Director of Grant Operations & Strategy

State of Colorado•Denver, CO

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

This position is located within the Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) which is responsible for policy development, service provision and coordination, program monitoring and evaluation, and administrative oversight for the public behavioral health system. Located within the Behavioral Health Administration work unit, pursuant to House Bill (HB) 21-1097. HB21-1097 provides that a Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) was created to be a single state entity. It was initially established under CDHS as of July 1, 2022, and provides administrative and “back-of-the-house” support as long as the BHA remains under CDHS’ purview. The BHA is a permanent entity that is responsible for leading and promoting the state’s behavioral health priorities and efforts across agencies, creating shared goals, improving collaboration, and driving accountability and transparency. The BHA provides oversight and coordinate service standards across the hundreds of behavioral health programs that currently exist under multiple state agencies and the Judicial Branch. The BHA also works to ensure the recommendations that resulted from the work of the Behavioral Health Task Force (BHTF) and multiple ancillary projects evolving out of the work of the BHTF are honored and implemented, to ensure and meet our vision of having a comprehensive, equitable, effective continuum of behavioral health services that meets the needs of all Coloradans. The Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) is responsible for policy development, service provision and coordination, program monitoring and evaluation, and administrative oversight for the public behavioral health system. BHA funds, supports and monitors numerous mental health and substance abuse community programs and providers, and reviews and designates the State’s 27-65 providers and licenses substance use disorder service providers. BHA executes the State’s federal responsibilities as the State Mental Health Authority and the State Substance Abuse Authority for the purposes of administering federal mental health and substance abuse block grant funds.

Requirements

Nine (9) years of relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned to this position OR A combination of related education and/or relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned equal to nine (9) years.
State of Colorado residency at the time of application (unless otherwise identified in the posting), and residency within the state throughout the duration of employment in this position.
Must possess a valid, non-restricted Colorado Driver’s License or an non-restricted U.S. Driver's License for positions within 30 miles of the CO state border
Out-of-State Driver’s License holders must obtain a valid, non-restricted Colorado Driver’s License within 30 days of employment start date.
Former State employees who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination must: Disclose that information on the application. Explain why the prior termination or resignation should not disqualify you from the current position. Provide your employee number from your prior State employment.

Nice To Haves

Relevant years of state service experience

Responsibilities

Directs the agency’s formal grant vetting process including grant application intake forms and decision workflows to enforce strategic alignment, thorough upfront project/budget planning, and evaluate organizational risk before submitting grant applications.
Leads proposal development, writing assignments, narrative editing, logic model development, and budget architecture for dollar grant applications.
Provides technical assistance to program directors to translate complex federal Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) into executable project plans.
Monitor the federal register and other sources of information about discretionary grant opportunities and emerging potential funding opportunities, determining fit with the Office strategic plan and summarizing viable alternatives for leadership review.
Tracks grant application statuses, Notices of Award (NOAs), budgets, submission documents, and reporting deadlines.
Establishes agency-wide protocols, standard operating procedures (SOPs), desk manuals, and workflow priorities while continually monitors team performance.
Lead the preparation of letters of support/commitment and maintains bolierplate agency descriptions for grant proposals.
Maintain boilerplate language that describes the Department, Office, and Divisions to be used in grant applications.
Complete all State, Departmental and Office clearance documents to ensure that submissions are cleared completely prior to submission.
Applies a rigorous "Go/No-Go" evaluation matrix to assess project feasibility, capacity constraints, budget requirements, and strategic fit.
Manages post-award transition frameworks upon receipt of new NOAs to prepare programmatic leads for implementation.
Leads BHA’s agency-wide contract monitoring framework, establishing standardized tools and risk assessment protocols.
Serves as the central lead for external state and federal audits (e.g., Office of the State Auditor SUPTRS Single Audit).
Coordinates cross-divisional compliance data gathering and prepares final audit packages for executive leadership.
Establishes standardized grant and contract closeout procedures to ensure adherence to audit and retention requirements.
Designs and delivers staff training on grant compliance, subrecipient monitoring, and federal/state regulations (e.g., 2 CFR Part 200).
Maintains the central library of BHA grant/contract policies, SOPs, and internal control documentation.
Supervises a team of 6 FTE staff directly or through lower-tier management.
Handles recruitment, hiring, onboarding, workload prioritization, and performance evaluations.
Provides regular coaching, identifies professional development needs, and resolves employee performance or grievance issues.
The needs of this position are highly dependent upon the federal and other grant funding landscape and evolves based on funding needs to support BHA funding diversity.