Program Specialist

Internship Specialist

Guardians of Honor (GOH) is a small management consulting firm supporting the federal government since 1997. We are seeking a new team member experienced in internship program recruitment, management, and coordination to support our federal clients.

GOH is recruiting in anticipation of potential future openings that are subject to final approval and funding. No guarantee of position availability can be made at this time; however, candidate identification and preliminary interviews are being conducted to support timely hiring should authorization be granted.

The Internship Specialist supports the planning, coordination, and day-to-day delivery of a federal internship program. The position helps connect students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Minority Institutions (MIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and other eligible institutions with high-quality research internship opportunities. Working closely with GOH program leadership, government stakeholders, institutional partners, mentors, and students, the Internship Specialist supports the full participant lifecycle from outreach and application through selection, placement, onboarding, internship support, completion, and program evaluation.

GOH strongly prefers candidates with demonstrated experience building trusted relationships with tribal communities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, tribal education departments, Native-serving organizations, and/or American Indian and Alaska Native students. The successful candidate should bring cultural humility, respect for tribal sovereignty, and an understanding that outreach and engagement must be community-informed, relationship-based, and responsive to local protocols.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide ongoing support during internship cycle – outreach and recruitment, application review and selection, housing and stipend processing, coordination and communication during internship experience, and post-internship close out communications.
• Develop outreach materials and conduct outreach activities to students to increase interest and participation in student internships, fellowships, research experiences – to include flyers, social media posts, website announcements, email communications.
• Support management of internship applications and provide support through application assessment process.
• Draft internship selection determination letters and manage communications regarding selection, housing, stipends, and preparation for internship experiences.
• Identify and routinely communicate with potential mentors in support of internship program opportunities.
• Build relationships and collaborate with institutions of higher education; communicate effectively with students, faculty, mentors, administrators, and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrate strong project coordination, organization, customer service, and follow-through skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Professionally handle sensitive information and personally identifiable information with sound judgment and in accordance with applicable requirements.
• Collect, validate, organize, analyze, and communicate quantitative and qualitative program data.
• Develop recruitment, outreach, and communication protocols and templates that demonstrate equitable and inclusive practices for engaging students from historically underrepresented and underserved communities.
• The scope of the job may change as necessitated by business demands. Also, the essential functions described are not a comprehensive list of duties and responsibilities; additional tasks may be assigned.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Preferred demonstrated experience working with tribal communities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, tribal education departments, Native-serving organizations, or American Indian and Alaska Native students.
• Knowledge of tribal sovereignty, government-to-government context, culturally responsive engagement, and community-specific protocols relevant to education and workforce outreach.
• Established relationships or outreach experience with HBCUs, Minority Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, STEM departments, research programs, or career-services networks.
• Experience supporting STEM education, research, workforce development, or federal internship programs.
• Experience with student application portals, applicant-tracking systems, Salesforce or another CRM, SharePoint, Smartsheet or similar project-management tools, survey platforms, and virtual-event technology.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare professional correspondence, guidance, reports, presentations, and student-facing materials.
• Experience preparing accessible electronic materials and familiarity with Section 508 accessibility practices.
• Experience supporting participants placed at multiple geographic locations or host sites.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint; ability to learn applicant-tracking, customer-relationship-management, survey, and project-management platforms.
• Must be able to contribute to our positive and proactive culture while working in a highly collaborative, fast-paced, and high-tempo team environment.
• Ability to pass background investigations as required for access to federal facilities and systems; position requires Public Trust clearance.

Supervisory Responsibilities: N/A

Reports to: Program Manager and Program Director

Work Environment: The work environment is a typical office setting or virtual/remote setting.

Physical demands: The physical demands of the job include sitting for extended periods, and occasional walking and standing.

Position type and expected hours of work: This is a full-time non-exempt position. Typical work hours are Monday-Friday, 40-60 hours per week. Some job activities may be required outside of typical workdays/hours. Overtime may be expected during peak periods.

Travel: 20% local and regional travel may be required, with overnight stays necessary

Required education and experience: Bachelor's degree required

Additional eligibility qualifications: Minimum of four years of relevant professional experience supporting student programs, higher-education partnerships, outreach and recruitment, workforce development, program coordination, or a related area.

Equal employment opportunity statement: Guardians of Honor is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We make employment decisions based on merit, qualifications, and business needs. We prohibit discrimination and harassment and provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.