The application deadline is June 1, 2026 at 11:59 pm Pacific.
Best Starts for Kids is hiring a Help Me Grow (HMG) Coordinator (Project/Program Manager II) to strengthen systems that connect children and families to the resources they need – when, where, and how they need them. This position will manage contracts, oversee the process of payments and analysis, and drive program success while ensuring equity-driven contracting practices.
Salary range: $47.01 to $59.59 Hourly
Job duties
Contract Management Process and Infrastructure Implementation
- Develop, implement, and improve contracting tools and processes with an equity focus.
- Collaborate with Community Health Services (CHS) contract and financial staff to refine procedures and templates (e.g., budgets, invoices, reports).
- Provide culturally responsive technical assistance to community partners for accurate and timely contract deliverables.
- Coordinate with central finance and compliance teams and maintain feedback loops with grantees.
- Support access to resources by analyzing, evaluating and improving both inline and in person processes.
- Support outreach and relationship-building with community partners to increase awareness of Help Me Grow services and maintain accurate partner resource information, including coordinating updates to referral and community resource databases.
Contract Monitoring and Payment
- Review contracts, financial, and programmatic reports to evaluate performance, approve payments, and process invoices.
- Follow up on incomplete requirements and resolve performance issues with Best Starts Program Managers and community partners.
- Conduct site reviews/monitoring visits to ensure high-quality, outcome-based services for children and families.
Project Management
- Initiate and create structures to ensure effective project management. In response to community partners and in collaboration with HMG Strategy Leads, develop accessible tools to ensure projects and priorities are moving forward.
- Develop documentation and project plans to ensure the HMG strategy is evolving in response to lessons learned over time and community feedback.
- Actively support the Prenatal-to-Five Team or the Help Me Grow Team, fostering collaboration, equity, and continuous learning.
Research and Data Visualization Support
- Create dashboards and data visualizations to support program evaluation and decision-making.
- Review literature on policy and practice, conduct qualitative coding, and assist in data collection activities.
- Coordinate stakeholder involvement in evaluation activities with Best Start for Kids Strategy Leads and the evaluation team.
- Coordinate meetings and capacity-building activities for awardees, including scheduling, logistics, and documentation.
- Support receiving feedback from community partners in order to refine vision and direction for HMG.
Program Support:
- In partnership with P-5 Program Managers, coordinate meetings and capacity-building activities for awardees, including scheduling, booking space, ordering food, preparing materials, and documenting activities.
Other duties as assigned
Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills
Required:
- Deep knowledge of equity and social justice principles, including the impact of place-, race-, and policy-based inequities.
- Two (2) years of experience in contract management and/or program design and implementation (e.g., development, budgeting, invoicing, reporting).
- Two (2) years of experience in basic data management and using project management tools.
- Proven experience coordinating groups to achieve shared goals.
- Ability to multi-task and adapt in high-pressure situations with shifting deadlines and expectations.
- Excellent organizational skills with attention to detail and results.
- Ability to work across sectors to create opportunities and improve outcomes.
- Strong interpersonal skills to build consensus among diverse individuals and groups.
- Experience creating culturally and linguistically appropriate messages and materials with diverse partners.
- Effective oral and written communication skills.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office 365 and data management software.
Desired:
- Familiarity with King County and Washington State early learning systems.
- Experience with maternal and child health systems – including perinatal and family health.
- Experience in project management and coordination.
- Experience coordinating, implementing, and monitoring grant- or contract-funded services.
- Experience supporting capacity-building activities like training, coaching, or consultation.
- Skills in data analysis and visualization, including working with datasets and using relevant software.
- Experience with cross-sector partnerships, collaborative processes, or planning large initiatives with diverse stakeholders.
Best Starts for Kids
Building on the deep knowledge, connections, and skills within King County communities, and backed by what science and research tells us about human development, the Best Starts for Kids King County initiative meets children and families with the right services at the right time. The first Best Starts for Kids levy, approved by King County voters in 2015, reached 490,000 of King County’s youngest children and their families and 40,000 youth and young adults, catalyzing strong starts in a child’s earliest years, and sustaining those gains through to adulthood. In August 2021, King County voters chose to renew the levy with over 62% approval for another six years. The plan for the second Best Starts for Kids levy will maintain current Best Starts for Kids investments in promotion, prevention, and early intervention, while deepening our investments to address critical needs in our community. View the Best Starts for Kids Implementation Plan: 2022 – 2027.
