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 Panel Review Chairs to facilitate the evaluation of grant applications during
the year. Selected applicants will work on a team of three Grant Reviewers, in collaboration with federal
staff, to complete the evaluation of multiple applications within a six day panel review. To do so, Panel
Review Chairs will be expected to read a total of approximately 1,300 pages, when serving on a panel
review. The Panel Review Chair will facilitate discussions among reviewers for the purpose of
synthesizing the reviewers’ evaluation of each application’s strengths and weaknesses into a written
summary.
Qualified Panel Review Chair applicants will have strong facilitation, verbal communication and writing
skills, and have the ability to summarize and synthesize detailed analyses of applications.
Applicants will be required to participate in mandatory trainings prior to their final selection and
participation in a panel review. Selected Panel Review Chairs will be asked for their availability to
participate in panel reviews based on the OHS’s annual grant review calendar. Panel Review Chairs 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 in order to facilitate and guide a factual discussion of an
application’s strengths and weaknesses.
Facilitate professional discussions among the review team for the purpose of synthesizing the reviewers’
evaluation of each application’s strengths and weaknesses. Organize and quickly refer to the
documented evidence within an application while facilitating the discussion to support a timely
resolution of differing opinions.
Communicate your understanding of an application’s content, including supporting evidence, to the
reviewers and federal staff effectively and respectfully.
Draft a synthesized summary document based on the reviewers’ analyses of each application. Ensure
the final summary document fully captures the applicant’s response to each criterion, incorporating

OMB Control No: 0970-0477
Expiration Date: 3/31/2019
content from various portions of the application, as necessary, to fully capture the response to the
FOA’s requirements.
Track reviewers’ participation in group discussions and the quality and/or accuracy of their written
analysis; report incidents of low quality participation, in discussions or submitted analysis, to federal
staff.
Ensure the completion of each application’s evaluation is completed in accordance with the review
timeline. Communicate possible deviations from the review timeline to federal staff for approval.
Maintain confidentiality of sensitive data and information.
Required Skills
 Ability to summarize and synthesize information using critical thinking and analytical skills.
 Effective team facilitation and verbal communication skills.
 Ability to complete a high volume of work, as an individual, within specified tight deadlines and
timeframes; ability to guide a team 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 easily function within a variety of technology systems, Internet, virtual meeting
software and other related online systems.
 Leadership skills
Tools
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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 leading 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 and/or Chair for a federal agency

OMB Control No: 0970-0477
Expiration Date: 3/31/2019
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Bilingual Spanish proficiency with an emphasis on reading comprehension
Experience with financial management, budget development, fiscal principles etc.
Knowledge of child care subsidies
Bilingual Spanish proficiency with an emphasis on reading comprehension

Honorarium
 Panel Review Chairs will be compensated $400 per day
How to Apply
TBD
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