Director of Senior Services

City of Northampton • Northampton, MA

5d • Onsite

About The Position

This position is responsible for the building management of the Senior Center, the supervision of all staff, preparing and monitoring departmental budget, fundraising, grant writing, strategic planning, and program development. It is also responsible for the management of the City Tax Work-Off Program. The role involves developing, planning, organizing, and administering programs and services for senior citizens, including transportation, counseling, information and referral, group activities, and volunteer recognition events, while ensuring compliance with City policies and legal requirements. The Director will seek external funding through grant writing, manage the annual operating budget, and oversee the Senior Center building. This includes supervising, directing, training, and coordinating staff and volunteers, as well as managing the City's "tax work off" program. The Director will serve as staff liaison to the Council on Aging (COA), attend COA meetings, and maintain necessary certifications such as CPR, first aid, AED, Serv Safe, and Allergen. The work is performed under administrative direction, requiring the employee to establish short-range plans and objectives, departmental performance standards, and assume accountability for department results. The Director exercises control in the development of departmental policies, goals, objectives, and budgets, and is expected to resolve conflicts. The role involves analyzing program objectives, determining necessary work operations, estimating resources, allocating funds and staff, reporting on program achievement, and recommending new goals. The Director formulates or recommends program goals, develops plans for short and long-range objectives, determines organizational structure, operating guidelines, and work operations. They prepare and defend budget and manpower requests, coordinate program efforts, delegate authority to subordinate supervisors, and review work in terms of accomplishment of program objectives. The position requires extensive judgment and ingenuity to develop new or adapt existing methods and approaches, and the employee is recognized as the department's authority in interpreting guidelines and developing operating policies. The work involves the practical application of a variety of concepts, practices, and specialized techniques relating to a professional or technical field, including evaluation and interpretation of factors, conditions, or unusual circumstances, and gathering and analyzing facts or data. Contacts are with co-workers, the public, professionals, and groups or individuals with conflicting opinions or objectives, requiring skillful negotiation and compromise. The employee may represent the organization on matters of procedures or policy. The employee has regular access to sensitive and confidential information at the departmental level.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, human services, geriatrics or a related field and from three to four years of progressively responsible management experience in social services working with a senior population, or any equivalent combination of education and experience, required.
• Valid Class D Massachusetts Driver’s License required.
• Knowledge of grant writing and budget monitoring.
• Knowledge of issues surrounding the elderly/aging process, including knowledge of differing needs and concerns of various segments of senior population and knowledge of proper physical guidance and support techniques.
• Knowledge of federal, state and local resources available to the senior population.
• Ability to develop and maintain effective and constructive working relationships with senior citizens, service providers, human service agencies, citizen committees and general public; written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Ability to assess the needs of the senior population and design and coordinate appropriate services and programs to accommodate these needs.
• Interpersonal skills
• Computer skills, including data entry, spreadsheet, word processing, graphics, reports, internet, email
• Public relations skills
• Organizational, problem solving and planning skills
• Skills in training and supervising staff and volunteers effectively.

Responsibilities

• Develops, plans, organizes and administers programs and services for senior citizens, including senior transportation program, counseling, information and referral, group activities, and volunteer recognition events while ensuring compliance with established City policies, legal parameters, and contractual requirements.
• Seeks, develops, prepares and administers grants from external funding sources to expand programs; maintains awareness of grant opportunities, prepares letters of intent to highlight goals and funding; writes proposals; attends interviews as necessary.
• Prepares and administers annual operating budget and submits reports as required to Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs; monitors spending within budget parameters; tracks units of service for annual State report.
• Manages, operates and utilizes My Senior Center software program.
• Maintains oversight of Senior Center building, including use; communicates and coordinates with Central Services for building maintenance and capital improvement requests.
• Supervises, directs, trains and coordinates duties of all staff members and numerous volunteers engaged in the various operations of the Senior Center.
• Coordinates City’s “tax work off” program; determines eligibility for participation and placement of individuals into City/school departments.
• Monitors compliance by checking progress and hours worked.
• Serves as staff liaison to Council on Aging (COA); advises COA on department operations and policy issues and makes recommendations as needed.
• Attends monthly meetings of Council on Aging.
• Maintains certification in CPR, first aid, AED, Serv Safe and Allergen; maintains certification to receive criminal offender record information (CORI) relating to volunteers.
• Performs similar or related work as required.

Benefits

• All Benefits and privileges are consistent with the Northampton Administrative & Professional Employees Association (NAPEA) Collective Bargaining Agreement Contract.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager