Associate Director, NCSS

Under the administrative supervision of the Executive Director of the National Center for START Services (NCSS), the NCSS Associate Director serves as the Executive Director's strategic partner in monitoring organizational health, advancing organizational priorities, and strengthening the quality, fidelity, and long-term sustainability of NCSS. The Associate Director is responsible for the development, coordination, supervision, and implementation of START training, consultation, and technical assistance nationally and internationally. This includes supervision of Project Managers, oversight of contracts and service deliverables, development of training and written resources, leadership of the National Advisory Council and START Network, and supervision and support of the NCSS implementation team. In partnership with the Executive Director, the Associate Director provides organizational oversight of quality assurance, policy development, continuous quality improvement, and organizational practices to ensure NCSS consistently reflects START values and fidelity.

Job Duties/Responsibilities:

Leadership, Strategy & Organizational Management (40%)

• •Participate as a key member of the NCSS leadership team, contributing to strategic planning, organizational decision-making, and long-term growth and sustainability.
• •Lead continuous assessment and improvement of organizational operations, services, policies, and practices in alignment with the NCSS strategic plan.
• •Foster organizational cohesion, collaboration, and cross-functional integration across clinical, research, operations, quality, communications, and training teams.
• •Provide executive leadership during organizational, system, or emergency response efforts and support coordinated organizational communications during significant system changes.
• •Provide direct supervision to NCSS leadership staff, providing coaching and leadership development in, but not limited to, the areas of effective leadership, performance management, quality improvement principles, and supervision practices while fostering a collaboration, accountability, innovation, and continuous learning.
• •Ensure compliance with UNH/USNH policies, contractual requirements, and organizational procedures.
• •Serve as the designated representative for the Executive Director in their absence, providing executive oversight across all NCSS operations.
• •Partner with the Executive Director to ensure organizational priorities, operations, policies, and strategic initiatives align with the START Model and organizational goals.
• •Provide executive oversight of organizational quality assurance, policy development, governance, and continuous quality improvement to promote accountability and operational excellence.

Operations Management (40%)

• •Partner with the Executive Director to establish organizational priorities, allocate resources, monitor organizational performance, and anticipate staffing and operational needs.
• •Monitor NCSS’ contractual commitment–deliverables and spend-down billing.
• •Ensure fidelity to the START Model across implementation, training, consultation, technical assistance, and program development while supporting innovation and growth. Develop and approve organizational policies, implementation standards, protocols, tools, manuals, and resources supporting START implementation.
• •Provide strategic leadership to oversee NCSS Quality Assurance (QA), to monitor implementation of quality and organizational outcomes using evaluation and performance data to drive continuous improvement and organizational reach nationally. Collaborate with the NCSS Operations Management Team to assign, monitor, and evaluate program development activities across the national network.
• •Ensure clinical, research, operational, and programmatic priorities remain integrated throughout implementation activities.

START Model Stewardship (20%)

• •Serve as the primary liaison between implementation, research, quality, and evaluation activities to promote evidence-informed practice.
• •Identify emerging trends, research opportunities, and innovative implementation strategies that strengthen and improve START outcomes.
• •Build and sustain strategic partnerships with state agencies, provider organizations, federal funders, government officials, legislative partners, national START programs, and other key stakeholders to advance the mission and sustainability of START.
• •Collaborate across organizational departments to ensure consistent communication, alignment of organizational priorities, and effective dissemination of standards, implementation updates, and best practices.
• •Translate research and evaluation into policy, training, technical assistance, and implementation of resources.
• •Develop publications, presentations, and educational resources highlighting START outcomes and innovations. Support development of implementation standards and resources that strengthen consistency across the START Network.

Requirements

Minimum Acceptable Education & Experience:

• •Masters’ degree in appropriate academic discipline and 7-10 years of experience in a related field and area of work.
• •Experience supporting individuals who experience a mental health condition and an intellectual/developmental disability (MH-IDD).
• •Experience working with state and/or local agency leaders to develop contracts for implementation and training.
• •Experience evaluating the effectiveness of programs serving people experiencing IDD.
• •Extensive experience in the application of adult learning practices, design and provision of professional development and expertise in the field, and creativity to continue incorporating best practices from multiple related fields.
• •Experience negotiating contracts with state and provider agencies, including writing and or reviewing scopes of work.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

Leadership

• •Ability to design, conduct, and evaluate implementation of IDD-MH services (in local, state, or national settings) that incorporate data-based decision making.
• •Knowledge of IDD services and MH services.
• •Strong leadership skills with the ability to influence organizational climate, facilitate organizational change, and build consensus across multidisciplinary teams.
• •Demonstrated transparent and high integrity leadership.
• •Ability to effectively communicate the organization's mission to the overall community.
• •Demonstrated high level strategic thinking and planning, with the ability to envision and convey the organization's strategic future to the staff, stakeholders, and Advisory Board.
• •A history of successfully generating new revenue streams and improving financial results.
• •Demonstrated ability to lead organizational quality assurance, continuous quality improvement, policy development, and implementation of organizational standards.
• •Training, consultation and technical assistance experience supporting individuals with IDD and mental health service needs and their families/caregivers in the community.
• •Ability to translate implementation science, research findings, and evaluation data into organizational policy, practice, training, and technical assistance.

Supervision

• •Leadership and supervisory experience with interdisciplinary supervisees within national level program development and oversight.
• •Ability to supervise staff through learning, professional development, and continued growth in the field. Includes teaching others to apply best practices, learn to incorporate through data-based decision making.
• •Demonstrated ability to supervise and collaborate with internal and external faculty and staff.

Fidelity

• •Knowledge and expertise with the START Model, development of START practices, and leadership in developing others' expertise.
• •Demonstrated ability to assess organizational systems and implement improvements that strengthen fidelity, quality, and operational effectiveness.
• •Knowledge of quality improvement methods, implemen