Program Specialist Tribal Colleges and Universities

Overview

This position is located in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Head Start (OHS). Head Start is a national HHS program that promotes school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social, and other services to enrolled children and families.

The Program Specialist is responsible for a wide variety of project coordination, data and grant management, and communication duties as part of a team engaged in ongoing assessment and quality improvement of program operations. The candidate will act as a thought partner to set objectives, coordinate and evaluate project implementation, and strategize best practices. The candidate will be a self-starter and able to independently advance various initiatives of the Office of Head Start.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Candidate will manage a portfolio of grants through the federal competitive process from notification to award and make thoughtful recommendations to federal agency leadership. This requires gaining an in-depth understanding of each assigned grantee, their service area, enrollment, level of funding, and other grants. Performs analysis of proposals and ensure compliance with competitive grant requirements. Manages grants post award including budgets, operational compliance, and serving as a POC for content related inquires. Additional activities, including, but not limited to:

• Prepares written recommendations based on analysis of program and cost data; maintains a collection of key grantee data, service area, funding amount and inventory.
• Maintains responsibility for the overall planning, organizing, directing, controlling, and delivery of projects prioritized in alignment with the client’s expectations and business needs.
• Oversee the ongoing process and system capability associated with projects and manage any changes required to meet or exceed the expectations established in project designs.
• Coordinate and collaborate with Regional Offices, OHS National Center staff and OHS stakeholders to advance ACF and OHS initiatives as necessary.
• Serve as a specialist on content/subject specific topics and prioritize work based on general direction from managers to include but not be limited to Tribal Colleges and Universities and other funding opportunities within the Division
  Support strategic planning initiatives by identify and recommending improvements to new and existing processes.
• Responsible for the completion of assigned contract deliverables, ensuring they are accomplished within prescribed timeframe and funding parameters.
• Monitor projects/programs to ensure work scope, schedule, and budget are well defined and maintained
  Communicate regularly with customers to discuss project status and updates.
• Represent SID and OHS at inter-departmental, inter-agency and OHS Central Office TTA meetings.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, psychology, human services, or related field preferred with 6+ years of direct experience OR a Master’s degree with 4-5 years of direct experience.
• Previous direct experience in social work or family/community services highly desired.
• Experience or knowledge of working with or among tribal communities/populations preferred.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite applications including Access and Share Point.
• Significant project management experience.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Ability to multi-task and provide analytic support on multiple major projects across varied content areas without difficulty.
• Ability to work under and meet tight deadlines and deliverables.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.

Tagged as: data/grant management, project coordinator, tribal colleges/universities, tribal communities