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Ascension is seeking an experienced Federal Grants Competition, Policy & Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) Specialist to support HHS/ACF’s Office of Community Services in administering a diverse portfolio of discretionary and demonstration grant programs.

This individual serves as one of Ascension’s Program Specialists and brings specialized expertise at the intersection of Federal grant competitions, Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs), grants policy, applicant eligibility, merit-review/panel processes, Federal Register activities, and PRA/OMB clearance requirements.

This position is particularly important because DCDDP administers programs that serve low-income and historically underserved communities and must conduct grant competitions that are legally compliant, transparent, well-documented, timely, and accessible to prospective applicants. The specialist helps DCDDP translate statutory, policy, program, and administrative requirements into executable funding opportunities and defensible grant-administration processes.

The ideal candidate understands that developing a Federal funding opportunity involves much more than editing a NOFO. The candidate should understand how program legislation and appropriations, program policy, eligibility criteria, merit-review requirements, risk considerations, Federal grants regulations, OMB requirements, applicant communications, reviewer processes, documentation, and internal clearance requirements intersect.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone who has previously supported an HHS operating or staff division, another Federal grant-making agency, or a comparable Federal discretionary-grant program and wants to apply that experience to programs designed to strengthen economic mobility, community development, supportive services, and organizational capacity.

The RFQ places particular value on Program Specialists with experience supporting DCDDP or comparable Federal discretionary and demonstration programs and recipients in low-income, rural, Tribal, and historically underserved communities.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Federal Grants Competition, Policy & PRA Specialist supports three closely connected areas of DCDDP’s mission: annual grant competitions, program and grants policy, and PRA/OMB clearance activities.

Under PWS Section 2.4, DCDDP requires support for the development, revision, launch, execution, and closeout of annual NOFO competitions. The Government anticipates development of up to approximately three NOFOs annually and requires assistance with background and briefing materials, forecasts, synopses, NOFO drafting, applicant resources, reviewer recruitment, panel support, eligibility reviews, applicant communications, and documentation supporting funding recommendations.

Under PWS Section 2.6, the specialist supports policy and grants administration by developing or reviewing policy guidance, Dear Colleague Letters, Information Memoranda, Action Transmittals, Federal Register notices, OMB clearance documentation, grant-administration correspondence, standard operating procedures, and related implementation materials. The PWS anticipates support for at least three OMB clearance documentation efforts annually, subject to change.

Under PWS Section 2.3, the position also assists DCDDP with PRA-related data collection by supporting questionnaires and other data-collection instruments and helping obtain Paperwork Reduction Act clearances and OMB approval.

The successful candidate should therefore be a highly organized Federal grants professional who can manage several parallel actions with different deadlines and stakeholders while maintaining precision, documentation quality, and regulatory compliance.

The individual should be comfortable working in an environment in which program priorities, appropriations, competition schedules, applicant volumes, and leadership requirements may change. The specialist should be self-directed, analytical, detail-oriented, collaborative, and able to anticipate downstream consequences before documentation moves into formal Government review.

The person should be capable of identifying inconsistencies or compliance risks in NOFOs, eligibility criteria, application instructions, policy documents, PRA packages, reviewer materials, and funding-recommendation documentation and then recommending practical corrections before those issues affect the competition.

Because the Government explicitly evaluates the proposed Program Specialist’s Federal grants experience, this position should be filled by a candidate with direct Federal discretionary-grants experience, rather than solely general project-management or commercial grants experience.

Position Purpose

The purpose of this position is to help DCDDP execute Federal discretionary and demonstration grant competitions and associated policy and information-collection processes in a manner that is:

Compliant: Actions and documentation conform with Federal grants requirements, PRA/OMB requirements, applicable program authorities, policies, and Government procedures.

Defensible: Eligibility determinations, merit-review processes, panel documentation, recommendations, and policy decisions are supported by complete and traceable documentation.

Consistent: Applicants, reviewers, recipients, Federal staff, and stakeholders receive clear and consistent instructions.

Timely: NOFO, clearance, review, eligibility, panel, and award-support activities progress according to established milestones.

Accessible: Applicant resources and communications help reduce barriers to participation, particularly for rural, Tribal, low-income, Indigenous, and other historically underserved communities.

Operationally sustainable: Repeatable processes, templates, SOPs, trackers, guidance, and lessons learned are established to improve future grant competitions.

Expected Day-to-Day and Recurring Responsibilities

• SUPPORT the planning, development, revision, internal review, publication, execution, and closeout of Federal Notices of Funding Opportunity.
• DRAFT forecasts, synopses, NOFO sections, memoranda, briefing materials, policy documents, applicant instructions, leadership decision materials, and related competition documentation.
• ANALYZE proposed funding opportunities for consistency among statutory/program authorities, eligibility requirements, application requirements, evaluation criteria, merit-review processes, program objectives, and award conditions.
• COORDINATE NOFO development activities with DCDDP program staff, grants management personnel, leadership, legal/policy stakeholders, contractors, and other Federal participants.
• DEVELOP reviewer recruitment materials, panel manager resources, reviewer guidance, orientation materials, training presentations, evaluation aids, and competition announcements.
• FACILITATE or support reviewer and panel-manager training and ensure reviewers understand evaluation criteria, documentation expectations, conflicts-of-interest requirements, and competition procedures.
• SUPPORT applicant eligibility reviews by developing review criteria, examining application information, documenting eligibility elements, maintaining review databases or trackers, and preparing applicant correspondence.
• REVIEW panel documentation and summary reports for consistency with program requirements, evaluation criteria, applicable rules, grammar, completeness, and context.
• ANALYZE applications for technical-assistance needs, implementation risks, or other considerations requested by DCDDP while avoiding inherently governmental decision-making.
• PREPARE supporting documentation summarizing grant competition results and DCDDP funding recommendations for Government review and decision-making.
• DEVELOP applicant-support resources, including written guidance, webinars, presentations, frequently asked questions, job aids, videos, or other educational materials.
• RESPOND to or help develop responses to public inquiries following NOFO publication while ensuring consistent interpretation of published requirements.
• SUPPORT outreach efforts designed to improve awareness of DCDDP funding opportunities among rural, Tribal, Indigenous, low-income, high-poverty, high-unemployment, and historically underserved communities.
• ASSESS potential barriers that may prevent eligible organizations from effectively accessing or competing for DCDDP funding opportunities.
• DRAFT Dear Colleague Letters, Information Memoranda, Action Transmittals, formal recipient notifications, leadership memoranda, implementation guidance, amendments, supplemental-award communications, and non-competing continuation materials.
• PREPARE or support Federal Register notices and associated program documentation.
• DEVELOP PRA and OMB clearance documentation for proposed Federal information collections, including supporting documentation and coordination materials.
• REVIEW questionnaires, surveys, forms, reporting requirements, and other proposed information-collection instruments for clarity, necessity, burden considerations, and consistency with approved program requirements.
• COORDINATE PRA/OMB clearance activities, comments, revisions, approval milestones, and supporting documentation with appropriate Federal stakeholders.
• MAINTAIN detailed trackers for NOFO development, clearance milestones, applicant eligibility, panel activities, public inquiries, PRA packages, policy actions, risks, issues, decisions, and outstanding actions.
• IDENTIFY regulatory, procedural, schedule, data-quality, documentation, or stakeholder risks that could delay a grant competition or affect defensibility of the Government’s process.
• RECOMMEND mitigation strategies, standardized templates, checklists, SOPs, quality-control steps, and workflow improvements.
• COLLABORATE with other Program Specialists managing recipient portfolios to ensure policy and competition requirements translate appropriately into post-award grants administration.
• SUPPORT DCDDP staff and recipients using Government-approved grants and reporting systems when activities intersect with NOFO, reporting, eligibility, policy, or competition requirements.
• PROTECT sensitive Government, applicant, recipient, procurement-sensitive, and personally identifiable information in accordance with applicable HHS/ACF security, privacy, records-management, and confidentiality requirements.
• ENSURE assigned written products are accurate, professionally written, appropriately documented, and suitable for Government review and clearance.

Tools, Systems, and Processes the Candidate Should Be Prepared to Use

The candidate should be highly proficient with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint/Microsoft 365 for drafting, analysis, collaboration, document control, status tracking, and executive briefing development.

Direct experience with GrantSolutions, OLDC, Grants.gov, Performance Progress Reports (PPRs), Federal Register processes, OMB/PRA clearance workflows, and Federal grants-management systems is strongly preferred. DCDDP specifically requires recipient support involving PPR, OLDC, GrantSolutions, and other Government-approved reporting tools.

The successful candidate should also be comfortable working with structured review databases, Excel trackers, decision logs, document repositories, standard operating procedures, checklists, templates, quality-control reviews, version control, and formal Government clearance processes.

Candidates should understand the distinction between providing contractor analytical/advisory support and performing inherently governmental functions. Final eligibility determinations, funding decisions, policy approvals, and other inherently governmental decisions remain with authorized Government officials.