Assistant Director - Workforce Development Board

POSITION SUMMARY:

Responsible for the successful overall management of all Berks County Workforce Development Board (WDB) operations, including implementation, oversight, and attainment of the WDB’s program performance goals and outcomes. Responsible for managing the WDB’s contracting process and policy framework to support such performance and regulatory compliance. This involves providing strong and active leadership and management of the “mission-critical” contract administration function for workforce development activities under the jurisdiction of the Berks County Workforce Development Board and supervision of WDB staff assigned to the monitoring of all workforce development activities conducted with such funds, including, but not limited to the One-Stop and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Title I operations. This is the WDB’s key operational leadership role to support the Director of Workforce Development by managing assigned staff to ensure competent planning and performance of WDB operations. This entails training all WDB staff regarding the necessary policies and best practices to negotiate and achieve annual performance measures as specified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as for meeting local WDB targets and priorities. 

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES:

Essential Functions

The duties and responsibilities of this position include, but are not necessarily limited to:

• Responsible for managing staff directly performing the following: continuous improvement and quality systems, development of strategic planning documents, and development of discretionary grant proposals; building and leveraging collaboration with the WDB’s key workforce development partners inside and beyond Berks County, and overseeing the WDB’s responses to State monitoring requests and activities.
• Serves as a strategic liaison with other local WDBs (particularly our regional partners) and executes mutually beneficial resource sharing strategies for performance/quality improvement, cost reduction, and/or revenue enhancements. 
• Effective supervision, direction, and evaluation of subordinate staff is expected.
• WDB Strategic Performance
• Works closely with the Director and WDB leadership to negotiate annual performance goals with the Commonwealth of PA that are relevant, impactful, and achievable. 
• Proactively implement processes, systems, and reporting to ensure success. 
• Take and recommend timely corrective action as necessary. 
• Contract Administration
• Collaborate directly with the County Purchasing Department in the Request for Proposal (RFP) procurement process from the identification of need through contract execution, including development of statement of work, RFP timeline, requirement for bidder’s conference and/or proposer interviews, proposal evaluation, contract budget, and any future amendments as necessary. 
• Oversee the development and maintenance of the One-Stop Memorandum of Understanding for PA CareerLink Berks County partners. 
• Oversee staff who manage department discretionary grants, assisting as needed.
• Technical Assistance to Contractors
  • Provide when necessary and oversee staff providing contractors with technical assistance with Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act regulations, contractual compliance, Board policy, and other items as necessary to enable, to the greatest extent possible, program success.
• Monitoring and Analysis
  • Manage and review the work of professional staff conducting, scheduling, and reporting on quality assurance monitoring; analysis of results and formatting it into reports and recommendations, development of corrective action directions as required.
  • Oversee the tracking of all programs in the management of the workforce development system of record.  Develop processes and reports as necessary to track program performance and outcomes.
  • Act as the management point of contact for all State programmatic monitoring requests. 
  • Oversee the writing of and follow up on Corrective Action Plans as necessary.
• Equal Opportunity (EO) Officer
  • Serve as the WDB’s Equal Opportunity (EO) Officer and, in accordance with state policy, will report in this capacity directly to the Berks County Workforce Development Board chairperson for all equal opportunity-related activities. 
  • May also supervise other WDB staff to assist in these EO responsibilities as appropriate. 
  • Ensure that training is provided to the Local Workforce Development Area/PA CareerLink® Berks County staff on EO/ADA regulatory requirements. 
  • Ensure compliance by all organizations receiving Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds to the Equal Opportunity provisions of WIOA through staff assigned to assist with site evaluations and desk review of processes and procedures.
• Staffing of Board Committees. 
  • Provide assistance and direction as necessary to ensure the committee provides value to the Board as a whole. Review and distribute committee minutes as appropriate. 
  • Responsible for staffing of Board committees as assigned; positive interactions with WDB members and other County of Berks departments, development, and implementation of best practices, and consistently maintaining a thorough understanding of all Federal and Commonwealth legislation, regulations, and policy associated with funding streams impacting the WDB.
• Strategic Planning and Partnerships
• Lead WDB team in the development and writing of the Local Plan, including maintenance of all required approval documentation.
• Manage the development of new programs by conducting research on best practices and current trends in service delivery. 
• Lead responses to discretionary grant opportunities as part of a team or as the lead as assigned.
• Collaborate with surrounding Boards as necessary to ensure the success of the Region
• Manage staff assigned to planning and partnership initiatives.
• Board Policies & Composition
• Develop a thorough understanding of all Federal and Commonwealth regulations and policies associated with funding streams impacting the Board. 
• Ensuring policies are updated as guidance is released, but at a minimum, yearly. 
• Develop a thorough understanding of the WDB Bylaws and overall required board composition. 
• Other duties as assigned. 

MINIMUM EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resource Management, Business or Public Administration, Education, or related field.      Master’s degree a plus.
• 10 years of progressively responsible experience in workforce development, technical education, or human resource management, culminating in senior leadership capability.
• An equivalent combination of education and experience that has provided the skills, knowledge, and abilities that may be substituted for education or experience requirements.

MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

• Effective functional leadership and influencing skills.
• Ability to lead teams, positively influence others, including WDB members.
• Objectivity, fairness, and good judgment.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills. 
• Proven ability to understand and resolve complex challenges.
• Analytical ability, knowledge of principles and practices of quality management and continuous improvement. 
• Superior working knowledge of community resources and workforce development delivery system. 
• Extensive understanding of Berks County regional economic and workforce development strategies, priorities, and challenges.
• Extensive knowledge of labor laws and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act regulations.
• Valid PA Driver’s License.
• Proven successful grant-writing experience.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite.
• Strong MIS/Database management and reporting skills
• Outstanding organization, time management, and project management skills are a must.
• Strong conceptual design and policy development experience required.
• Ability to handle stress.
• Physical presence in the office is required. 

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

Work involves walking, sitting, talking, hearing, using hands to handle, feel objects, tools, or controls, and reaching with hands and arms. Vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT:

Normal office environment. Physical presence in the office is expected in accordance with the County of Berks policy. Position requires occasional travel within the county and state to perform job functions. Occasional outdoor visits to activity sites, work locations, and contractors.

This position description serves as a guideline for communicating the essential functions and other information about the position to the applicant/employee. It is not intended to create a binding employment contract nor cover every detail of the position, and may be changed where appropriate.