Program Director

PROGRAM DIRECTOR 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 management, 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 be able to 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 Program Director Intern supports integrated program delivery, leadership coordination, escalation, and operating discipline while remaining an active producer of substantive project work.

This is a working educational leadership position. The selected participant will not merely coordinate others; they will also complete supervised analysis, planning, synthesis, documentation, and executive-communication assignments.

The position provides meaningful 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.

The Executive Sponsor retains authority over the program mandate, material scope changes, external representations, partnership commitments, funding positions, and final publication.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

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

• Translate a multidisciplinary project mandate into an integrated and manageable work plan
• Define milestones, dependencies, acceptance criteria, ownership, and escalation points
• Coordinate work across research, policy, technical, funding, data, risk, and communications functions
• Evaluate capacity constraints and recommend proportionate recovery measures
• Prepare concise, evidence-based decision materials for senior review
• Apply responsible delegation, documentation, feedback, and continuity practices
• Distinguish operational recommendations from decisions requiring executive or professional approval
• Identify factual, ethical, reputational, confidentiality, authorization, and implementation risks
• Manage revisions and incorporate structured feedback into improved work
• Demonstrate responsible use of AI-assisted tools through disclosure, source verification, and human review
• Reflect on leadership performance, project outcomes, and areas for continued professional development

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Maintain an integrated internal program plan within the scope approved by the Executive Sponsor
• Translate approved objectives into milestones, assignments, dependencies, decision points, and review requirements
• Coordinate priorities and information flow across multiple workstreams
• Identify and help resolve routine scheduling, ownership, capacity, and execution conflicts
• Monitor milestone health, leadership follow-through, participant capacity, withdrawals, dependencies, and continuity risks
• Prepare concise decision queues, recovery options, operating recommendations, and executive-ready status materials
• Ensure that responsibilities, deadlines, assumptions, dependencies, risks, decisions, and escalation actions are documented
• Support leadership accountability through transparent assignments, written feedback, and follow-up records
• Help ensure that every critical responsibility has an identified primary owner and appropriate cross-coverage
• Maintain sufficient awareness of major workstreams to recognize conflicts, duplication, gaps, and integration needs
• Coordinate with the Evidence and Quality Assurance Lead to prevent unsupported or misleading material from advancing
• Coordinate with the Chief Research and Editorial Director on report architecture, synthesis, and revision priorities
• Coordinate with the Funding and PPP Integration Lead on funding logic and pilot-versus-scale distinctions
• Coordinate with the Knowledge and Data-Room Manager on authoritative files, permissions, version control, and handoffs
• Coordinate with the Monitoring, Risk and Continuity Lead on early-warning indicators, mitigation actions, and continuity testing
• Coordinate with the Communications and Design Integration Lead on approved external-ready materials
• Produce substantive original analysis, written synthesis, operating documentation, and contributions to major deliverables
• Escalate proposed changes to program scope, public terms, the Kenya pilot thesis, external positioning, or funding strategy
• Respect Kenyan and regional knowledge, institutions, stakeholders, and context; avoid unsupported generalizations or implied endorsements
• Maintain confidentiality, appropriate records, source traceability, and responsible information-handling practices

The intern will not be expected to possess expertise in every workstream. The educational objective is to integrate specialized contributions, ask informed questions, recognize limits, and route technical or regulated matters to appropriate reviewers.

SUPERVISION AND FEEDBACK:

The Program Director Intern reports to the Executive Sponsor or another expressly designated company supervisor.

Supervision is expected to include:

• Written role expectations and assignment instructions
• Regular progress and capacity check-ins
• Access to appropriate templates, standards, and background materials
• Written or documented feedback on substantive work
• Reasonable revision opportunities when educationally appropriate
• Guidance regarding authority, confidentiality, sourcing, 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:

• An integrated program work plan
• Weekly or milestone-based decision and status briefs
• Current risk, issue, dependency, assumption, and decision records
• Documented assignment, ownership, backup, and cross-coverage arrangements
• Recovery recommendations when deadlines, quality, access, or participant availability place deliverables at risk
• Meeting summaries, operating procedures, handoff materials, or leadership guidance
• Substantive written contributions to research, strategy, implementation, and 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
• Ability to organize complex information and priorities
• Evidence-based reasoning and appropriate acknowledgment of uncertainty
• Responsiveness to feedback and quality of revisions
• Documentation, file-management, and handoff discipline
• Respectful and effective multidisciplinary collaboration
• Judgment concerning escalation, confidentiality, authority, and responsible AI use
• Contribution to team continuity and learning
• 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 sourcing, plagiarism, or inability to satisfy essential participation requirements may result in narrowed duties, reassignment, suspension, or discontinuation.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Strong candidates may include advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, recent graduates, alumni, faculty members participating in an eligible structured capacity, early-career professionals, or similarly experienced applicants.

The ordinary qualification expectation is a graduating senior, master’s or doctoral student, recent graduate, alumnus or alumna, early-career professional, or applicant with comparable evidence of readiness. An exceptional junior may be considered when supported by unusually strong role-relevant evidence and mature judgment.

Strong candidates will demonstrate:

• Experience leading or coordinating complex, multidisciplinary, academic, volunteer, entrepreneurial, or professional projects
• Excellent professional writing, synthesis, organization, and documentation skills
• Sound judgment when priorities, evidence, capacity, or stakeholder interests conflict
• Reliable follow-through and the ability to identify risks before they become emergencies
• Experience creating work plans, assigning responsibilities, maintaining trackers, or supporting accountability
• Ability to work independently on defined assignments while seeking guidance when necessary
• Comfort working remotely and asynchronously across schedules, institutions, cultures, and time zones
• Ability to provide and receive structured feedback professionally
• Responsible use of AI-assisted tools, including disclosure, verification, attribution, and human review
• Strong confidentiality, file-management, source-management, and continuity discipline
• Respect for local knowledge and willingness to work carefully with Kenya-specific evidence

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 leadership experience
• One relevant writing, analysis, project-management, research, or strategy 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 requiring them to convert a conflicted multi-team status update into a concise recovery plan identifying priorities, owners, dependencies, risks, and escalation decisions.

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, ATTRIBUTION, 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:

• Submit fabricated, misleading, plagiarized, or improperly attributed work
• Treat AI-generated output as an authoritative source
• Upload confidential or restricted information into unapproved systems
• Share project materials, personal information, access credentials, or internal communications without authorization
• Represent unconfirmed assumptions, partnerships, 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 claims, citations, calculations, and outputs remain subject to human verification.

AUTHORITY LIMITATIONS:

The selected participant may coordinate approved internal work, request status information, prepare recommendations, and identify matters requiring decisions. The participant does not possess independent authority to bind the company or Project Guardian.

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 funding applications or partnership proposals
• 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
• Release internal, confidential, draft, or externally restricted materials
• Perform or certify legal, engineering, accounting, investment, medical, safety, cybersecurity, regulatory, or other licensed professional work

These matters require approval from the Executive Sponsor or another expressly authorized company representative.

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