Grant Specialist IV

The Grant Specialist position performs highly advanced grant development and administrative work to manage the federal grant portfolio of the Texas Department of State Health Services. This position is in the Funds & Coordination Management Branch in the Chief Financial Officer Division located in Austin, Texas. The Grant Specialist will be eligible for 100% telework (based on performance).

Primary Responsibilities:

• Manages multiple grants across their lifecycle: ensuring workflow, deliverables, timelines, and due dates are met and grants are developed and submitted successfully.

• Review grant documents, obtains approvals, assist agency staff to submit proposals to federal partners, provide technical assistance to agency staff, and negotiates and distributes the grant award.

• Provides support to the Tobacco Settlement Permanent Trust Account Pro-Rata Share Distribution Program.

This position will work closely with a variety of internal and external stakeholders. Candidates must be adaptable, emotionally intelligent, work well with teams, and have excellent verbal and written communication skills, problem-solving skills, and active listening skills. The required and preferred qualifications for this position are listed in the Initial Screening Criteria Section below.

Essential Job Functions:

(45%) Manage the Federal Grant Portfolio:

Actively monitors grants within the portfolio and provides technical assistance and consultation to program staff regarding procedures, approvals, documents, and activities to be completed for successful submission of grant actions. Researches, reviews, and analyzes federal grant funding opportunities and distributes key decision-making information, documents the application decision and initiates the application process, identifies stakeholders that will have primary responsibility for developing the grant, convenes and chairs a meeting to establish the grant development timeline and approach for documentation preparation, monitors progress and recommends solutions when potential barriers are identified, coordinates the grant deliverables and their due dates, and reviews and endorses the finished grant proposal for DSHS Executive Leadership approval prior to submission to the federal agency.

(25%) Tobacco Settlement Permanent Trust Account Pro-Rata Share Distribution Program:

Provides support to the Tobacco Settlement Permanent Trust Account Pro-Rata Share Distribution Program which includes organizes and maintains information in support of the annual distribution of tobacco settlement proceeds. Authors, compiles, and publishes the materials for the annual solicitation of unreimbursed healthcare expenditures and calculates each subdivision's distribution of the pro-rata share.

Ensures all expenditure data is accurate and complete, creates and publishes reports for internal and external stakeholders, and coordinates and maintains program files. Solicits and prepares expenditure statements and supporting documentation for randomly selected audits.

(20%) Data, Reporting, and SharePoint Administration:

Compile and analyze reports to illustrate individual project grant revenue, expenditures, state match, and maintenance of effort requirements to facilitate decision making and fiscal oversight for internal and external stakeholders. Review, and analyze data, reports, etc. to facilitate decision making and fiscal oversight for internal and external stakeholders.

Organize and maintain agency records and files. Publish pro-rata share statement, enter expenditures using complex spreadsheets, and maintain share statements/distributions/audits for tobacco settlement pro-rata program. Serve as the subject matter expert on the functionality and capabilities of the program area SharePoint site, assist with IT application development, and maintain documents, alerts, and permission levels.

(10%) Other Duties as Assigned:

Assists managers and team lead with developing program-related training, serves on workgroups, and reviews grant application information to identify areas of improvement. Other duties as assigned include but are not limited to actively participating and/or serving in a supporting role to meet the agency's obligations for disaster response and/or recovery or Continuity of Operations (COOP) activation. Such participation may require an alternate shift pattern assignment and/or location.

Knowledge Skills Abilities:

Knowledge of program planning, training techniques, and grant and contract management standards, legislation, and practices.

Skill in diplomacy, tact, managing high stress situations, effective decision making, designing and publishing forms, table, graphs, documents, and spreadsheets and in the use of various software applications (SharePoint, MS Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint and Adobe Acrobat Professional).

Ability to gather, assemble, correlate, and analyze facts, devise solutions to problems, and develop and evaluate policies and procedures.

Registration or Licensure Requirements:

None required. Initial Selection Criteria:

1.Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with major coursework in public administration, business administration, or a related field. Experience may be substituted for education one a year for year basis.

2.Experience developing, administering, and managing phases of the grant lifecycle including financial oversight, contracting, and reporting on grant deliverables.

3.Experience with grant writing and grant management preferred.

4.Experience with Microsoft Applications.

5.Experience developing and managing budgets for public health related grant activities and reporting outcomes to funders.

6.Experience with contract management including negotiating and reviewing budgets is preferred.

Additional Information:

• The interview will be a video call or in-person.

• This position is a 100% telework depending on performance.

Salary Information

• Qualified candidates can expect a salary offer near the middle of the posted salary range. Final salary will be determined by candidate qualifications, agency policy, and program area budget at the time of hire.

• If the candidate selected for this position is fully onboarded by 08/31/2024, they will be eligible for the 5% legislative salary increase for state employees effective 9/1/2024.

MOS Code:

Military occupation(s) that relate to the initial selection criteria and registration or licensure requirements for this position may include but are not limited to 68S, 60C, HM, 230X, 4E0X1, 43HX, 43MX, 43EX. All active-duty military, reservists, guardsmen, and veterans are encouraged to apply if qualified to fill this position. For more information see the Texas State Auditor's Military Crosswalk at http://www.hr.sao.state.tx.us/compensation/jobdescriptions.aspx

HHS agencies use E-Verify. You must bring your I-9 documentation with you on your first day of work.

I-9 Form - Click here to download the I-9 form.

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), HHS agencies will provide reasonable accommodation during the hiring and selection process for qualified individuals with a disability. If you need assistance completing the on-line application, contact the HHS Employee Service Center at 1-888-894-4747. If you are contacted for an interview and need accommodation to participate in the interview process, please notify the person scheduling the interview.

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