ACF Senior Program Specialist

Jefferson is seeking a Senior Program Specialist for a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) opportunity focused on grants management. The Senior Program Specialist will implement human-centered design methodologies to ensure that technical assistance is recipient-focused and aligned with the department's needs.

At Jefferson, we are not just building a team; we are cultivating a community of exceptional individuals driven by a shared passion for innovation and excellence. Joining the Jefferson team means stepping into an environment that values collaboration, encourages creative thinking, and celebrates individual strengths. Here, you’ll find a vibrant culture that fosters sharing and connectedness where careers are nurtured, exciting and meaningful work is encouraged, and continuous learning from the smartest people in the industry.  

Our commitment to unlocking your potential goes beyond conventional career paths, offering a dynamic and supportive space where your ideas are not just heard but valued. Join us at Jefferson Consulting Group, where your career becomes a journey of continuous advancement, and your talents find the platform they deserve. 

Responsibilities

• Conducts comprehensive user research to understand the needs, challenges, and goals of the grant recipients in administering their grant utilizing methods such as interviews, surveys, and observational studies.
• Develops detailed personas representing key recipient groups based on research findings.
• Creates journey maps to visualize the recipient’s experience in utilizing the grant, identifying key touchpoints, and pain points.
• Identifies opportunities for improvement in how the recipient utilizes their funds at the individual recipient and aggregate grant sector level.
• Identifies opportunities for improvement for how the Office of Grants Management can change procedure or policy to enable recipients to succeed.
• Facilitates ideation workshops to brainstorm and develop concepts that address identified needs and improve grant utilization.
• Develops low-fidelity prototypes of proposed solutions for new ways of working and conducts usability testing with recipients to gather feedback.
• Creates detailed implementation plans for the refined solutions, outlining steps, resources, and timelines required for execution.
• Establishes additional metrics and methods for evaluating the effectiveness of implemented solutions, including a dashboard and regular cadence for reviewing recipient utilization metrics.   
  
  

Qualifications:  

• Bachelor's degree
• 3 years of experience with human-centered design