Program Support Specialist

The Program Support Specialist provides professional grants management, program administration, and customer service support to the Office of Head Start (OHS) in administering Head Start, Early Head Start, and Early Head Start–Child Care Partnership grants. This position supports Federal staff by performing grant application reviews, recipient oversight, program monitoring, data analysis, recipient communications, technical assistance, and administrative activities that strengthen program performance, ensure regulatory compliance, and support the effective delivery of OHS services nationwide. The Program Support Specialist works collaboratively with Regional Office and Central Office staff to support discretionary grant administration and continuous improvement initiatives.

Responsibilities:

• Provide grants management and program administration support for Head Start, Early Head Start, and Early Head Start–Child Care Partnership grants.
• Review, analyze, and process grant applications, continuation applications, supplemental funding requests, budget modifications, and other grant actions.
• Support grant award processing, post-award administration, and grant closeout activities.
• Review grant recipient reports, monitoring reports, Quality Improvement Plans, community assessments, self-assessments, correspondence, and other program documentation.
• Identify potential programmatic, operational, fiscal, or compliance issues requiring Federal attention.
• Prepare memoranda, reports, presentations, correspondence, and other written products supporting grant administration.
• Provide technical assistance and customer service to grant recipients consistent with OHS policies and procedures.
• Participate in grant oversight activities including recipient meetings, monitoring preparation, onsite reviews, post-review activities, and follow-up communications.
• Assist with implementation of national initiatives including Full Enrollment Initiative (FEI), Change in Scope (CiS), under-enrollment activities, child incident reporting, and other Central Office priorities.
• Coordinate with Regional Offices, Central Office, Office of Grants Management (OGM), contractors, and external stakeholders.
• Support development of training materials, webinars, presentations, and standard operating procedures.
• Assist with workflow improvement initiatives and operational process enhancements.
• Maintain accurate documentation in Federal information systems.
• Perform other grants management and program support activities assigned by the Government.

Qualifications:

• At least 2 years of progressive professional experience directly related to early childhood programs, with a preference for Head Start/Early Head Start programs.
• Demonstrated ability in utilizing a variety of web-based and off-the-shelf data management software packages.
• Demonstrated ability to aggregate, analyze, and present data gathered from multiple sources.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly, both orally and in writing, and produce high-quality written products such as memoranda, presentations, and correspondence.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience supporting OHS or ACF.
• Experience with Head Start Enterprise System (HSES), GrantSolutions, AMS, and Smartsheet.
• Experience supporting Federal grants management, monitoring reviews, recipient oversight, technical assistance, and process improvement initiatives.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education, Human Services, Public Administration, or related field from an accredited university or college.