STATE OF CONNECTICUT EXECUTIVE BRANCH JOBS

Grants And Contracts Specialist

Hybrid

Recruitment #241004-4191AR-001

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Introduction




Are you passionate about wanting to build an Early Childhood system that ensures all young children in Connecticut are safe, healthy, learning, and thriving?  Do you have experience building internal systems and operations plans that help professionals and organizations achieve their respective goals?

The State of Connecticut, Office of Early Childhood (OEC), has an exciting Grants And Contracts Specialist opportunity within the Internal Operation and Support Division located in Hartford, CT.

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU

WHO WE ARE

The State of Connecticut, Office of Early Childhood (OEC), is the lead agency for early childhood services for the state’s youngest children; including early care and education, home visiting, developmental support, and program and provider development and is currently recruiting for a Grants And Contracts Specialist (Operations Division).

Our agency’s mission is to support all young children by ensuring that early childhood policy, funding and services strengthen the critical role families, providers, educators, and communities play in a child’s life. We believe in ensuring all children are safe, healthy, learning and thriving, and having a strong team is critical to us successfully achieving these goals.

Our mission and vision serve as the guideposts for the development of policies and programs, and also ensure that we work to actively and purposefully dismantle racism and advance equity for all individuals throughout the early childhood system and the professional selected to fill this role must align with, believe in and promote this mission and vision.

Our ideal candidate will be collaborative and a true team player. They will possess experience using virtual meeting platforms, such as Teams and will have advanced skills in Microsoft Office products including Word and Excel. Additionally, they will have experience providing training on new systems or platforms.

THE ROLE

As an OEC Grants And Contracts Specialist, you will be responsible for:

  • Utilizing Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and contracts to help OEC achieve equitable service delivery, including correcting service disparities, incorporating equity considerations into contract terms, and learning from end users;
  • Developing and promoting effective business operating systems for the day to day functions of the agency;
  • Working as a team to collectively identify best practices and tools necessary to effectively plan for, develop, administer, and evaluate grants and contracts;
  • Partnering with agency professionals to monitor outcome-focused, data driven, contract compliance through Active Contract Management (ACM);
  • Providing agency support to ensure compliance with Office of Policy and Management procurement standards for Personal Service Agreements (PSAs) and Purchase of Service (POS) contracts.
POSITION HIGHLIGHTS

  • Monday - Friday
  • Full-time (40 hours per week)
  • First shift
  • Location:  Hartford, CT
  • Hybrid position (telework and in office)
Watch the video below to see what it's like to be a State of CT employee!

Selection Plan

  • For current state employees, salary calculations are not necessarily comparable from one of the three branches of state government (i.e., Executive, Legislative, Judicial) to the other.
To Apply:

  • In order to be considered for this job opening, you must meet the Minimum Qualifications as listed on this job opening. You must specify your qualifications on your application.
  • The minimum experience and training requirements must be met by the close date on the job opening, unless otherwise specified.
  • Ensure that your application is complete and detailed before submitting it. In order to comply with Public Act 21-69, the State of Connecticut is no longer asking for resumes during the initial application process. You will not be able to make revisions once your application is submitted into the JobAps system.
  • Please select all location(s) and shift(s) you are willing to work on your application. Failure to do so may result in not being considered for vacancies in that specific location or shift.
  • In order to receive educational credits toward qualification for this job posting, the institution must be accredited. If the institution of higher learning is located outside of the U.S., you are responsible for providing documentation from a recognized USA accrediting service which specializes in determining foreign education equivalencies to the Talent Acquisition Professional listed on this job posting.
  • All application materials must be received by the recruiting agency by the time specified on the job opening for the position for which you are applying. Late applications may not be submitted and will not be considered. Exceptions are rare and limited to documented events that incapacitate a candidate during the entire duration of the job posting time period. It is the candidate’s obligation and responsibility to request an exception and provide a legally recognized justification to accommodate such exception. Requests should be made to DAS.SHRM@ct.gov.
FOR ASSISTANCE IN APPLYING:

  • Please read or watch our Applicant Tips on How to Apply.
Important Information After You Apply:

  • This posting may require completion of additional referral questions (RQs). You can access these RQs via an email that will be sent to you after the posting's closing date or by visiting your JobAps Personal Status Board (Certification Questionnaires section). Your responses to these RQs must be submitted by the questionnaire's expiration date. Please regularly check your email and JobAps Personal Status Board for notifications. Please check your SPAM and/or Junk folders on a daily basis in the event an email provider places auto-notification emails in a user's spam.
  • Read through this helpful link to prepare for your interview.
  • Although applicants will receive correspondence via email, as a backup they are also encouraged to sign on to their Personal Status Board on a daily basis to monitor their status, view all emailed notices and complete tasks required in the recruitment process.
  • Note: At any point during the recruitment process, applicants may be required to submit additional documentation which support their qualification(s) for this position. These documents may include: a cover letter, resume, performance reviews, attendance records, supervisory references, licensure, etc., at the discretion of the hiring agency.
  • Interviews will be limited to candidates whose experience and training most closely meet the requirements of the position.
  • The immediate vacancy is listed above, however, applications to this recruitment may be used for future vacancies in this job class.
Connect With Us:

Due to the large volume of applications received, we are unable to provide confirmation of receipt or status during the recruitment process. Updates will be available through your JobAps portal account. Should you have any questions pertaining to this recruitment, please contact Frank DeCusati at frank.decusati@ct.gov.

PURPOSE OF JOB CLASS (NATURE OF WORK)

In a state agency this class is accountable for performing as a specialist in planning, implementation, management and evaluation of a large complex grant program or group of programs in one field where responsibilities are assumed for program development, liaison and coordination with federal, state and community agencies and organizations, program implementation and administration, program monitoring and assessment.

EXAMPLES OF DUTIES

  • Performs specialized related duties in the area of grants management; 
  • Performs research to support the application for or the disbursement of grants including needs analysis, literature review and regulations critique to identify problems and determine priorities; 
  • Develops alternatives; 
  • Gathers information related to program area; 
  • Develops goals and objectives, evaluation standards, timetables, other program components and department policy for program area and individual projects; 
  • Prepares grant proposals; 
  • Monitors use of grant monies awarded to agency to ensure adherence to all terms and conditions; 
  • Facilitates direct grant process; 
  • Provides technical assistance and acts as resource person to grantees; 
  • Evaluates program proposals and applications for conformance with regulations and state goals; 
  • Recommends funding; prepares contracts and agreements related to grant activities; 
  • Monitors and assesses ongoing programs for conformance to reporting requirements, general budget and timetable guidelines and program effectiveness; 
  • Prepares quarterly and annual reports and statewide annual plan or section of plan related to program local area; 
  • Attends meetings of appropriate state, local and regional organizations and performs other liaison functions to coordinate efforts in program area; 
  • Performs related duties as required.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILL AND ABILITY

  • Considerable knowledge of
    • grant preparation and administration; 
    • program evaluation and monitoring functions; 
  • Knowledge of
    • research methods and techniques; 
    • budget preparation and monitoring; 
  • Considerable
    • interpersonal skills; 
    • oral and written communication skills; 
  • Ability to utilize computer software; 
  • Supervisory ability.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS - GENERAL EXPERIENCE

Seven (7) years of experience in planning, implementation and/or management of grant programs on a community, state or federal level.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS - SUBSTITUTIONS ALLOWED

  • College training may be substituted for the General Experience on the basis of fifteen (15) semester hours equalling one-half (1/2) year of experience to a maximum of four (4) years for a Bachelor's degree.
  • A Master's degree in a closely related field may be substituted for one (1) additional year of the General Experience.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • Experience writing or implementing contracts
  • Experience evaluating contractor compliance of grant regulations and reporting on contract submissions
  • Experience developing budgets and conducting fiscal analysis
  • Experience preparing and analyzing Requests for Proposals
  • Experience with Microsoft Word and Excel
  • Experience utilizing virtual meeting platforms, including Microsoft Teams

Conclusion

AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

As defined by Sec. 5-196 of the Connecticut General Statutes, a job class is a position or group of positions that share general characteristics and are categorized under a single title for administrative purposes. As such, a job class is not meant to be all-inclusive of every task and/or responsibility. 


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