Director of Programs
The Lawrence Community Shelter is seeking a Director of Programs to join our leadership team. Reporting to the Executive Director, this role is responsible for overseeing program administration and development, funder compliance, leading and supporting an interdisciplinary program and project team, building a culture of continuous improvement and innovation, and cultivating relationships with external partners, funders, and stakeholders.
The successful candidate develops, leads and evaluates staff, volunteers, relationships with program participants and partner agencies, work plans, budgets, contracts, grants and the operations of assigned programs to meet the Shelter’s strategic goals, ensuring that we are advancing towards an end to homelessness in Lawrence and Douglas County.
Salary Range: $46,000 – $60,000
Reports to: Executive Director
Supervises: Emergency Shelter Program Manager, Inreach Manager, Hotel Program Manager, and Stabilization Manager
Email resume and cover letter to Kenny Yates, Dir. of Finance and Operations, at kennethy@lawrenceshelter.org.
PRINCIPLE ACTIVITIES:
Program Leadership
- Provide oversight and leadership of Emergency Shelter’s programs which serve individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Douglas County
- Lead teams performing emergency shelter program enrollment and stabilization services for diverse program participants experiencing homelessness
- Cultivating and managing relationships with community-based organizations.
- Develop, advance and measure teams’ priorities and SMART goals in alignment with organizational logic model, vision, and strategy.
- Continually improve effectiveness of assigned programs within allocated resources while enhancing organizational culture of innovation and excellence.
- Collaborate with Leadership Team and IT/HMIS vendors and partners to oversee the deployment and management of improved technology to enhance the experience of participants and partner agencies and the efficiency and effectiveness of programs and staff
- Work with the Leadership Team and program staff to oversee the collection, management and utilization of teams’ data and evaluation of programs as we intensify our measurement and analytics to fuel data-based decision making.
- Continually monitor program operations and business processes and make improvements as required
- Provide effective oversight of client service delivery and engage in quality assurance projects and processes, such as development and maintenance of Program Manual, regular audits of client files and documentation, and client surveys and focus groups.
- Act as lead point of contact for government funders on compliance, performance, and program reporting requirements
- Achieve compliance, reporting, and outcomes goals with federal grant-funding
- Develop and oversee program budgets
- Collaborate with Development and Finance staff to develop, negotiate and report on assigned contracts and grants
- Manage and oversee program operations and deliverables in accordance with contract and grant obligations and federal and state regulations
- Lead preparation for and execution of required funder audits
Partnership Management
- Facilitate successful implementation of LCS’s partnership program model
- Recruit area social services partners to act as onsite facilitators of services to the population served by LCS
- Monitor success of partnerships, and communicate on an ongoing basis with partner providers
- Establish benchmarks for successful engagement with LCS participants for partners and create a policy and process for generating and sharing data
- Use dataset to hold partner providers accountable for achieving progress towards LCS established goals, objectives, and outcomes with clients
- Work with LCS partner providers to triage and troubleshoot client issues and establish channels to engage in ongoing, regular communication with partners about client progress
- Attend community meetings and engage with community stakeholders to advocate for LCS and our participants, as well as uncover opportunities for better service connections
- Convene regular stakeholder groups to discuss program performance and impact
People Leadership
- Build effective, integrated, collaborative and inclusive teams by leading the hiring, development and management of diverse staff.
- Provide authentic and inspirational leadership
- Oversee teams’ work planning and annual performance evaluations
- Provide ongoing support for direct service staff through a weekly supervision structure, ensuring team members are receiving adequate support and are engaged in ongoing training and professional development
- Manage and monitor onsite volunteer and internship programs for MSW and BSW students, and AmeriCorps volunteers; provide meaningful structure and professional learning and development opportunities for individuals from both programs and ensure a safe working and learning environment
- Engage in direct communication with university partners and AmeriCorps partner agencies around recruitment, management, and quality assurance of the intern and AmeriCorps programs
- Motivate all program and direct service teams towards achievement of individual and shared goals both at the caseload and organizational level
REQUIREMENTS:
- The successful candidate shall possess a Master’s Degree in Social Work, Counseling, Human Services, and at least 2 years professional team leadership and supervisory experience in social services; or a B.A. Degree in Social Work, Human Services, or related field with at least 7 years of experience in social services, 3 of which should include team leadership and staff supervision.
- Experience developing and managing social services programs required. Experience establishing objectives, outcomes, and measuring progress towards funder and organization-generated requirements required.
- Experience with grant compliance, managing grant budgets and monitoring expenses and purchasing processes, and responding to funder audits preferred.
- Community-based social services experience or other related experience with homeless adults and adults with behavioral health disabilities required.
- Requirements include the ability to interact and communicate effectively with others, both orally and in writing.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
- The physical requirements described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential duties of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties.
- The ability to safely operate a motor vehicle to transport oneself, others, and program supplies as necessary.
- The physical ability to travel to assigned locations, stand, stoop, bend, reach, pull, push, lift, grasp, climb, talk, see, hear and perform basic and light home maintenance activities, and operate office equipment.
- The physical ability to move and lift light objects up to 30 pounds such as mail, supplies, files, and equipment.
- The ability to operate office equipment requiring continuous or repetitive hand/arm movements.
- The ability to remain in a sitting position for extended periods of time.
Ability to work one on-call week a month, as well as some evening, weekends, and holidays as required.