Position Information

NY HELPNo

AgencyPeople With Developmental Disabilities, Office for

TitleAdvocacy Specialist 4

Occupational CategoryAdministrative or General Management

Salary Grade25

Bargaining UnitPS&T - Professional, Scientific, and Technical (PEF)

Salary RangeFrom $9636 to $121413 Annually

Employment Type Full-Time

Appointment Type Permanent

Jurisdictional Class Non-competitive Class

Travel Percentage 30%

Schedule

Workweek Mon-Fri

Hours Per Week 37.5

Workday

From 8:30 AM

To 4:30 PM

Flextime allowed? No

Mandatory overtime? No

Compressed workweek allowed? No

Telecommuting allowed? Yes

Location

County Albany

Street Address 44 Holland Ave

City Albany

StateNY

Zip Code12229

Job Specifics

Duties Description The Advocacy Specialist 4 serves as the Grievance Unit Lead, providing leadership, supervision, and policy oversight for OPWDD's grievance process while ensuring compliance with federal and state requirements. This role makes final determinations on grievances, receives and submits all appeals requests to the Director of Advocacy for review, analyzes systemic trends, and reports findings to leadership to support continuous improvement of service delivery system.

Duties include but are not limited to:

·Oversee and coordinate the intake, review, and resolution of non-grievance complaints received through the Commissioners Office, ensuring timely, consistent, and appropriate responses.
·Serve as the Grievance & Complaint Services Unit Lead with overall responsibility for the operation, oversight, and integrity of the grievance and other complaint processes.
·Provide direct supervision, guidance, and performance oversight to all unit staff members
·Develop, implement, and maintain grievance and non-grievance related policies, procedures, and workflows to ensure compliance with federal requirements and agency protocols.
.Review grievance records, documentation and recommendations prepared by intake staff and make independent, final determinations on grievances.
·Review, route all appeals requests and track accordingly.
·Monitor grievance and complaint data to identify trends, patterns, and systemic issues impacting individuals and families.
*Note: This position is a newly classified position and is pending placement into the non-competitive jurisdictional class. Until such approval, all appointments will be made temporary, pending jurisdictional class (JC). Once placed in the non-competitive class, the appointment type will be converted to permanent.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nys-office-for-people-with-developmental-disabilities/posts/?feedView=all
#LI-JB2

Minimum Qualifications Non-Competitive: a bachelor’s degree in a human services field, and four years of experience as a professional advocate or service provider in rehabilitation, developmental disabilities, or mental health. Two years of the experience must have been at a supervisory level.

Substitution: a master’s degree in a human services field may substitute for one year of the general experience for all titles above. Four years of experience may also substitute for a bachelor’s degree for all titles above.

Additional Comments • Preference will be given to OPWDD employees impacted by closures. If you are being impacted by closure, please indicate this on your resume.

• All OPWDD employees must be eligible and maintain eligibility for full and unconditional participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Continued employment will depend on maintaining eligibility.

• If you are employed by state government you may be able to receive loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF). The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance on Direct Loans after 120 qualifying monthly payments have been made under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer. For more information on PSLF, please visit www.studentAid.gov/publicservice.

• Employees on long term leave can bid on positions but must be able to report to work within fourteen (14) days and be able to perform the essential functions of their positions with or without reasonable accommodation (RA). If an employee or job applicant believes that they need a reasonable accommodation, they should contact the Reasonable Accommodation Unit at (518) 486-7222 or email accommodationrequests@opwdd.ny.gov to obtain information and RA forms.
• Savings programs such as the U.S. Savings Bond and the College Savings Plan.

• Voluntary pre-tax savings programs such as Health Care Spending Account and the Dependent Care Advantage Account offer employees options to pay for uncovered health care expenses or dependent care expenses.

• Access to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) an assessment and referral service that connects employees with local service providers and support services to address their personal needs.

• Life insurance and Disability insurance.

• The New York State Deferred Compensation Plan is a voluntary retirement plan that offers employees the option to invest a part of their salaries for retirement on a tax-deferred basis.

• Paid Holidays and Leave:
° Thirteen (13) paid holidays each year.
° Thirteen (13) days of paid vacation leave initially.
° Five (5) days paid personal leave each year.
° Paid sick leave each year, which may carry over from year to year.

• Health Care Coverage:
Employees and their eligible dependents can choose from a variety of affordable health insurance programs. Employees are provided family dental and vision plans at no extra cost.

• Paid Parental Leave:
Paid Parental Leave allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave at full pay for each qualifying event. A qualifying event is defined as the birth of a child or placement of a child for adoption or foster care.

• Retirement Program:
Participate in The NYS Employees’ Retirement System (ERS), which is recognized as one of the best-managed and best-funded public retirement systems in the nation.

• Professional Development and Education and Training:
NYS offers training programs and tuition assistance to eligible employees to maintain and increase their professional skills and prepare them for promotional opportunities. For more information, please visit https://oer.ny.gov/training-and-professional-development.

• Additionally, the Public Service Workshops Program (PSWP) offers certain professional training opportunities for PEF represented and M/C designated employees that may grant continuing education credits towards maintaining professional licensure. For more information, please visit https://oer.ny.gov/public-service-workshops-program-pswp.

• OPWDD is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer dedicated to creating and sustaining a culture of inclusion. We believe that we are most effective in managing and improving our service system with a diverse team of employees. With such a large workforce, we rely on the collective individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, self-expression, ideas and talent that our employees bring to their work. This speaks to our culture and is a key part of our successes. As we continuously recruit people for our team, we welcome the unique contributions that applicants bring in terms of their education, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation and beliefs.

Some positions may require additional credentials or a background check to verify your identity.

How to Apply

Name Central Office Human Resources

Telephone 518-473-4785

Fax 518-474-9902

Email Address MainOffice.Careers@opwdd.ny.gov

Address

Street Central Office Human Resources

44 Holland Ave

City Albany

State NY

Zip Code 12229

 

Notes on ApplyingPlease email your cover letter and resume to Mainoffice.Careers@opwdd.ny.gov and reference vacancy ID in your email.