PM 2.0 Program/Project Formulation

Proficiency Level
Participates as a project team member to gain an overall understanding of the project proposal process and to gain initial experience in the competency.

Illustrations
Team Practitioners should be able to describe, identify, or define:

• How NASA projects are proposed, approved, and funded.
• The basic elements of a successful project proposal.
• How a current project’s proposal meets the needs of a NASA Strategic Plan element and the Center Implementation Plan.
• The support activities involving multiple organizations outside the center.
• How to develop a network of external contacts.

Proficiency Level

• Leads teams in the execution of project proposal activities.
• Provides guidance and expertise to team members, assisting in resolving issues.

Illustrations
Team Leads should be able to:

• Develop functional, physical, and operational architectures (including life cycle costing).
• Develop, cost, and trade concepts, along with their technology plans.
• Pursue activities involving multiple organizations outside the center to expand their network of external contacts, including industry partnering activities, and NASA infrastructure utilization.
• Know the steps of the center’s bid and proposal process.
• Contribute to, or lead, management of the proposal writing and/or submission process.

Proficiency Level

• Leads teams at the project level in the execution of the project proposal activities.
• Provides guidance and expertise at the project level, resolving project issues.

Illustrations
Project Managers should be able to:

• Expertise in writing, managing, and submitting winning proposals.
• The capacity to develop functional, physical, and operational architectures (including life cycle costing).
• Proficiency in developing, trading, and selecting concepts, along with their technology plans.
• The effective use of bid and proposal support resources to lead the development of complete bid and proposal packages.

Proficiency Level
Leads overall effort, reviews and approves products, resolves issues, and maintains relationships with the highest level of internal, external, and international contacts.

Illustrations
Program Managers should be able to:

• Review and approve bid and proposal packages.
• Direct the development of functional, physical, and operational architectures (including life cycle costing), and trading concepts along with their technology plans.
• Identify industry partnering opportunities and NASA infrastructure utilization.
• Partner in the development of appropriate domestic and international partnerships.

Proficiency Level
Participates as a project team member to gain an overall understanding of the requirements development and management process and to gain initial experience in the competency.

Illustrations
Team Practitioners should be able to describe, identify, or define:

• The process involved in defining requirements.
• Concepts, project plans, and associated items, including the need for customer involvement to understand their objectives, plans, and requirements.
• The process of decomposing customer requirements into project requirements that are clear, feasible, and verifiable.
• Requirements baselining, traceability, change processing, and allocation.

Proficiency Level

• Leads teams in the execution of the requirements development and management processes.
• Provides guidance and expertise to team members, assisting in resolving issues.

Illustrations
Team Leads should be able to:

• Participate in defining requirements, concepts, project plans (baselining, traceability, change process, allocation), and associated items.
• Participate in requirements change control for the subsystem and balance requirements changes with subsystem cost and schedule.
• Select and/or tailor appropriate requirements, development, and management processes according to project type.
• Define, verify, review, and maintain requirements and specifications through functional analysis, technology feasibility, availability, readiness, and decomposition from top-level goals.
• Demonstrate expertise in tracing an assigned system/subsystem product to a specific requirement in the project specification.

Proficiency Level

• Leads teams at the project level in the execution of the requirements development and management process. Provides guidance and expertise at the project level, resolving project issues.
• Obtain and evaluate customer functional and performance project requirements and obtain stakeholder acceptance.
• Define, develop, verify, review, and maintain specifications.

Illustrations
Project Managers should be able to:

• Select and/or tailor appropriate requirements, development, and management processes according to project type.
• Effectively manage others in requirements development tasks, such as functional analysis, analysis of technology feasibility, availability, readiness, and decomposition.
• Select and tailor appropriate processes according to project type and approve project requirements and changes.

Proficiency Level
Leads overall effort, reviews and approves products, resolves issues, and maintains relationships with the highest level internal, external, and international contacts.

Illustrations
Program Managers should be able to:

• Oversee programmatic requirements for obtaining and evaluating customer functional and performance requirements and their management.
• Manage the processes for defining, developing, verifying, reviewing, and managing changes to program.
• Manage development and iteration of requirements concepts; project plans; the planning, programming, and budgeting execution (PPBE) cycle; and associated items for stakeholder acceptance, including analyzing and challenging impacts, capturing relevant standards and criteria, and ensuring that each requirement is verifiable.
• Direct the requirements baselining process, traceability, change process, and allocation, and approve program requirements and changes.

Proficiency Level

• Participates as a project team member to gain an overall understanding of the project planning process and to gain initial experience in the competency.
• Understands the integration of project elements, design functions, and discipline functions and their associated interactions to balance performance, cost, reliability, operability, and risk, as well as project formulation activities that include planning for EVM in-house implementation when applicable.

Illustrations
Team Practitioners should be able to describe, identify, or define:

• The overall NASA project life cycle, including specific steps in the cycle (e.g., milestone reviews) and project life cycle and gate products.
• How to use scheduling and cost-estimating tools to plan the design, development, and testing activities.
• How to incorporate risk identification and mitigation planning into the budget, schedule, and staffing.
• How to develop a work breakdown structure (WBS) and associated schedule.
• Project formulation activities and development of a life cycle project plan, including WBS, budget, schedule, staffing, and project success criteria.
• Development of the project WBS.

Proficiency Level

• Leads teams in the execution of project planning activities.
• Provides guidance and expertise to team members assisting in resolving issues.
• Manages a small project subsystem or equivalent entity during the formulation phase or exhibit other significant involvement in project formulation (with sole authority for project budget, schedule, and scope), and to participate in project/technical integration of project elements, design functions, and discipline functions, and their associated interactions to balance performance, cost, reliability, operability, and risk. Ensure proper scope definition.

Illustrations
Team Leads should be able to:

• Integrate activities into a schedule.
• Conduct resource estimation and allocation, including resources for identified risks and risk mitigations.
• Develop project plans for simple, relatively routine, small- to moderate-sized projects, including EVM when applicable.
• Manage the integration of plans, schedules, and cost estimates for a subsystem.
• Obtain project approvals through well-established means (e.g., in own work unit).
• Assure that resources and schedule are commensurate with the project scope and risk.

Proficiency Level

• Leads teams at the project level in the execution of project planning activities.
• Provides guidance and expertise at the project level, resolving project issues.
• Project managers should be able to lead the planning process for a large project, subsystem, or equivalent entity, including scope definition, integrating activities into a schedule, and resource estimation and allocation, including resources for identified risks and risk mitigations.

Illustrations
Project Managers should be able to:

• Implement typical management controls for areas of responsibility.
• Perform EVM implementation planning and use when applicable.
• Use advanced project planning and tracking tools with extensive EVM capabilities.
• Develop a risk-informed life cycle project plan, including WBS, budget, schedule, staffing, and project success criteria.
• Oversee project/technical integration of project elements, design functions, and discipline functions, and their associated interactions to balance performance, cost, schedule, reliability, operability, and risk.
• Plan for milestone reviews.
• Be a project advocate.

Proficiency Level

• Leads overall effort, reviews and approves products, resolves issues, and maintains relationships with the highest level of internal, external, and international contacts.
• Program Managers are expected to create project and resource plans for complex projects with many interrelated paths, involving multiple organizational units or contractors, and especially challenging deadlines, as well as for projects that are novel, complex, or highly interrelated with other work.

Illustrations
Program Managers should be able to:

• Lead the development and approval of the overall program plan.
• Lead a large project, major system, or equivalent entity during the formulation phase, with sole authority for project budget, schedule, and scope.
• Direct technical integration of project elements, design functions, and discipline functions and their associated interactions to balance performance, cost, schedule, reliability, and operability.
• Direct the development of a life cycle project plan, including WBS, budget, schedule, staffing, EVM if applicable, and project success criteria.
• Lead the process for obtaining approval of especially innovative or complex projects that involve multiple funding sources and work interrelationships with other units.

Proficiency Level
Participates as a project team member to gain an overall understanding of the cost estimating process and to gain initial experience in the competency.

Illustrations
Team Practitioners should be able to describe, identify, or define:

• Credible cost estimates to support a variety of systems engineering trade studies.
• Perform affordability analyses.
• Execute strategic planning.
• Participate in capital investment decision-making.
• Prepare budgets during project planning.
• Provide information for independent assessments.

Proficiency Level

• Leads teams in the execution of the cost-estimating process.
• Provides guidance and expertise to team members, assisting in resolving issues.

Illustrations
Team Leads should be able to:

• Ensure the use of straightforward and well-documented models and techniques for cost estimating during relevant project life cycle phases.
• Ensure that all project needs are adequately covered and properly time-phased in the budget submission for projects of low to medium complexity.
• Ensure that cost estimates cover the entire project life cycle.

Proficiency Level

• Leads teams at the project level in the execution of the cost-estimating process.
• Provides guidance and expertise at the project level, resolving project issues.

Illustrations
Project Managers should be able to:

• Use cost estimates as a planning tool and as an additional input or constraint into the design space for the project.
• Ensure the use of advanced models and techniques for cost estimating during relevant project life cycle phases, and assure that a cost analysis data requirement (CADRe) is developed and maintained.

Proficiency Level

• Leads overall effort, reviews and approves products, resolves issues, and maintains relationships with the highest level of internal, external, and international contacts.

Illustrations
Program Managers should be able to:

• Evaluate and reconcile independent cost estimates with advocacy cost estimates.
• Ensure that all project needs are adequately covered and properly time-phased in the budget submission for large-scale complex projects and/or projects with resource issues.

Proficiency Level
Participates as a project team member to gain an overall understanding of technology and engineering development activities and to gain initial experience in the competency.

Illustrations
Team Practitioners should be able to describe, identify, or define:

• Technology readiness levels and how they relate to the system of interest.
• NASA’s technology transfer and commercialization policies and applications.
• Processes for technology assessment.
• Technology transfer and commercialization processes.
• Project technology assessments, technology transfer, and commercialization activities.
• The risk management process.

Proficiency Level

• Leads teams in the execution of technology and engineering development activities.
• Provides guidance and expertise to team members, assisting in resolving issues.
• Applies processes for leading and reporting results of technology assessment activities.

Illustrations
Team Leads should be able to:

• Apply processes of technology development and maturation related to technology readiness level (TRL).
• Apply NASA’s technology transfer and commercialization policies and applications.
• Perform the application of risk management to new technology development.
• Track and report costs relative to the planned technology development goals.
• Prepare backup plans for situations when technologies or engineering do not mature at the required rate.

Proficiency Level

• Leads teams at the project level in the execution of technology and engineering development activities.
• Provides guidance and expertise at the project level, resolving project issues.
• Manages the processes for assessing and developing project technologies.
• Manages the processes of technology transfer and commercialization and the role of other field center organizations in those processes (such as legal and commercial).
• Directs and/or authors technology assessment, development, and transfer project plans.
• Evaluates and approves technology maturation progress and assignment of TRL values.
• Arranges and directs technology transfer and/or commercialization activities.

Illustrations
Project Managers should be able to:

• Lead teams at the project level in the execution of the technology and engineering development activities. Provide guidance and expertise at the project level, resolving project issues.
• Manage the processes for assessing and developing project technologies.
• Manage the processes of technology transfer and commercialization and the role of other field center organizations in those processes (such as legal and commercial).
• Direct and/or author technology assessment, development, and transfer project plans.
• Evaluate and approve technology maturation progress and assignment of TRL values.
• Arrange and direct technology transfer and/or commercialization activities.

Proficiency Level

• Leads overall effort, reviews and approves products, resolves issues, and maintains relationships with the highest level of internal, external, and international contacts.
• Motivates the implementation of NASA’s technology transfer and commercialization policies.

Illustrations
Program Managers should be able to:

• Assess, develop, and transfer technology.
• Direct and/or author technology assessment, development, and transfer program plans.
• Participate as necessary in technology transfer and commercialization activities.
• Direct risk management and control with respect to new technology development.
• Evaluate the impact of costs relative to planned technology development goals.
• Develop overall project/program strategies for backup plans when technologies or engineering do not mature at the required rate.

Proficiency Level

• Participates as a project team member to gain an overall understanding of the acquisition management process and to gain initial experience in the competency.
• Understands and fully complies with federal requirements for contracting via both full and open competition and “other than full and open competition.”
• Understands the requirements for statements of work (SOW), data requirement descriptions (DRDs), verification plans, technical metrics, acceptance and approval requirements, and the attainment process.
• Understands available acquisition instruments and their uses, such as contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements, and the appropriate use of each instrument.

Illustrations
Team Practitioners should be able to describe, identify, or define:

• The purpose and key elements of an acquisition strategy.
• Requirements for acquisitions involving well-known, commonly available products, materials, and services.
• The general acquisition strategy outline of the current project(s).
• The NASA procurement process of obtaining products and services from outside of NASA.
• The applicability determination of EVM for NASA programs/projects and contracts and associated requirements.
• How to write clear SOWs, requirements, and specifications that accurately describe the services and products contractors are obligated to provide.
• How to prepare an accurate purchase order for products or services from outside of NASA.

Proficiency Level

• Leads teams in the execution of the acquisition management process.
• Provides guidance and expertise to team members, assisting in resolving issues.

Illustrations
Team Leads should be able to:

• Contribute to the development, implementation, and monitoring of acquisition strategies, contract SOWs, DRDs, verification plans, and approval requirements to support flight hardware/software or other project requirements.
• Establish effective partnerships with acquisition/contract, EVM, and resources management personnel.
• Formulate and execute acquisitions consistent with attainment strategies for projects with low to moderate complexity.
• Perform acquisitions for projects with relatively straightforward and stable funding situations.
• Monitor and evaluate the performance of acquisitions with low to moderate complexity.
• Initiate and track procurement processes for needed services and/or products.

Proficiency Level

• Leads teams at the project level in the execution of the acquisition management process.
• Provides guidance and expertise at the project level, resolving project issues.

Illustrations
Project Managers should be able to:

• Identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and risks associated with various acquisition strategies.
• Apply agency and center acquisition procedures and processes.
• Determine EVM applicability and implementation requirements.
• Identify requirements for acquisitions involving advanced, newly developed, and innovative products, materials, and services.
• Manage the development and approval of a project’s acquisition strategy.
• Establish and manage successful win-win vendor/contractor relationships.
• Establish effective partnerships with acquisition/contract, EVM, and resources management personnel.
• Demonstrate capability in development, implementation, and monitoring acquisition strategies, contract SOW, DRDs, verification plans, and approval requirements to support flight hardware/software.
• Apply and use NASA’s procurement process and contract relationships.
• Demonstrate capability in formulating and executing acquisitions consistent with attainment strategies for large-scale, complex projects, and managing the development of contract SOW requirements, contractor DRDs, and data types (data approval requirements).

Proficiency Level

• Leads overall effort, reviews and approves products, resolves issues, and maintains relationships with the highest level internal, external, and international contacts.

Illustrations
Program Managers should be able to:

• Approve and oversee a program’s acquisition strategy.
• Lead activities associated with development and implementation of contracts and procurement of major hardware/software when serving on a SEB or as a COR.
• Direct development, implementation, and monitoring of acquisition strategies, contract SOW, DRDs, verification plans, and approval requirements to support flight hardware/software.
• Perform project acquisitions involving multiple contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, and other complex funding mechanisms.
• Monitor and evaluate the performance of acquisitions on large-scale, complex projects using EVM if applicable.

Proficiency Level
Participates as a project team member to gain an overall understanding of the project life cycle activities and to gain initial experience in the competency.

Illustrations
Team Practitioners should be able to describe, identify, or define:

• The project governance and communication plan describing the governance organization and process used to focus internal and external stakeholder resources, human, budgetary, regulatory, and physical aspects of project life cycle management.
• How NASA projects review, approve and maintain the project life cycle. governance and execution plans.
• The communication of roles and responsibilities of project team members throughout the project life cycle.

Proficiency Level

• Leads teams in the execution of the project life cycle activities.
• Provides guidance and expertise to team members, assisting in resolving issues.

Illustrations
Team Leads should be able to:

• Support the implementation and effective use of project management methodology throughout the project life cycle.
• Plan for issues concerning physical construction, operating systems, hardware, programming, safety, and security.
• Implement system life cycle functions, and features, and facilitate structured engineering methods.
• Monitor operations and maintenance standards.

Proficiency Level

• Leads teams at the project level in the execution of the project life cycle activities.
• Provides guidance and expertise at the project level, resolving project issues.

Illustrations
Project Managers should be able to:

• Plan, design, develop, test, implement, and maintain system development life cycle phases.
• Provide technical consultation and support on project management and systems engineering.
• Review project materials and deliverables for adherence to cost, schedule, technical performance, and risk.
• Identify and analyze project requirements, especially key/driving mission, science, and/or system requirements.
• Define project scope, product deliverables, and de-scope options.
• Plan and coordinate project activities such as scheduling, budgeting, and administrative tasks, and ensure that all project phases are documented appropriately.
• Plan and coordinate the development, maintenance, and publication of project plans.

Proficiency Level

• Leads overall effort, reviews and approves products, resolves issues, and maintains relationships with the highest level of internal, external, and international contacts.

Illustrations
Program Managers should be able to:

• Develop project requirements in accordance with programmatic guidance for obtaining and evaluating customer functional and performance requirements and their management.
• Develop processes for defining, developing, verifying, reviewing, and managing changes to program requirements.
• Provide technical management and implementation experience/oversight to direct the completion of difficult technical tasks, especially multi-faceted, cross-cutting tasks.
• Manage development and iteration of requirements concepts, program plans, PPBE cycle, and associated items for projects or large sub-systems including stakeholder acceptance. This includes analyzing and challenging impacts, capturing relevant acceptance standards and criteria, and ensuring that requirements are verifiable.
• Direct requirements base-lining process, traceability, change control process, and allocation of functional responsibility.
• Approve program/project requirements and changes.