Program Support Specialist

Foxhound Partners; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Foxhound Partners in Arlington, VA seeks a Program Support Specialist to provide professional grants management, program administration, and customer service support to the Office of Head Start. You will review grant applications, oversee recipients, monitor programs, analyze data, and prepare reports to strengthen performance nationwide.

Qualifications include a Bachelor's degree and at least 2 years in early childhood grants or related work, plus experience with federal grants systems such as

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education, Human Services, Public Administration, or related field.
• 2+ years of progressive experience related to early childhood programs, preferably Head Start/Early Head Start.
• Experience with web-based data management software and reporting.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and ability to produce professional documents.

Responsibilities

• Provide grants management and program administration support for Head Start and related initiatives.
• Review, analyze, and process grant applications, continuation requests, and budget actions.
• Support grant award processing, post-award administration, and grant closeout activities.
• Review recipient reports and monitoring data for compliance and performance.
• Prepare memoranda, reports, and presentations supporting grant administration.
• Coordinate with Federal staff, recipients, contractors, and stakeholders.

Skills

Grants management

Data analysis

Written & verbal comms

Microsoft Office

Web-based grants systems

Education

Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education or related field

Tools

HSES

GrantSolutions

AMS

Smartsheet

Job description

Base Pay for the position is between $45K-$60K

Experience supporting the Office of Head Start, Administration for Children and Families, or the US Department of Health and Human Services required

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.
• Perform other grants management and program support activities assigned by the Government.

Requirements

• Perform grants management activities with minimal supervision.
• Analyze programmatic and administrative information from multiple sources.
• Apply Federal regulations, policies, and Head Start guidance.
• Prepare professional written reports, memoranda, correspondence, and presentations.
• Communicate effectively with Federal staff, grant recipients, contractors, and stakeholders.
• Prioritize multiple assignments while meeting established deadlines.
• Utilize web-based grants management systems and Microsoft Office applications.
• Work collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams supporting geographically dispersed customers.

Education

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

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.

Functional Expertise

• Expertise in federal monitoring of early childhood programs, with a preference of experience in measuring the performance, progress, compliance, and accountability of Head Start programs.
• Expertise in fiscal management of early childhood programs, with a preference of experience or training in federal interest, fiscal reporting, in-kind contributions, cost allocation, budgeting, and/or internal controls for Head Start programs.
• Expertise in facilities and/or early childhood learning environments, with a preference of experience in designing, purchasing, constructing, renovating, and/or maintaining facilities that operate Head Start programs.
• Expertise in child health and safety, with a preference for experience in addressing sensitive subject matters such as child abuse and neglect.
• Expertise in Head Start program options, the Full Enrollment Initiative (FEI) and changes in scope (CiS), with a preference for expertise in budget analysis.
• 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.

Foxhound Partners is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. Foxhound Partners is committed to administering all employment and personnel actions on the basis of merit and free of discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or status as an individual with a disability. Consistent with this commitment, we are dedicated to the employment and advancement of qualified minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, protected veterans, persons of all ethnic backgrounds and religions according to their abilities.