Senior Grants Officer - Non-Merit

This job announcement may close at any time with little or no notice. Applicants are advised to apply promptly.

Regular Schedule: 34 hours per week

A Non-Merit vacancy exists in the Department of Housing and Community Development.

Non-Merit positions are not classified within the Baltimore County Government Classification and Compensation Plan.

All interested candidates must apply at this time.

List all promotions and changes in job duties due to reclassification as separate work experience on your application. Applicants must include the dates of the promotions and reclassifications.

Note: Failure to complete all fields of the "Work Experience" section of the application will result in your application not being considered. A resume will not be considered in determining your qualifications for a position. Applicants selected for an interview may provide a resume at that time.

You must attach your transcript(s) or license(s) to your application. Unofficial Copies are acceptable.

Failure to submit proof of Licenses, Certifications and Education will result in your application not being considered. Proof of licenses, certifications, and/or education must be submitted with each application.

Examples of Duties

Under general supervision of the Chief of Grants Management and Planning, the Senior Grants Officer (SGO) performs professional and administrative duties related to the annual development of major federal plans/reports and the overall execution of federal, state and county funds used in accordance with the regulations, program requirements and directives provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), State of Maryland, and Baltimore County Government.

• Works with senior agency staff,
• Prepares HUD-required EDI reporting documents for senior review, and prepares and/or coordinates the preparation of the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER).
• Assists in the preparations of the HUD-required Consolidated Plan and the Annual Action Plan.
• Prepare any required Substantial Amendments.
• Ensures citizen participation requirements and statutory deadlines are met.
• Establishes and maintains tracking tool for DHCD’s priorities, as identified. Tool will be used by senior agency staff for regular policy discussions and decision making around vacancies and initiative’s next steps.
• Provides initial review/approval of federally-funded Environmental Review Records prior to sign off by Deputy Chief of Grants Management and Planning and ultimate approval by Baltimore County Certifying Authority signature.
• Oversees and prepares County’s planned use and sets up of eligible activities for EDI/CPF grants in HUD Disaster Recovery Grant Reporting System (DRGR).
• Coordinates with necessary staff in identification of needed data elements and strategies for activity set up and fund usage. Work with program and fiscal department staff in tracking of fund usage and program outcomes, draws and certifying allocations as consistent with spending for the CDBG Disaster Recover (CDBG-DR) program.
• Reviews DRGR activities for division chief approval before draw is made.
• Monitors DRGR to determine if any grant compliance issues are flagged for resolution and propose/resolve issues as needed, appropriately alerting department staff and senior leadership accordingly.
• Plans, administers and monitors the County’s CDBG-DR grant program (both internal and external) in accordance with the EDI/CPF regulations, program requirements and directives provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
• Utilizes 24 CFR and other relevant funding regulations, tracks monitoring efforts occurring across divisions for ideas on monitoring training needs.
• Works with fiscal, grants and program staff, develops a monitoring plan and training plan for both internal and external monitoring to improve monitoring readiness and monitoring results.
• Plans for the inclusion of those monitoring results in CAPER and for any County single audit needs.
• Works with the Deputy Chief of Grants Management, ensures departmental staff are properly trained on their responsibilities as it relates to grant activities, Section 3 reporting/compliance, HUD IDIS/DRGR reporting, and single audit.
• Develops and facilitates trainings and newsletter/webinar content, etc for outreach to DHCD staff and nonprofit subgrantee partners on new and/or complicated issues requiring education/review. Additional ideas for outreach/training are also encouraged/welcomed.
• Serves as reviewer and scorer for grant and contract applications before Baltimore County, as needed.
• Reviews regularly DHCD website for grants-related content and provides narrative, content suggestion/update ideas for keeping the website fresh and available as a resource to County residents and nonprofit partners.
• Works with fiscal, grants and program staff, develops training modules for subgrantees on monthly grant compliance, budget modifications, year-end reporting, funder requirements, eligibility documentation, etc.
• Interacts and communicates effectively with internal and external audit functions related to the audits, reporting of financial assistance programs and information requests.
• Coordinates and responds to federal, state and county funder requests for assistance, communicating regularly with the Baltimore HUD Office, State of Maryland, County Council staff, etc, as needed.
• Supervise, assign and evaluate the work of subordinates as appropriate,

• Serves on various departmental review committees.
• Runs point on the creating a comprehensive resilience strategy for DHCD activities to address climate change, flooding, hurricanes, national disasters, etc.
• Strategizes to include internal and external stakeholders in business continuity and disaster recovery planning in order to ensure that resources are leveraged effectively.
• Works with internal and external stakeholders in business continuity and disaster recovery planning in order to ensure that resources are leveraged effectively.
• Participates in trainings and performs periodic research to maintain and expand expert grant program knowledge.
• Researches additional grant opportunities appropriate to housing and community development work.
• May write or work with other departmental staff to write grant applications, as needed.
• Performs other related duties as needed or required.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university in Business Administration, Public Administration, Community Development, Urban Planning or a related field

Plus

Three years of experience in the administration and operation of grant programs, preferably related to HUD funding.

• Knowledge of the principles and practices of public financial administration and governmental budgeting principles and practices.
• Knowledge of U.S. Housing and Urban Development CDBG-DR program requirements and familiarity with other HUD programs such as CDBG, HOME, HOME ARP, ESG.
• Knowledge of HUD Guidelines, HUD Exchange, and HUD systems including IDIS, REAC, eLOCCS and SAM.
• Ability to utilize federal, state, and county reporting/financial systems like IDIS and Workday.
• Ability to produce newsletters, webinars, and other media as a tool to educate/train staff and grant partners.
• Ability to understand and interpret Baltimore County rules and regulations, and policies and procedures.
• Ability to analyze complex budgetary, financial, statistical, and other data, draw conclusions, and derive solutions.
• Ability to formulate, interpret, and administer policy.
• Ability to plan, coordinate, review and edit the work of others.
• Ability to make concise and effective written and oral reports and presentations.
• Ability to design and present trainings to external and internal partners.
• Skill in researching and working with the regulations and procedures of grant application submittals.
• Skill in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with associates, subordinates, public officials, and the general public.
• Skill in creating, analyzing spreadsheets and data, and communicating insights on patterns and gaps.
• Skill in preparing and interpreting complex contracts, purchasing agreements, budgets, and other fiscal data.
• Skill in grant reporting and compliance, developing policies/procedures, and working with relational databases.
• Skill in writing successful grant applications and other programmatic narratives for federal, and/or state funding.
• Skill in training and development of staff and facilitating subordinate career development.
• Demonstrated proficiency in project management. Coordinating, collaborating, and meeting tight deadlines involving information from multiple contributors.

Conditions of Employment

Physical and Environmental Conditions:
The work of this classification is essentially sedentary but may include the operation of office equipment and occasional walking, standing, or other limited physical activities. Position is in office a minimum of 4 days per week. Occasional local travel to non-profit sites is required.

Employment Background Investigation
Applicants selected for employment with Baltimore County must successfully complete an employment investigation, including, but not limited to criminal background, education, and fingerprinting checks.

Employment Benefits for Non-Merit or Non-Classified, Part-Time Employees

Baltimore County General Government offers the following benefits to part-time, non-merit or non-classified employees. New employees are eligible for benefits upon hire, unless noted otherwise.

Equal Opportunity Employer
Baltimore County is an equal opportunity employer and encourages minority, female and disabled applicants.

Smoke free workplace
All Baltimore County offices are smoke free.

Drug free workplace
Baltimore County provides a drug free workplace. Prospective employees are required to submit to urinalysis drug testing as part of the pre-employment physical examination.

Employee Assistance Program
Our Employee Assistance Program provides confidential and professional assessment and referral assistance for employees and eligible dependents in the household who are experiencing personal problems that may be affecting work performance, job satisfaction, or overall quality of life.

Health Insurance
In order to qualify for health insurance benefits (medical, prescription, dental and vision insurance), part-time employees must be scheduled for four (4) full work days plus two (2) hours each week.

Health Insurance benefits elected become effective the first day of the month following the date of hire if the employee has completed online enrollment prior to that date. New employees must enroll within thirty (30) calendar days of hire. Plans offered include:

Medical, Prescription, Dental and Vision insurance.

Flexible Spending Accounts
Opportunity to set aside pre-tax dollars, through payroll deduction, for eligible unreimbursed medical care expenses and/or dependent care costs.

Life Insurance
In order to qualify for life insurance benefits, part-time employees must be scheduled for four (4) full work days plus two (2) hours each week.

Employees may elect basic term life insurance for themselves equal to one time the employee's annual salary, rounded to the next higher $1,000. Employees contribute a portion of the premium through monthly payroll deductions. The County also offers an Additional/Employee paid Life Insurance plan with coverage up to $100,000.

Retirement
Employees are required to participate in the Baltimore County Employees' Retirement System, with very limited exceptions.

Paid Leave
Sick Leave - Monthly sick leave earnings prorated based on the number of hours worked per week. No maximum on accrual. Accrued balance can be applied toward service credit at retirement.

Vacation Leave - Monthly vacation leave earnings prorated based on the number of hours worked per week. Earnings increase after five, ten and fifteen years of service generally.

Holidays - Part-time 30 to 39 hour non-merit or non-classified employees will generally be paid for ten holidays per calendar year. Other part-time, non-merit or non-classified employees working 29 hours per week or less will receive two paid holidays per calendar year. These holidays are the Christmas holiday and the Independence Day holiday.

Bereavement Leave
Jury Leave
Military Leave

Baltimore County Employees Federal Credit Union
Membership in Baltimore County Employees Federal Credit Union offers a full range of savings programs, loans, checking, direct deposit, payroll deduction, savings bonds, and other financial services.

Direct Deposit
Payroll through direct deposit to the financial institution selected by employee is required.

Deferred Compensation
Nationwide Retirement Solutions offers a 457 retirement plan allowing for payroll contributions of tax deferred dollars to investment options of your choice.