Special Assistant (Director of Workforce Development and Talent Acquisition)

Duties Description

The Workforce Development and Talent Acquisition Unit is responsible for developing agency policy and program development activities to address emerging issues in direct care workforce recruitment, retention, and skills development in support of both state and voluntary operated service providers. Additionally, the Unit leads statewide continuous recruitment efforts for our difficult to recruit for titles that require detailed attention and engagement, outside of normal recruitment processes provided by our local Human Resources offices. Duties of the position include but are not limited to:

• Direct the implementation of new strategies to address the statewide workforce crisis for state and voluntary providers;
• Advance the DSP certification program in partnership with SUNY and OPWDD stakeholders;
• Oversee several federally funded projects totaling nearly $60 million that are in various stages of implementation;
• Monitor and evaluate program performance; prepare reports; develop progress indicators and performance measures, identify trends and
  
  

compliance issues and make recommendations to executive staff for improvement;

• Ensure that the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP) Code of Ethics, the New York State Direct Support Professional
  
  

(DSP) Core Competencies and related Performance Evaluations are understood and implemented by all stakeholders;

• Prepare workforce and other guidance documents for the field and for the State Operated workforce for reference on consistent application of
  
  

recruitment efforts;

• Attend meetings with the Deputy Commissioner and/or Associate Commissioners to provide supporting information on workforce topics;
• Attend local Human Resources and State Operations meetings to keep abreast of plans, projects, decisions, problems, etc.;
• Participate in conferences, meetings, and presentations involving problems related to workforce recruitment and retention topics;
• Study, coordinate, and recommend the resolution of ad hoc and long-term management and operational matters;
• Identify organizational issues and opportunities; develop, communicate, and is responsible for implementing targeted Division strategies; and
• Work with agency partners to establish and maintain collaborative relationships.
  
  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nys-office-for-people-with-developmental-disabilities/posts/?feedView=all

Minimum Qualifications

Preferred Qualifications: Nine years of experience developing and implementing plans for proposals to deliver workforce development and training programs; evaluating, monitoring or administering workforce development and training programs; or managing contracts and budgets for workforce development and training programs for healthcare, direct care, and/or clinical occupations. Two years of this experience must have been at a supervisory level. A bachelor's degree would substitute for four years of experience.

Additional Comments

• Preference will be given to OPWDD employees impacted by closures. If you are being impacted by closure, please indicate this on your resume.
• All OPWDD employees must be eligible and maintain eligibility for full and unconditional participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Continued employment will depend on maintaining eligibility.
• If you are employed by state government you may be able to receive loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF). The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance on Direct Loans after 120 qualifying monthly payments have been made under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer. For more information on PSLF, please visit www.studentAid.gov/publicservice.
• Employees on long term leave can bid on positions but must be able to report to work within fourteen (14) days and be able to perform the essential functions of their positions with or without reasonable accommodation (RA).
• If an employee or job applicant believes that they need a reasonable accommodation, they should contact the Reasonable Accommodation Unit at (518) 486-7222 or email accommodationrequests@opwdd.ny.gov to obtain information and RA forms.
• Savings programs such as the U.S. Savings Bond and the College Savings Plan.
• Voluntary pre-tax savings programs such as Health Care Spending Account and the Dependent Care Advantage Account offer employees options to pay for uncovered health care expenses or dependent care expenses.
• Access to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) an assessment and referral service that connects employees with local service providers and support services to address their personal needs.
• Life insurance and Disability insurance.
• The New York State Deferred Compensation Plan is a voluntary retirement plan that offers employees the option to invest a part of their salaries for retirement on a tax-deferred basis.
• Paid Holidays and Leave:
  
  

° Thirteen (13) paid holidays each year.

° Thirteen (13) days of paid vacation leave initially.

° Five (5) days paid personal leave each year.

° Paid sick leave each year, which may carry over from year to year.

• Health Care Coverage:
  
  

Employees and their eligible dependents can choose from a variety of affordable health insurance programs. Employees are provided family dental and vision plans at no extra cost.

• Paid Parental Leave:
  
  

Paid Parental Leave allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave at full pay for each qualifying event. A qualifying event is defined as the birth of a child or placement of a child for adoption or foster care.

• Retirement Program:
  
  

Participate in The NYS Employees’ Retirement System (ERS), which is recognized as one of the best-managed and best-funded public retirement systems in the nation.

• Professional Development and Education and Training:
  
  

NYS offers training programs and tuition assistance to eligible employees to maintain and increase their professional skills and prepare them for promotional opportunities. For more information, please visit https://oer.ny.gov/training-and-professional-development.

• Additionally, the Public Service Workshops Program (PSWP) offers certain professional training opportunities for PEF represented and M/C designated employees that may grant continuing education credits towards maintaining professional licensure. For more information, please visit https://oer.ny.gov/public-service-workshops-program-pswp.
• OPWDD is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer dedicated to creating and sustaining a culture of inclusion. We believe that we are most effective in managing and improving our service system with a diverse team of employees. With such a large workforce, we rely on the collective individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, self-expression, ideas and talent that our employees bring to their work. This speaks to our culture and is a key part of our successes. As we continuously recruit people for our team, we welcome the unique contributions that applicants bring in terms of their education, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation and beliefs.
  
  

***All people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.***