Grants Specialist

Position Title:

Grants Specialist

Department:

Workforce Initiatives Operations Department (Richard F. Ammon

Position Type:

Staff

Job Family:

Specialist

Job Summary:

The College of Lake County is looking for a Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) Grants Specialist to join the team at our Lakeshore Campus in Waukegan, IL. The Grants Specialist will be pivotal in leading the monitoring and coordination of the Climate Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) grant compliance, ensuring meticulous tracking of activities, budgets, and financial information. This position involves collaboration with the Executive Director of Workforce Initiatives, the Grant Manager, and grant partners. Responsibilities include implementing grant activities, interpreting and implementing grant requirements, overseeing data collection and entry requirements, generating comprehensive grant reports, evaluating program effectiveness, and ensuring seamless client progress tracking from entry to exit. The Grants Specialist will also support additional grant-related activities as needed and support other staff working on the grant.

Why choose the College of Lake County for your next opportunity?
The College of Lake County (CLC) offers a competitive salary, excellent benefits that includes Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois health, Delta Dental and Superior Vision insurance plans, tuition support for employees and qualified family members, three retirement plans, disability, group and supplemental life insurance, health and dependent care flexible spending account plans, a compressed work week in the summer (Closed Fridays!!), generous vacation, sick and personal time off and 14 paid holidays each year. Some benefits will not be available for part-time employees (ex: health insurance).

CLC is a comprehensive community college located in northeastern Illinois committed to being an innovative educational institution providing life-changing paths for our students by offering exceptional learning experiences. CLC achieved a milestone in 2023 with its designation as a Leader College. This national recognition awarded by the Achieving the Dream Network is the result of improved student outcomes through the CLC’s relentless commitment to transformational change and the implementation of innovative practices within the student success model over the past few years.

CLC aspires to be a place where every student succeeds, every employee thrives, so that every business achieves and every community grows. Our mission is to be innovative and value-driven in supporting student success through developing and encouraging employees of all backgrounds on their journey toward achieving personal and professional growth.

This is a grant funded position.

Posting Date:

03/05/2025

Expected Start Date:

04/14/2025

Compensation Grade:

B24

Full-Time/Part-Time:

Full time

Location:

Lakeshore Campus

Total Hours Per Week:

40

Job Description:

Lead the oversight of grant activities, ensuring adherence to state requirements, grant goals, timelines, and objectives. Develop and draft comprehensive components of grant project plans and reports for submission to reporting agencies. Conduct evaluations of grant projects to determine their effectiveness against established criteria. Ensure seamless sharing and utilization of client information within guidelines, in collaboration with the program manager, partners, and state agencies. Analyze and interpret grant guidelines to ensure compliance with requirements. Establish and manage data collection processes for accurate and timely entry of all relevant information. Maintain accurate records of all participant activities and transactions related to the CEJA grant, ensuring compliance with budgetary constraints. Develop and implement evaluation tools to measure the effectiveness of CEJA programs. Ensure that all operational aspects of the grant are running smoothly and efficiently.

Oversee and ensure accurate entry of client data into college, partner, and State databases. Coordinate with staff and partners to gather and input data, maintaining data integrity and confidentiality. Conduct data analysis as required by the College, partners, and the State. Ensure that grant data is accurately recorded and reported to relevant stakeholders. Regularly analyze data to assess grant progress and attainment of goals. Analyze financial needs and request budget adjustments as necessary to support grant activities and objectives. Perform high-level financial data analysis to meet the requirements of the College, partners, and the State.

Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to interpret grant requirements, manage activities, and implement strategic initiatives. Act as a liaison between program faculty and key departments in Educational Affairs and Community and Workforce Partnerships ( CWP ) regarding grant-related programs. Create, prepare, and submit detailed quarterly reports to CLC management and external partners. Coordinate with partners and staff to support clients throughout their participation in CEJA programs, ensuring their needs are met and grant goals are achieved. Assist program partners in decisions regarding student stipends and barrier reduction funds to ensure compliance with budget parameters.

Participate in professional associations/organizations and educational activities that enhance subject matter expertise and competencies, knowledge, understanding and interpersonal skills. Participate on strategic and/or functional cross-departmental teams, committees and councils at the request of the division or unit leaders. Remain knowledgeable of current state and federal laws, regulations, and best practices in the field of appointment ensuring the College’s policies, procedures, practices and programs conform to laws and regulations and align with the mission, vision, values and strategic goals of the College. Perform other related functions and projects as determined by the needs of the Executive Director of Workforce Initiatives. Perform any and all other duties assigned that support the mission, vision, values and strategic initiatives of College of Lake County and goals of the department, division and unit of appointment.

Required Qualification(s)

An Associate’s in accounting, business, communication or related field from an accredited institution.

A minimum of two (2) years of experience supporting or maintaining records, budgets, database management, data analysis/reporting or related work.

Possess strong critical thinking, analytical and problem-solving skills and acumen. Possess excellent organizational and project management skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities.

Demonstrated ability to utilize technology to access and analyze date and generate reports.

Advanced knowledge in using Excel for data analysis and reporting.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Ability to work effectively and constructively with persons of diverse cultures, language groups, and abilities; demonstrate sensitivity to and ability to work with the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds of community college students, faculty, and staff, including those with disabilities; establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.

Desired Qualification(s) Bachelor’s degree or higher

Grant coordination experience.

Post-secondary professional experience ideally in a community college setting with a focus on career and technical education

Bilingual in Spanish and English

Hourly rate:

$20.52 to $23.75/hr. The salary offer in this range will be based on education and experience. This range is firm.

*This is a grant funded position; continued employment in this position is based on external funding sources.

EEO Statement

College of Lake County is an Equal Opportunity Employer with a policy of non-discrimination. Qualified applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age (40 or older), disability and genetic information (including family medical history).