Matching Grant Program Officer, HQ

ECDC was established in 1983 as a community-based organization (CBO) to respond to the needs of a growing Ethiopian community in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. In 1991, ECDC became the first CBO authorized by the Department of State to resettle refugees through a network of African CBOs located across the U.S. Since then, ECDC has resettled over 59,000 refugees through a via affiliates and branch offices.

The Matching Grant Program is a public/private partnership program funded through the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). The program helps refugees and other ORR-eligible populations overcome barriers and obtain jobs within 120 to 180 days of the program service period and become financially independent and self-sufficient without accessing state cash assistance programs. ECDC has been successfully administering the program since 1995. 

Job Summary: Under the supervision of the Associate Director for Community Integration Programs, the Program Officer (PO) supports ECDC’s affiliates and branch offices achieve programmatic compliance and refugee employment and self-sufficiency goals through training, technical assistance, monitoring and evaluation.

Key Responsibilities

Affiliate Support

·        Serves as the primary contact person for assigned MG sites.

·        Conducts monthly and quarterly conference calls with MG affiliates; maintains regular communication with network agencies.

·        Identifies and coordinates the provision of training and technical assistance to affiliate MG staff; provides regular, ongoing program guidance and policy analysis; designs and/or updates training materials; and implements online training using tools such as ProProfs.

·        Provides onboarding materials to new MG program staff in affiliate sites and follows up to ensure comprehension of MG program guidelines and policies.

·        Oversees, schedules, and conducts on-site and routine desk monitoring of ECDC’s MG sites to ensure compliance, document findings and prepare and submit monitoring reports in a timely manner.

·        Coordinates and prepares MG sites for an ORR site or desk monitoring, including working with affiliates on their monitoring report response.

·        Analyzes MG program outcomes; presents trends to the Associate Director and affiliate staff to assist them identify areas requiring performance improvements.

·        Develops compliance guidelines for MG affiliates based on the review of program requirements, manuals, outcomes, and analysis of monitoring results.

Program Support

·        Assists in MG proposal writing as well as affiliates budget and local site designs development.

·        Assists in MG semi-annual program progress, annual, and final closeout reporting.

·        Work with grants management staff to reviews monthly affiliate financial reports, ensuring the appropriate use of federal funds and correct allocation of in-kind contributions.

·        Reviews and verifies monthly affiliate enrollment rosters.

·        Assists in creating/updating Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and other materials related to the MG Program for both HQ and affiliates use.

·        Conducts annual training needs assessments of MG affiliates.

·        Attends meetings, conferences and training related to the MG program, as needed; represents ECDC and participates in external meetings and working groups.

Staff Supervision

·        Assists in intern recruitment and project management.

Other Responsibilities

• Assists in the planning, preparation for, and implementation of ECDC’s annual national training for ECDC’s resettlement affiliates, and associated training, events, conferences and meetings.
• Handle other tasks when requested.

Qualifications and Experience

·        Bachelor’s degree required. Master’s degree preferred.

·        At least two years of work experience in refugee resettlement, employment, case management programs.

·        Experience in program/project management.

·        Experience in creating and providing in-person and web-based training.

·        Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

·        Ability to work independently and as a team member.

·        Demonstrated ability to use Microsoft Word, Excel, and Power Point, the Internet and online database systems.

·        Ability to use technologies such as Microsoft Teams, Google Docs, Survey Monkey, etc. and online training tools such as ProProfs.

·        Ability to manage multiple assignments and provide “error-free” work.

·        Ability to plan and manage work to meet deadlines occasionally under limited time constraints.

·        Ability to travel to affiliate sites for monitoring and evaluation.

BENEFITS. ECDC offers an excellent benefits package including health, dental, life and disability insurance, paid holidays, vacations and sick days as well as a generous retirement plan.

TO APPLY. Submit by fax, mail, or e-mail: (1) a cover letter; (2) a résumé; and (3) a short writing sample (2-3 pages) solely authored by the candidate; (4) three professional references; and (5) salary requirement via email to [email protected] No telephone inquiries, please.