Program Specialist II

Montgomery County is located adjacent to Washington, DC and with over one million residents, is the most populous County in the State of Maryland. The County is also the most diverse County in the State and ranks among the top ten most diverse Counties in the nation. Montgomery County contains many major U.S. government offices, scientific research and learning centers, and business campuses.

The Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for delivery of the County’s public health and human services that the needs of our community’s most vulnerable children, adults and seniors. The Department provides services through more than 120 programs at more than 20 locations. With 1,750 employees, the Department of Health and Human Services is the largest County Department.

As a Department we believe health and wellness of the county can only be achieved by ensuring that every resident has fair opportunities to reach their fullest potential. This means access to quality housing, transportation, education, employment, health care, human services, safe neighborhoods and healthy food. HHS’ provides critical services for residents who face a variety of obstacles in achieving their full potential. HHS plays an essential role in building a healthy and strong community.

If you are interested in working for the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, we invite qualified candidates to apply for our Program Specialist II , Local Behavioral Health Authority position.

About the Position:

This position is located in the Department’s Behavioral Health and Crisis Services division and is part of the Local Behavioral Health Authority (LBHA) – Contract Monitoring Unit. The LBHA is the local behavioral health, (mental health and substance abuse) authority in the County. The LBHA strives to ensure that behavioral health consumers have access to quality treatment and rehabilitation services. The Contract Monitoring Unit provides administrative support services for Count, and Grant funded contracts.

Primary responsibilities:

• Provide contract monitoring functions of assigned Behavioral Health and Crisis Services contracts to ensure compliance with terms of contract Scopes of Service, County Procurement Regulations as well as County HHS fiscal policies, and Federal and State Grant requirements.
• Coordinate contract monitoring visits, with LBHA program staff as necessary.
• Complete monitoring reports for both County and State, and other required documents related to contract monitoring.
• Payment of monthly invoices as well as renewal of assigned contracts, amendments to contract scope as appropriate.
• Oversight of encumbered funds to ensure expenditures are in line with contract budgets.
• Reconciliation of budgets for Cost Reimbursement contracts
• Initiating competitive solicitations resulting in new contracts to the service area.

The selected candidate will be required to successfully complete a pre-employment background check.

Additional Employment InformationEffective August 30, 2021 all new hires will be required to provide proof that they are fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus prior to their first date of employment. Individuals who are unable to be vaccinated should contact OHR@montgomerycountymd.gov to discuss possible accommodations.

OHR reviews the minimum qualifications of all applicants, irrespective of whether the candidate has previously been found to have met the minimum requirements for the job or been temporarily promoted to the same position. This evaluation is based solely on the information contained in the application/resume submitted for this specific position/IRC.

Montgomery County Government is an equal opportunity employer, committed to workforce diversity. Accordingly, as it relates to employment opportunities, the County will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, in accordance with the law. Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the Office of Human Resources via email to OHR@montgomerycountymd.gov . Individual determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made in accordance with all applicable laws.

Montgomery County Government also provides hiring preference to certain categories of veterans and veterans/persons with a disability. For more information and to claim employment preference, please refer to the Careers webpage on Hiring Preference .

All applicants will respond to a series of questions related to their education, relevant experience, knowledge, skills and abilities required to minimally perform the job. The applicant’s responses in conjunction with their resume and all other information provided in the employment application process will be evaluated to determine the minimum qualifications and preferred criteria status. Based on the results, the highest qualified applicants will be placed on an Eligible List and may be considered for an interview. Employees meeting minimum qualifications who are the same grade will be placed on Eligible List as a “Lateral Transfer” candidate and may be considered for interview.

If selected for consideration for this position, you may be required to provide evidence that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities indicated on your resume.

Montgomery County Ethics Law : Except as provided by law or regulation, the County’s “Public Employees” (which does not include employees of the Sheriff’s office) are subject to the County’s ethics law including the requirements to obtain advanced approval of any outside employment and the prohibitions on certain outside employment. The outside employment requirements of the ethics law can be found at 19A-12 of the County Code . Additional information about outside employment can be obtained from the Ethics Commission website.

Minimum QualificationsExperience: Two (2) years of professional experience in an administrative capacity relating to monitoring of contract service delivery and expenditures.

Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree

Equivalency: An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted.

Preferred CriteriaThere is no Preferred Criteria. All applicants will be reviewed by OHR for minimum qualifications. Those applicants who meet minimum qualifications will be rated Qualified, placed on the Eligible List, and may be considered for an interview.

Preference for interviews will be given to applicants with experience in the following:

• Experience monitoring contracts related to Health and Human Services, preferably Behavioral Health
• Knowledge of and demonstrated experience in monitoring contracts for compliance with terms and conditions of funding sources (Grants / Government) and/or scope of work requirements
• Skill in oral and written communication sufficient to effectively communicate with providers and other stakeholders
• Demonstrated experience in monitoring of budget-based contracts using Microsoft Excel
• Ability to deal tactfully, effectively and equitably with both internal and external customers (colleagues and providers, senior leadership, etc.)