Suicide Prevention Specialist

Commonwealth of Massachusetts • Boston, MA

1d • Onsite

About The Position

The MA Department of Public Health Suicide Prevention Program (SPP) seeks to reduce the incidence of suicidal ideation, attempts, and deaths across the Commonwealth through a comprehensive public health prevention framework that recognizes and addresses disproportionate harm and risk of specific populations through data-driven strategies and incorporating the voices of people with lived experience. SPP aims to achieve its mission through a portfolio of programs which includes the administration of federal grants, including the MA response to the national 988 Lifeline and the MA Youth Suicide Prevention Program; prevention-intervention-postvention services; workforce development initiatives; distributing funds to state agencies in support of population-specific approaches; supporting statewide and regional coalition building; and more.
MA DPH is seeking an experienced, driven, and motivated suicide preventionist for the role of Suicide Prevention Specialist to join the Suicide Prevention Program in its administration and oversight of statewide suicide prevention efforts. The Suicide Prevention Specialist is a program leader, subject matter expert, and trainer that has primary oversight over the SPP’s contracted providers, interagency state agreements, workforce development initiatives, and supervision responsibilities of professional level staff. The Suicide Prevention Specialist will utilize their subject matter expertise in suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention strategies and activities to provide strategic oversight, capacity building, and technical assistance to the program’s range of partners, including but not limited to, contracted providers and funded state agencies. The Suicide Prevention Specialist will oversee fiscal and programmatic contract management processes including participating in any related and relevant procurement activities. The Suicide Prevention Specialist will provide strategic oversight of the program’s public-facing workforce development initiatives including both the delivery of curricula/content and the curation of specialized content to be delivered by content area experts through a public training calendar, an annual 2-day conference, presentations, and other formats such as requests from partners and interested parties.

Requirements

• Ability to understand, explain and apply the laws, rules, regulations, policies, procedures, etc. governing assigned unit activities.
• Means to coordinate the efforts of others in accomplishing assigned work objectives.
• Capacity to analyze and determine the applicability of data, to draw conclusions and make appropriate recommendations.
• Power to supervise, including planning and assigning work according to the nature of the job to be accomplished, the capabilities of subordinates and available resources; controlling work through periodic reviews and/or evaluations; determining subordinates training needs and providing or arranging for such training; motivating subordinates to work effectively; determining the need for disciplinary action and either recommending or initiating disciplinary action.
• Skilled to write concisely, to express thoughts clearly and to develop ideas in logical sequence.
• Ability to follow written and oral Instructions
• At least (A) four years of full-time, or equivalent part-time, professional, administrative or managerial experience in business administration, business management or public administration the major duties of which involved program management, program administration, program coordination, program planning and/or program analysis
• Of which at least one year must have been in a supervisory capacity
• A Bachelor's degree with a major in business administration, business management or public administration may be substituted for a maximum of two years of the required (A) experience.
• A Graduate degree with a major in business administration, business management or public administration may be substituted for a maximum of three years of the required (A) experience.
• A Bachelor's or higher degree with a major other than in business administration, business management or public administration may be substituted for a maximum of one year of the required (A) experience.

Nice To Haves

• Experienced trainer with certifications in suicide prevention trainings such as Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR), QPR Instructor Training, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA – Adult and/or Youth), Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), SafeTALK, etc.
• Knowledge of and practical experience delivering and/or overseeing the implementation of suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention strategies and activities being performed by others.
• Experience and familiarity with project management techniques and continuous quality improvement approaches.
• Experience supervising staff.
• Comfort speaking in front of varied-sized audiences, delivering trainings and presentations with virtual technology as well as in-person

Responsibilities

• Delivers training as certified Master Trainer in curricula such as Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR); QPR Instructor Training; Mental Health First Aid (MHFA – adults and/or youth), Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), etc.
• Provides strategic oversight and planning of the SPP’s Training Calendar and Annual Conference including curating relevant and best-practice content; overseeing allocated budget and spending; utilizing continuous quality improvement practices and values to recommend and implement changes or improvements to content, speakers, evaluation, or processes.
• Develops and delivers specialized content including, but not limited to, trainings, presentations, tool kits, case studies, and others as identified through CQI practices or as requested by interested parties and partners.
• Oversees the planning and development of the Annual Suicide Prevention Conference; supervises duties of assigned support staff and/or the chair of the conference planning committee, ensures relevant and timely project management techniques are utilized to create a successful event.
• Oversees the programmatic and fiscal activities related to SPP’s portfolio of contract providers and supervises duties of assigned contract support staff. Participates and leads related procurement activities as needed.
• Assists in the overall planning, coordination, and monitoring of the activities of the Suicide Prevention Program to ensure effective operations and compliance with established standards across the team.
• Provides capacity building and technical assistance to funded providers and interested partners on a variety of prevention, intervention, and postvention strategies and activities.
• Oversees data collection and reporting activities of vendors; provides training and support on collection and reporting methods; conducts basic data analysis in support of reports, partner communications, and public records requests.
• Supervises professional level staff, assigning work and reviewing performance.
• Applies health and racial equity and DEIA lens to work and engages in professional development opportunities on a regular basis.
• Participate in collaborative suicide prevention activities such as grant collaborations and partnerships, suicide mortality review team, etc

Benefits

• Comprehensive Benefits
• outstanding suite of employee benefits that add to the overall value of your compensation package
• work experience that supports you, your loved ones, and your future

What This Job Offers

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