Program Specialist 4 / Internal Only

State of Washington•Thurston County – Olympia, WA

21h•Hybrid

About The Position

This posting is open to internal ARTSWA employees only. ArtsWA is the Washington State Arts Commission. Our mission is to be a catalyst for the arts, advancing the role of the arts and the creative economy in the lives of individuals and communities throughout the state. We are a vibrant, busy agency with a friendly, knowledgeable staff, serving diverse populations and striving to increase equity and access in the arts for all Washingtonians. You will support the Tribal Cultural Affairs (TCA) to expand arts learning opportunities for Washington State Tribes to support the creative economy and the unique role of Indigenous arts, artists, and culture. You’ll have organization-wide responsibility and will work in service of both agency and program-specific strategic plan goals and strategies. While you work directly with both TCA and ArtsWA Operations staff, you’ll work most closely with the TCA Manager to develop program-wide systems and resolve project timeline and capacity challenges. This position independently leads key elements of the AIE program including: Developing timelines, procedures, data management tools, and shared practices for all TCA projects. Working with the program manager to reconcile and track project budgets in alignment with agency spending plan and related fiscal expenditure coding. Collaborating with TCA staff and contractors, including tribal governments, to monitor deliverables and reporting requirements. Designing, in collaboration with TCA manager and ArtsWA communications staff, support documents that increase access to ArtsWA services for Washington State tribes. Conducting research and analyzing data to refine TCA practices in-line with the agency strategic plan. Provides leadership and maintains a working relationship with tribal governments, staff, and communities in an appropriate and culturally responsive manner. Prepares and maintains program reports, records, comprehensive plans, summaries and recommendations.

Requirements

Two (2) years of experience working directly with federally recognized Tribes and Tribal communities on policy development, regulations, government relations, matters of Tribal law or Tribal affairs OR Two (2) years of Tribal community outreach/development experience
Knowledge of the unique legal and political Government-to-Government relationship between the federal government, state government, and Tribal governments.
Demonstrable fluency in the arts and forms of Tribal cultural expression, such as dance, media arts, theatre, sculpture, carving, storytelling and literature, poetry, and music.

Nice To Haves

Lived experience of the issues and challenges facing Washington’s Tribal communities.
Extensive experience working with Washington Tribal communities and understanding of Tribal governments and culture in Washington State.
Background and experience in developing and implementing Tribal cultural programs or community initiatives in Washington State.
Ability to forge relationships with a broad constituency.
Strong organizational and analytical skills.
Computer proficiency, including general office applications and virtual meeting platforms.

Responsibilities

Coordinates the design, administration, and technical implementation of all TCA grant program activities.
Develops relationships with Tribal Governments, Tribal communities, and Tribal staff to facilitate coordination of grant funding, cultural events, and community building opportunities.
Manages systems and delegate tasks related to application design, communications, panel review, award notifications, invoicing, supporting grantee responsibilities, and final report processes.
Creates and refines systems to track applicant and grant recipient data in alignment with state agency record-keeping policies and to correspond with evolving agency tools and systems.
Ensures that all documentation is culturally appropriate and reflects ArtsWA’s commitment to collaborating with Washington Tribes.
Designs online grant systems.
Serves as the primary contact and support for grant applicants and grant recipients and/or members of the public with support from the TCA Program Manager as needed.
Identifies and tracks program expenses in alignment with agency spending plans, anticipated program expenses, payments, and fiscal reports.
Independently collaborates with other (non TCA) grant programs to refine cross-program practices to increase tribal access and ease of agency-wide user experiences.
Records all anticipated and paid expenses with related expenditure coding into the TCA budget tracking document; reconcile fiscal reports and agency spending plan(s).
Anticipates, recommends, and enacts resolution for potential conflicts related to task delegation, competing timelines, and cross-program/project workflow.
Develops technical and systems design solutions for each TCA project with a specialized focus on increasing accessibility for tribal governments, communities and staff.
Writes and edit publications, reports, pamphlets, or newsletters for internal and external distribution ensuring cultural appropriateness and sensitivity.
Refines the TCA communications and outreach plan including updating TCA communications timeline, drafting website changes, newsletter articles, social media posts and/or eblast messages.
Develops project management systems to support the collective impact team across state agencies and organizations.