Position Overview:

The Education Program Specialist will provide expert knowledge and consultation in workforce development in the area of community-based, person and family-centered, and inclusive long-term services and supports (LTSS) to people with disabilities and related needs including co-occurring physical, mental, or age-related needs.

This individual will work with a small team of workforce professionals that lead the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of training and technical assistance programs for federal and state human and social service agencies, local provider organizations, postsecondary education entities, and other community service agencies. Training and technical assistance primarily focuses on developing the capacity of disability service professionals nationwide to successfully implement workforce intervention recruitment and retention models such as DirectCourse to improve workforce stability. The incumbent will formulate and define training and technical assistance needs, establish program objectives and outcomes, and develop training and technical assistant designs that meet state of the art training and technical assistance standards and methods in workforce development. This position requires independent decisionâmaking within a set of defined quality standards and protocols to ensure the quality of training and technical assistance curricula and timeliness and effectiveness of delivery to targeted audiences. The role also requires the coordination and leadership of a team of workforce professionals in carrying out project training activities within a trainâtheâtrainer model. This position requires travel within Minnesota and nationally on a monthly basis for two/three days at a time.

Job Responsibilities:

Program Management and Oversight (40%)

• Lead a team of workforce trainers and consultants in meeting annual workforce development goals, including developing, delivering and evaluating training products, reviewing training products, mentoring trainers and organizing and leading meetings to keep training and consultation services moving forward.
• Direct the work of project staff related to local, state and national training and technical assistance activities.
• Market training programs, troubleshoot and problem solve issues, and train, coach and mentor community workforce professionals.
• Tracks and monitors issues around FTE, productivity, and quality in training product content and works with other training product leads, the Director of Business Processes and the Director of Curriculum Development to quickly respond to issues that are deterring timelines and productivity.
• Develops or updates tools to support workforce training and consultation teams in conjunction with other project leads and Director of Business Processes. 
• Develops and manages a database of approved resources and websites for workforce trainers and consultants to work from for each project.

Development/Implementation of Education/Training Programs & Curriculum (30%)

• Apply researchâbased practices of instructional design and adult learning theory using the necessary tools to create a highâquality training program and implement those practices as specified (e.g. learning activities; training content and assignments; and, participant knowledge and/or skill assessments).
• Collaborate with stakeholders on the design of education and training program and technical assistance needed as directed by grants and program objectives.
• Interact with local/state leadership personnel and advisory boards related to project activities and outcomes.
• Lead statewide and national implementation of the education and training programs that includes providing technical assistance, outreach, education, and consultation activities to state and local education agencies, organizations, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Develop content for marketing materials to gain exposure and provide opportunities for further expansion and relationships with other stakeholders and communities.
• Plan, design, and deliver webinars, conference calls, and inâperson meetings.
• Disseminate information on project activities/outcomes by preparing blogs, newsletters, conference presentations, and poster sessions for example.
• Promote and market programs to recruit participants in grant activities and projects.
• Direct the work of staff with regards to registration, logistics, and training needs of each program.

Strategic Program Planning (15%)

• Build and maintain relationships with agencies, organizations, institutions and other external stakeholders  to identify education and training needs across state and local education and related agency settings.
• Consult with individuals and organizations to determine the program needs of the different agencies.
• Assess needs of organizations, state and local entities, as well as the community in order to set objectives for developing and implementing programs and evaluating the outcomes.
• Utilize information from evaluation of programs to inform future planning of training needs.
• Design, develop, and implement strategic training and technical assistance protocols and strategies to align with training and education programs.
• Formulate and define systems, determine scope and identify objectives for projects by researching issues and national trends in long term services and supports and workforce development.

Program Analysis and Evaluation (15%)

• Conduct evaluation of training programs, learning methodologies, and products to ensure learning objectives are met.
• Build capacity in the community for workforce consultant trainers to identify training needs for highly competent and skilled professionals.
• Utilize effective evaluation techniques to refine products.
• Create and test new evaluation tools and materials for statewide planning.