Director of Prevention Services - City of Somerville

Statement of Duties

The Director of Prevention Services identifies and prioritizes opportunities for substance misuse prevention and behavioral health initiatives, develops annual budgets for program activities, develop implementation and evaluation plans, tracks progress to ensure appropriate and efficient use of resources, and provides outcome-related reports to ensure progress is made to prevent/reduce community and youth substance misuse, increase capacity of the division, and increase community resilience. This position oversees Prevention Services staff, including Regional Director of Tobacco Control, Prevention Services Coordinator (vacant), and SCAP Youth Program Director. The Director of Prevention Services oversees fiscal and programmatic components from a variety of sources, including but not limited to, Opioid Abatement Funds, Marijuana Stabilization Funds, Regional MassCall3 grant, MTCP grant, and contracts related to supporting Somerville’s unhoused community.

Essential Functions:

The essential functions or duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various type of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position.

Community Engagement and Liaison:

• Manages all coalition and prevention grant related activities, with focus on primary prevention, trauma informed policy, youth development and mental health access, and other related regional and local projects.
• Led collaborative needs assessment and planning process that includes all local and regional major service partners and coalition members to implement prevention strategies for Somerville’s highest risk populations.
• Develop relationships with local key stakeholders and community agencies to foster and develop a pool of alternate resources and avoid duplication of services.
• Consult with various community advisory councils on developing programs for substance misuse prevention; work with community groups in a proactive manner to assist in the implementation of the various primary prevention and early intervention of these programs.
• Inform and educate community members on primary prevention issues and current evidence-based strategies and research; promote awareness about services, availability, and health education initiatives.

Training and Presentation:

• Build division capacity for sustainability of prevention training programs, including providing guidance and mentorship to HHS’ Harm Reduction Community Health Worker.
• Identify, recommend, and coordinate appropriate educational workshops and trainings with a wide variety of private and public agencies, local businesses, and youth and caregivers on specific skills for practical guidance in substance misuse prevention and building resilience and protective factors.

Data and Grant/Contract Management and Reporting:

• Perform evaluation and reporting requirements including overseeing quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis (i.e. basic management of databases or software, understanding of benchmarks, creating report/presentation-related deliverables).
• Negotiate and develop MOUs, contracts, quotes, and scopes of work with contractors, consultants, and grant partners, while adhering to municipal fiscal policies.
• Manage the execution of substance misuse prevention contracts and sub-contracts including tracking of relevant components of required quarterly financial and activity progress reporting.
• Responsible for infusing the principles of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration's Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) into all aspects of prevention programming.
• Responsible for preparing all programmatic progress reports mandated by state and federal funding agencies related to grant-based prevention programs.

Program Development and Implementation:

• Oversee the development, implementation, and evaluation phases of evidence-informed strategies for community-level prevention programs in collaboration with community members, partners, funders, outside contractors, and internal teams.
• Serve as subject matter expert in the design and execution of relevant prevention initiatives in the City as directed.

Communication and Education:

• Develop knowledge of community populations, including subpopulations with cultural and ethnic differences. This includes regularly attending events or locations in the city where at-risk populations congregate to build trust and rapport.
• Perform continuous research and maintain professional knowledge and understanding of issues related and approaches to trauma, mental health, substance use, social determinants, and equity.
• Advocate for local and state policy changes or improvements related to prevention and harm reduction activities and coordinate such advocacy work with legislative liaisons in the City’s Intergovernmental Affairs department.
• Utilize existing communication resources from BSAS or other state and federal agencies to disseminate relevant health information and harm reduction materials to community members at highest risk of adverse health outcomes.
• Collaborate with HHS’ Health Communication Officer to develop and implement communication plan(s).
• Assist with other duties as assigned.
• Evening and Weekend hours may be required at times in this position.

Recommended Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience: Bachelor’s degree in Public Health or related field and five to seven (5-7) years’ experience, with at least three (3) years in a supervisory role; or any equivalent combination of education, training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the essential functions of the job. At least two (2) years of direct grant management experience required. Master’s degree preferred.

Must have experience in substance misuse prevention and behavioral health services (including harm reduction, public education, service delivery, and organizing other community initiatives), community coalition building, youth development, trauma informed care, and/or working with at-risk populations.

Knowledge, Abilities and Skill

Knowledge: Knowledge of federal, state and local public health regulations relates to substance misuse and prevention, tobacco control, and harm reduction strategies; working knowledge of public health issues and prevention programs, specifically public health challenges in the City of Somerville and area communities. Demonstrates expertise in the Strategic Prevention Framework and experience applying framework principles to guide and enhance prevention strategies.

Ability: Strong ability to work independently and take initiative; ability to prepare and organize presentation materials; ability to evaluate and monitor community and environmental health projects; Ability to travel to off-site locations; ability to meet and deal with the public effectively and appropriately; ability to handle problems and emergencies effectively and calmly; ability to communicate clearly, both orally and in writing; ability to operate a computer; ability to maintain, manage, and organize budgeting materials; ability to deal appropriately with city employees, city elected officials and the general public. Ability to manage and track multiple projects simultaneously with specific deliverables and timelines. Carry out work with an approach that respects the dignity, agency, autonomy, experiences, and strengths of persons served. Must be comfortable with ambiguity of position and flexible with changing priorities.

Skill: Public speaking skills; excellent research, planning and organizational skills; supervisory skills; proficient Microsoft office suite and computer skills. Strong communication, interpersonal and team building skills required, along with an interest in working in partnership with administration, staff, volunteers, elected officials, and the community at large. Bilingual or multilingual language skills in Spanish, Portuguese, and/or Haitian Creole is preferred but not required.

Work Environment

The work environment involves everyday discomforts typical of offices, with occasional exposure to outside elements. Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting, but conditions are generally not unpleasant. Employee may be required to work beyond normal business hours in response to attend evening meetings or complete work assignments.

Physical and Mental Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the position’s essential functions.

Physical Skills

Few physical demands are required to perform the work. Work effort principally involves sitting to perform work tasks, with intermittent periods of stooping, walking, and standing. May also be some occasional lifting of objects such as office equipment and computer paper (up to 30 lbs.)

Motor Skills

Duties are largely mental rather than physical, but the job may occasionally require minimal motor skills for activities such as moving objects, operating a telephone, personal computer and/or most other office equipment including word processing, filing and sorting of papers.

Visual Skills

Visual demands require constantly reading documents for general understanding and analytical purposes.

Hours: Full-Time 
Salary: $82,806.06 annualized, plus benefits 
Union: Non-Union
FLSA: Exempt
Safety Sensitive: Non-Safety Sensitive Role
Date Posted: January 16th, 2025

City of Somerville residents are especially encouraged to apply.

The City of Somerville is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability or any other protected category. Women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities free of charge, upon request. Persons with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication (i.e., CART, ASL), written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures in order to access the programs, activities, and meetings of the City of Somerville should please contact Adrienne Pomeroy at 617-625-6600 x 2059 or apomeroy@somervillema.gov.

Please Note: The below details do not apply to any Mayor Student Jobs programs OR youth workers with the city.

Pre-Employment Requirements for All Employees:

• MA Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) clearance
• Completion of Conflict-of-Interest Law Education training for municipal employees

Overview of Total Rewards:

• 4 weeks annual vacation (for non-union positions) union positions vary by contract
• Medical insurance through the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) - 80% of premium costs paid by City
• Dental coverage low and high plans through Cigna
• Vision care through Vision Service Plan (VSP)
• Long term disability through Sun Life
• Group and voluntary life insurance through Boston Mutual
• Health Care and Dependent Care flexible spending through Benefit Strategies
• Deferred compensation plans through a choice of three vendors
• Free, confidential services through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provided by E4Health
• Annual cancer screening & wellness release
• Somerville Retirement Pension System
• Tuition reimbursement
• MBTA pass program
• FREE Blue Bikes membership
• Eligible employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)

Benefits listed are for benefits-eligible positions and the above information is meant to be a general overview of the benefit programs offered by the City of Somerville and not a binding contract.

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