Program Manager Capacity Building

UMass Boston•Boston, MA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Full-time (37.5 hours/week), benefited Program Manager to manage state and federally funded projects based at the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI), a University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) affiliated with the University of Massachusetts in Boston, as part of ICI’s Employment Implementation and Capacity Building Team. The Program Manager will be responsible for project coordination, collaborating with PIs, project leads, and staff assigned to the team, overseeing or implementing activities and protocols related to grants and contracts focused on building the capacity of provider organizations, state systems, and other stakeholders to improve competitive integrated employment and community life engagement outcomes for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Program Manager will be responsible for coordination of the development, delivery, and continuous improvement of training and technical assistance activities, resources, and dissemination strategies in collaboration with project leadership; the management of all aspects of technical assistance (TA) and training provided to the project constituents by identifying and leveraging relevant internal and external resources; coordination of virtual and in-person technical assistance, and the supervision of staff; and direct provision of technical assistance to assigned agencies, systems and stakeholders. The Program Manager is responsible for the development of training resources and information through multiple formats including public awareness campaign materials, online learning resources, research to practice briefs and how to guides, virtual resource repositories, as well as in person and remote trainings, webinars, and conference presentations. The incumbent will work closely with the Institute for Community Inclusion’s (ICI) marketing and communications team, as well as the knowledge translation team to develop, design and disseminate resources shared via the project website. The Program Manager will manage the internal evaluation processes and ongoing monitoring of progress toward stated goals, objectives, and outcomes with the PIs and Independent Evaluator and will develop and maintain program evaluations and quality assurance mechanisms for all activities and products. They may be eligible to obtain Principal Investigator status through development of projects involving integrated employment services or community life engagement. This position works with an interdisciplinary team on the development of products which will be disseminated locally and nationally addressing issues related to the inclusion of people with a wide range of disabilities in employment and community life engagement. This position may be held remotely but must have flexibility to travel locally or nationally when necessary to meet university and project requirements.

Requirements

Master’s degree in such areas as vocational rehabilitation, social work, human services, special education, or other related field, and a minimum of three to five years of direct experience providing or coordinating training and/or technical assistance, with employment professionals (staff from state VR, providers, workforce development or capacity building activities related to disabilities service delivery, agency change, employment, community inclusion or other closely related areas.
An additional 2-3 years of the above experience may be substituted for the Master's Degree.
Experience working in or with provider organizations, state agencies, or systems that support individuals with disabilities is required.
One year of supervisory experience is required.
Strong collaboration and self-management skills to meet daily, weekly and yearly deadlines.
Able to effectively summarize information and data in order to establish and implement scopes of work.
Able to work independently in a self-directed manner while also coordinating and collaborating effectively as part of a team or project.
Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing using a variety of communication tools and platforms, including email, training materials, presentations, webinars, informational and instructional resources and products, online modules/courses, newsletters, web-based materials, and other electronic media to a range of colleagues and partners across projects within the university and in the community.

Nice To Haves

Preference will be given to candidates with experience related to competitive integrated employment, provider transformation, organizational change, and/or systems change.
Experience coordinating projects or initiatives involving multiple staff, partners, and deliverables as well as experience developing training curricula, online learning resources, and written technical assistance materials is preferred.

Responsibilities

Coordinate closely with project and team leadership to support implementation of project goals, priorities, and work plans.
Manage and implement projects (grants and contracts) on the areas of competitive integrated employment and community life engagement outcomes for individuals with intellectual and development disabilities to ensure that project development and implementation is consistent with current and emerging practices in the field; submit project reports as required by funding agencies;
Identify training and technical assistance needs and coordinate with project and team leads in the development of training plans, tools, and resources to support provider organizations, and other stakeholders.
Design, develop and deliver in-person and virtual trainings, webinars, presentations, and other learning opportunities related to employment, community life engagement, organizational capacity building, and systems change.
Provide technical and consultation to community organizations, provider agencies, and other partners to improve policies, practices, and outcomes related to employment and community life engagement for individuals with disabilities.
Identify and actively pursue funding and contract opportunities to support, sustain, and expand current programming efforts; provide leadership to ensure that project development and implementation is consistent with current and emerging practices in the field; create and submit project reports as required by funding agencies; and maintain a leadership role in the areas of training and technical assistance and integrated employment services;
Assume a leadership role in the compiling of all data and reporting requirements for the Project Director and Independent Evaluator.
Supervise and mentor a team of Training Associates, graduate assistants, consultants, and/or other junior staff involved in training and technical assistance activities, including hiring, onboarding, reviewing, and providing professional development;
Maintain productive and effective relationships with funding agencies;
Work closely with the marketing and communications team to develop and implement technical assistance resources (e.g., manuals, training materials), and other web-based efforts to provide on-demand technical assistance to all project constituents to support program development and develop dissemination specific strategies for a wide range of materials, products, and audiences.
Serve as a content expert on employment and community life related topics for people with disabilities including individualized job placement strategies, employer engagement, job placement and supports, accommodation, employment-related legislation, person-centered thinking and planning, community life engagement guideposts, etc. with additional expertise in working with the service systems involved including state workforce development, vocational rehabilitation, intellectual and developmental disabilities, schools, in local, state and national organizations, conferences task forces and committees;
Identify and pursue opportunities to provide knowledge and resources within the Institute in the areas of integrated employment policy, community life engagement, research, training and technical assistance; contribute to the development and implementation of projects; promote the development of technical assistance and training skills in project staff.
Collaborate with other ICI staff to increase cohesiveness across projects and focus areas through shared staff resources, project collaboration, integrated work plans and other relevant approaches;
Stay abreast of changes in the field related to integrated employment and community life engagement and the support and services available for individuals with disabilities and individuals from diverse linguistic and ethnic backgrounds
Perform other duties as assigned.