Program Associate, IDEA Fiscal Systems and Accountability

About the role

WestEd is a community of over 1,400 researchers, practitioners, consultants, and administrative professionals dedicated to improving equitable outcomes for individuals from infancy through adulthood. We partner with federal, state, and local agencies to strengthen systems used for administering federal education programs and managing public resources effectively.

Responsibilities

• Support technical assistance and consultation to states to increase client capacity to meet IDEA program and fiscal requirements and improve outcomes for students with disabilities.
• Develop and prepare materials for technical assistance and other content-specific projects.
• Contribute to the development and dissemination of resources, tools, and templates.
• Write clearly for various audiences, including contributing to project resources and reports describing and summarizing our work.
• Partner with teammates to review and summarize client materials including policy, background research, and other information.
• Support events and meetings by organizing calendars, meeting materials, and meeting notes.
• Document, communicate expectations for, and track task completion by team members.
• Contribute to team meetings for project staff within existing infrastructures.
• Provide project coordination and support for specified tasks and streams of work within larger projects.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, business administration, public administration, education administration, special education, early childhood education, or related fields.
• Knowledge of federal fiscal accountability requirements and state and local finance systems, particularly as they relate to special education and early intervention programs.
• Experience administering or supporting special education, early intervention, federal education, or other publicly funded programs.
• Understanding of IDEA Part C systems, including the roles of state lead agencies, participating public agencies, early intervention service providers, and families.
• Familiarity with IDEA Part C fiscal requirements, such as payor of last resort, interagency financial responsibility, systems of payments, public and private insurance, reimbursement procedures, and fiscal monitoring.
• Resourcefulness, careful attention to detail, and strong organizational skills including demonstrated use of organizational tools (e.g., Box, Salesforce, Outlook Calendar).
• Strong oral and written communication skills including proofreading and providing constructive feedback.
• Demonstrated ability to engage in active listening and summarize conversations, decisions, and action items for internal teams and client partners.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills, including the ability to prioritize work on multiple projects.
• High level of self-motivation and ability to work independently while seeking guidance when appropriate.
• Strong interpersonal skills including the ability to work collaboratively in a team and with client partners.

Qualifications

• Experience developing and implementing state procedures for meeting federal fiscal requirements including monitoring local educational agency (LEA) and local agency (LA) compliance.
• Experience developing and providing technical assistance and professional development.
• Group facilitation skills including experience facilitating professional learning networks and communities of practice.
• Eagerness to contribute to developing new strategies for quality assurance and project coordination.
• Knowledge of improvement science, implementation science, and other frameworks for continuous improvement.
• Understanding and application of adult learning theory in professional development and facilitation.

Skills

• Resourcefulness, careful attention to detail, and strong organizational skills.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to engage in active listening and summarize conversations, decisions, and action items.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• High level of self-motivation and ability to work independently while seeking guidance when appropriate.
• Strong interpersonal skills.

Benefits

• 15% contribution toward retirement effective day 1 of employment and immediately 100% vested.
• Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings Account option.
• All health/welfare benefits are effective the first of the month following the hire date.
• Paid time off: 19 days (increases to 21 days beginning the third year of employment), 12 paid holidays.
• Life Insurance: value of 3x gross salary, max of 500k.
• Professional development opportunities & mentorship program.

Pay

The full salary range for this position, WestEd level (9), is $80,000 to $125,000, but WestEd does not typically hire at or near the top of the salary range. The typical hiring range for this role is $80,000 to $100,000. The actual offer considers multiple factors, including but not limited to education, experience, internal equity, and other organizational needs.

Schedule

This position requires some travel up to 40% for on-site provision of technical assistance and meetings.