Office of Head Start Reviewer Recruitment (Previously approved, ongoing collection)

OMB Control No: 0970-0477
Expiration Date: 3/31/2019
Job Description
The Office of Head Start (OHS) manages grant funding and oversees local agencies providing Head Start
services. Head Start promotes school readiness of children under 5 from low-income families through
education, health, social and other services. OHS publishes between 60 and -100 funding opportunity
announcements (FOAs) throughout the year to solicit proposals from organizations to provide Head
Start and/or Early Head Start services in local communities.
Accordingly, OHS is seeking Grant Reviewers to critically evaluate grant applications during the year.
Selected applicants will work on a team with two other Grant Reviewers, in collaboration with a Panel
Review Chair, to complete the evaluation of multiple applications within a six day panel review. To do
so, Grant Reviewers will be expected to read a total of approximately 1,300 pages, when serving on a
panel review.
Qualified Grant Reviewer applicants will have strong writing and verbal communication skills, and have
the ability synthesize and analyze applications received in response to OHS’s FOAs.
Applicants will be required to participate in mandatory trainings prior to their final selection and
participation in a panel review. Selected Grant Reviewers will be asked for their availability to participate
in panel reviews based on the OHS’s annual grant review calendar. Grant Reviewers must maintain an
online profile that is used for review invitation purposes. However, participation in grant reviews
is not guaranteed. OHS anticipates conducting panel reviews during February and March 2018.
Head Start, Early Head Start, or Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership grantee staff, and current
training and technical assistance providers are ineligible to apply.
All work is performed in a virtual environment using a variety of technology systems, web-based panel
review management systems, and virtual meeting software and other related online systems.
Major Responsibilities
Read the FOA(s), that correspond to your assigned applications, to understand the purpose of the
funding announcement, applicant requirements, and criteria to be used to accurately evaluate how each
applicant has responded to the requirements of the FOA.
Read applications with a high attention to detail to fully assess the extent to which each applicant has
responded to the FOA requirements.
Organize and refer to the documented evidence within an application that supports each aspect of your
analysis.
Draft a summary analysis of each applicant’s response to the FOA evaluation criterion items,
synthesizing content from various portions of the application, as necessary, to fully capture the response
to the FOA’s requirements.
Actively participate in facilitated discussions based on each review team member’s documented
strengths and weaknesses. Communicate the basis of your analysis and supporting evidence to the
other participants effectively and respectfully. Modify your written analysis of an applicant’s response to
criterion based on the outcomes of the facilitated discussion, as necessary.

OMB Control No: 0970-0477
Expiration Date: 3/31/2019

Maintain confidentiality of sensitive data and information.
Required Skills
 Ability to summarize and synthesize information using critical thinking and analytical skills.
 Strong verbal communication and writing skills.
 Ability to complete a high volume of work within specified, tight deadlines and timeframes.
 Self-motivated and self-reliant to work effectively in a highly organized manner.
 Ability to respectfully participate within a team in a professional manner.
 Ability to easily function within a variety of technology systems, Internet, virtual meeting
software and other related online systems.
Required Tools
• Designated Workspace
• Telephone or cellular phone
• Computer
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Reliable high speed Internet access
o Back-up plan to access the Internet in the event the primary Internet connection is lost
during a panel review
Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a field related to Organizational Management, Human Services,
Administration, Psychology, Social Work, Early Childhood Education, Communication, English,
Writing, and/or combination of experience and education.
• Ability to understand the function of a human services program from a broad perspective;
including organizational structure and operations, fiscal management, and community
partnerships.
 Experience writing essays, literature reviews, abstracts, book reviews, dissertations, policy
briefs, scientific research papers, proposal writing, fact checking etc.
 3+ years experience participating in professional projects using a team approach.
Additional Desired Knowledge/Skills (Not Required)
 Knowledge of or experience with early childhood education programs including Head Start, Early
Head Start, Pre-K, kindergarten etc.
 Prior experience serving as a grant reviewer for a federal agency
 Experience with financial management, budget development, fiscal principles etc.
 Knowledge of child care subsidies
 Bilingual Spanish proficiency with an emphasis on reading comprehension
Honorarium
 Grant Reviewers will be compensated $350 per day
How to Apply
TBD

OMB Control No: 0970-0477
Expiration Date: 3/31/2019
Public reporting burden of this collection of information is estimated to average 2 minutes per response,
including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining
the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. An agency may not
conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control number