Follow-Up Lead

Under the supervision of the Follow-Up Manager, the Follow-Up Lead supports Head Start monitoring follow-up activities by leading, coordinating, and overseeing Follow-Up, Special, and Risk Assessment Notification (RAN) reviews across assigned states and regions, including American Indian/Alaska Native and Tribal programs. This role manages follow-up workflows, coordinates with reviewers and grant recipients, monitors corrective action completion and progress, and ensures follow-up activities are completed accurately, timely, and in alignment with Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS), Office of Head Start (OHS) guidance, and contract requirements.

The Follow-Up Lead works collaboratively with internal MSG staff, OHS central and regional offices, reviewers, and grant recipients to support compliance efforts, verify corrective action completion, identify emerging risks, and ensure high-quality deliverables throughout the follow-up lifecycle. This role serves as the primary operational lead for assigned reviews, providing day-to-day guidance, workload coordination, quality oversight, and issue escalation support for reviewers and staff participating in follow-up activities.

• Serves as the primary point of contact for assigned grant recipients during Follow-Up, Special, and RAN reviews.
• Coordinates all phases of follow-up activities, including planning, scheduling, execution, documentation review, interviews, narrative development, and closeout.
• Reviews monitoring reports to assess findings and determine appropriate follow-up actions, timelines, and review activities.
• Supports customization of follow-up activities based on review type, findings, risk level, OHS direction, and grant recipient circumstances.
• Coordinates onsite or virtual follow-up reviews, including reviewer assignments, planning activities, schedules, document requests, and logistics.
• Develops scopes of work for Special Reviews in coordination with OHS central and regional office staff.
• Collects and analyzes data to identify program performance and compliance issues and ensure evidence aligns with finding narratives.
• Manages a portfolio of approximately 40–90 active grant recipients and multiple concurrent Follow-Up, Special, and RAN review activities across assigned regions.
• Supports coordination of reviewer workloads and resources to ensure contractual deadlines and review milestones are met.
• Serves as the first point of escalation for operational issues, review challenges, and stakeholder concerns.
• Assists Follow-Up team members with note-taking, meeting coverage, or other coordination support as needed.

• Reviews corrective action plans and supporting documentation submitted by grant recipients to assess completeness, clarity, and responsiveness to findings.
• Reviews approximately 20–40 corrective action submissions and evidence packages per month.
• Monitors 10–30 active corrective action plans simultaneously, ensuring activities remain aligned with approved timelines and OHS expectations.
• Completes initial reviews of corrective action submissions within five business days of receipt whenever possible.
• Conducts planning calls with grant recipients to assess corrective action progress, discuss extensions when needed, review document requests, explain the follow-up review process, and communicate potential OHS actions if findings are not corrected.
• Conducts follow-up review interviews to confirm corrective actions taken by grant recipients and assess ongoing compliance.
• Evaluates evidence to determine whether corrective actions sufficiently demonstrate compliance or measurable progress toward…