Program Coordinator (DOH/PHD#11090)

New Mexico Department of Justice; Albuquerque (NM); On-site; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

New Mexico Department of Health seeks a Southern Community Health Worker (CHW) Coordinator to advance certification, recruit CHWs, and train staff across Southern New Mexico. This role will build social service networks and provide technical assistance to sustain workforce development statewide.

The ideal candidate blends cultural humility with program management, possesses bilingual English/Spanish skills, and can travel across rural communities to support health equity initiatives.

Qualifications

• Associate's degree and 2+ years of program administration or project management experience.
• Bilingual English/Spanish required.
• Experience with health workforce development preferred.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate, facilitate, and market CHW state certification in Southern NM.
• Support CHW workforce recruitment at events and community sites in Southern NM.
• Identify and deliver CHW content trainings monthly or as needed in Southern NM.
• Develop and strengthen social service and health care networks for CHWs in Southern NM and rural areas.
• Engage and foster collaborations with Southern communities to address social determinants of health.
• Develop workplans for state certification and recruitment activities; provide tech assistance.
• Plan and implement statewide CHWs strategic plan components including data collection and reporting.

Skills

Bilingual (English/Spanish)

Program administration

Project management

Education

Associate's Degree

Job description

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For more Job Requirements & Classification Description:

It is mission critical to the Governor¿s Priorities to reduce health disparities and improve health outcomes by providing access to care and services in support of health equity for New Mexicans.

The Office of Community Health Workers (OCHW) within the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) exists to support the Community Health Workers/Representatives (CHW/R) profession and workforce development by leading strategic partnerships and capacity-building initiatives with organizations employing, training, and mentoring or advocating for Community Health Workers (CHWs) statewide.

This Posting will be used for ongoing recruitment and may close at any time. Applicant lists may be screened more than once.

Why does the job exist?

The position exists through annual legislative appropriations to meet the state mandated statutes: Senate Bill (SB) 58 enacting the Community Health Workers (CHW) Act and NMSA 1978 State-Tribal Collaboration Act.

The Office of Community Health Workers seeks to become a statewide convener for and is charged with workforce development through integration of Community Health Workers/Representatives into New Mexico's health and social service care teams and networks. This charge is key in providing a competent workforce by developing strategic partnerships across New Mexico with organizations employing, training, mentoring, and advocating for Community Health Workers/Representatives to support sustainability and workforce development initiatives for indigenous, rural and underserved, and northern communities within New Mexico.

This position will coordinate, direct, and deliver training, community outreach, and networking opportunities; develop social service and health care networks to support state health equity initiatives; and technical assistance to support state Community Health Worker/Representatives re/certification to individuals, communities, and organizations/providers in northern New Mexico and indigenous communities statewide.

How does it get done?

Key Position Responsibilities:

1) Responsible for coordinating, facilitating, and marketing Community Health Worker (CHW) state certification in the Southern communities of New Mexico.

2) Responsible for supporting CHW workforce recruitment efforts and activities during community events and/or via community requests in the Southern communities of New Mexico.

3) Responsible for identifying, coordinating, facilitating, and delivering content specific trainings for Community Health Workers/Representatives (CHW/Rs) monthly and/or conducting ad hoc presentations on various community issues and public health topics and trends in Southern communities of New Mexico.

4) Responsible for developing and strengthening new and current social service and health care networks for Community Health Workers (CHWs), including CHW organizations/providers within Southern New Mexico, rural and underserved, including bordering states, cities, and towns.

5) Responsible for engaging, developing, and fostering collaborative working relationships and networks with Southern communities to align efforts that address social determinants of health, assist in resource allocation to improve health outcomes, and develop technical assistance supports for Southern New Mexican communities, including bordering states.

6) Responsible for development of workplans for state certification and recruitment activities; professional development and training, community outreach and networking, and technical assistance supports for organizations/providers in the Southern communities of New Mexico.

7) Responsible for planning and implementation of the statewide Office of Community Health Workers strategic plan components: regulations and workforce development, health and social care integration, organizational data systems and CHW/R engagement, and workforce sustainability; including data collection and reporting plans of indigenous, rural and underserved, and Southern New Mexico communities.

Who are the customers?

Individuals and statewide, rural, frontier, and indigenous communities and regions, Community Health Workers/Representatives, Community Health Workers Affiliate organizations/providers, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Indian Health Service Units, Hospitals/Clinics, Public Health Offices, Community Based Organizations, Public School Systems, Higher Learning Institutions, Managed Care Organizations, and other health care and social service providers and networks.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate for the CHW Southern Coordinator requires a unique blend of cultural humility, structural knowledge, and operational expertise tailored to the unique landscape of Southern New Mexico.

Southern New Mexico presents a distinct, diverse context: a dynamic blend of historic Hispano and colonias communities, agricultural and border regions, and expanding rural towns. Community Health Workers (CHWs) serve as the primary bridge between these underserved areas and complex healthcare systems. The Southern Coordinator will provide the essential training, technical assistance, and workforce support needed for these CHWs to succeed.

The ideal candidate will possess the following key characteristics:

1. Expertise in New Mexico's Medicaid and Certification Ecosystem

The financial and regulatory landscape for New Mexico health workers has shifted significantly to allow greater autonomy. The ideal candidate has a firm grasp on Medicaid Reimbursement Pathways. They will be capable of training clinics, community health centers, and community-based organizations on how to utilize New Mexico's Medicaid standing orders. This includes navigating billing procedures so CHWs can successfully bill for services like system navigation, health promotion, and social care coordination without needing a direct clinician order for every visit.

2. Deep Knowledge of State Certification Standards

The Southern Coordinator will be well-versed in the New Mexico Department of Health Office of Community Health Workers (OCHW) certification process. They will be equipped to help workers accumulate the required Core Competencies and Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for state certification and recertification. When required, they will coordinate directly with the OCHW Training/Certification Team to provide targeted technical assistance across the southern region.

3. Competence in Rural and Frontier Delivery Models

Southern New Mexico spans vast geographic distances - from border communities and agricultural hubs to isolated desert and mountain areas. Traditional training and communication methods frequently face challenges due to limited broadband coverage or long travel distances. Mastery in deploying customer-centered technology is essential. The coordinator must be proficient in delivering both asynchronous (self-paced) online training and virtual communities of practice (similar to the Project ECHO model), effectively balancing these with vital, trust-building in-person site visits. This position requires frequent regional travel.

4. A Lived Understanding of Southern NM Geographic & Social Realities

The coordinator will understand the day-to-day realities of frontier and border healthcare, where a CHW's daily responsibilities range from health literacy coaching and chronic disease management to navigating unpaved rural roads, supporting agricultural workers, addressing social drivers of health, and assisting families in isolated colonias.

5. Ability to Nurture Strong Local, Academic, and Non-Profit Partnerships

The candidate should have a proven track record of building collaborative relationships with regional educational institutions (such as NMSU and community colleges), CHW professional associations, local healthcare systems, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and community-based non-profits across the southern counties.

6. Linguistic Competency and Cultural Integration

Given the demographic fabric of Southern New Mexico, fluency in English and Spanish (bilingual) is essential to effectively communicate, train, and build strong relationships with Spanish-speaking Community Health Workers, promotores, and the communities they serve.

Associate's Degree and two (2) years of experience program administration or project management in areas related to the purpose of the position. Any combination of education and/or direct experience in this occupation totaling four (4) years may substitute for the required education and experience.

Employment Requirements

-Driver's License
-Defensive Driving Certificate
-Background Investigation

Working Conditions

The working conditions for this position require splitting your time between an urban administrative office and hands-on, field-based community engagements across the state.

When you aren't on the road, your work is anchored at the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) complex off San Mateo and Montgomery in Albuquerque. This is a professional state agency environment housing multiple core bureaus, including the Public Health Division's Population and Community Health teams. You will be operating in a standard office/cubicle setting¿handling data entry, compiling technical assistance modules, participating in regional state team meetings, and coordinating with state Medicaid and certification specialists. The office portion of the job is structured but fast-moving, requiring high digital proficiency to manage correspondence, track data for tribal and rural clinics, and host virtual training sessions or webinars,

The true heart of this role takes place outside the office. Frequent in-state travel in New Mexico means traversing vast, topographically diverse, and geographically isolated terrains to visit rural clinics, isolated community spaces and cultural gathering locales. Expect significant highway and rural driving time. Travel to Southern New Mexico or can easily involve multi-hour trips one-way, sometimes navigating unpaved roads and unpredictable seasonal weather (monsoons in summer, snow/mud in winter). Once you arrive at a site, the environment shifts immediately from formal state administration to community-centric public health. You might be conducting an upskilling workshop in a community center, doing a walk-through with a CHW manager at a Federally Qualified Health Center, or gathering feedback in a rural community room.

Because you are balancing office deadlines with distant site visits, you will need excellent self-management and calendar flexibility. Travel often demands early departures or overnight stays depending on how far into the frontier communities your technical assistance is required.

Culturally, the working condition requires high adaptability. You must be able to switch gears seamlessly¿moving from formal, bureaucratic data-tracking and policy discussions at the Homestead building to a position of deep listening, cultural humility, and peer-level collaboration when stepping into colonias, community gatherings, or historic rural communities.

If you thrive in a role where no two weeks look exactly the same¿where you can balance structured administrative planning in Albuquerque with deep, relationship-building field work across the beautiful landscapes of New Mexico¿this setup provides exactly that balance.

You will experience exposure to visual/video display terminal (VTD) and extensive personal computer and phone usage. The ability to lift up to 40 lbs (usually outreach materials), bending, stooping and reaching (during on-site visits) and handling multiple projects and meet numerous deadlines will be expected.

Supplemental Information

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For information on Statutory Requirements for this position, click the Classification Description link on the job advertisement.

Bargaining Unit Position

This position is not covered by a collective bargaining agreement.