The exercise is for candidate evaluation and will not be used as uncompensated production work for an active external project.

Live conversations will be reserved for finalists or situations requiring clarification. References will be requested selectively. Reasonable accommodations may be requested during the application and selection process.

ELIGIBILITY AND INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS

Final participation is conditional upon eligibility, documentation, supervisory capacity, confidentiality requirements, access clearance, and any applicable university, academic-credit, work-authorization, insurance, export-control, location-specific, or other program requirements.

Applicants must not begin program work until all required reviews, agreements, and approvals applicable to their participation are complete.

International participation, academic credit, and institution-sponsored participation may require additional review. Selection for the role does not override a participant’s institution, immigration status, work authorization, location-based restrictions, or other applicable requirements.

If an institution requires special documentation or terms, the request must be reviewed before participation begins. The company may approve, propose revisions to, or decline requirements that it cannot accurately represent or responsibly administer.

CONFIDENTIALITY, RECORDS, AND RESPONSIBLE TECHNOLOGY USE

Participants may receive access only to information reasonably necessary for their approved assignments. They must follow applicable confidentiality, document-control, privacy, sourcing, and access instructions.

Participants must not:

• Create misleading, fabricated, backdated, or materially incomplete operating records
• Submit plagiarized or improperly attributed work
• Treat AI-generated output as an authoritative source or verified operational record
• Upload confidential or restricted information into unapproved systems
• Share project materials, personal information, access credentials, or internal communications without authorization
• Represent unconfirmed assumptions, participation status, approvals, or estimates as established facts
• Include project work in a portfolio without written release approval

AI-assisted tools may be used only when permitted for the assignment. Their use must be disclosed when requested, and all material records, claims, summaries, and outputs remain subject to human verification.

AUTHORITY LIMITATIONS

The selected participant may coordinate approved internal work, request status information, maintain authorized records, prepare recommendations, and identify matters requiring decisions.

The participant does not possess independent authority to bind Morsby, Gorman, McCarthy LLC or Project Guardian and may not automatically assume the Program Director’s authority.

The participant may not independently:

• Contact government officials, universities, funders, prospective partners, media, communities, or other external stakeholders
• Make public statements or publish project information
• Solicit or accept funds
• Submit applications, proposals, or partnership materials
• Enter agreements or make financial, contractual, procurement, hiring, disciplinary, or institutional commitments
• Represent that any government, institution, community, company, funder, or partner supports the project
• Change the approved project scope, public position, pilot thesis, program terms, or funding request
• Grant external access or release internal, confidential, draft, or restricted materials
• Permanently delete material records without authorization
• Perform or certify legal, engineering, accounting, investment, medical, safety, cybersecurity, regulatory, or other licensed professional work

Expanded authority exists only when expressly delegated in writing and remains limited to the scope of that delegation. Final program, external, financial, contractual, staffing, and publication decisions remain with authorized company leadership.

The internship does not promise travel, external representation, future employment, compensation, or authority to act on behalf of Morsby, Gorman, McCarthy LLC.