Program Specialist 2 Professional Certification

Thurston County, WA - USA

Yearly Salary: $ 45024 - 60132

Posted on: 10 hours ago

Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Job Summary

Description

GENERAL SERVICE

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Program Specialist 2 - Professional Certification

$45024 $60132 annually

Closes January 2 2026

The Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is looking for a Program Specialist 2 (Professional Certification) to join our expanding OSPI Professional Certification team. This full-time permanent position is based in Olympia Washington. Upon completing training candidates may be eligible for a partial telework schedule; however those seeking fully remote work should not apply.During the initial training period successful candidates will be required to work in the office five days a week.We encourage interested candidates to visit theOSPI websiteto gain insight into our agency.

About OSPI and our initiatives

OSPI is the primary agency charged with overseeing public K12 education in Washington state. Working with the states 295 public school districts and 7 state-tribal education compact schools OSPI allocates funding and provides tools resources and technical assistance so every student in Washington is provided a high-quality public education.

At OSPI we recognize that our employees are the key to the success of the agency. We are committed to our work but value the balance with our personal lives. We demonstrate our commitment to employees by providing an environment that stimulates professional growth and values them for their expertise. OSPI is a great place to work and has several initiatives to help create a great working environment including:

We support a healthy work/life balance by offering flexible/alternative work schedules and mobile and telework options. (Depending on job duties and work location.)
We have a tuition assistance policy and support employees seeking tuition waiver through participating higher education organizations.
We have an Infant at Work Program that is based on long-term values of newborns and infant-parent bonding. Eligible employees who are new parents or legal guardians can bring their infant (six weeks to six months) when returning to work. (Depending on job duties and work location.)
We value and are actively involved in promoting diversity equity and inclusion within OSPI by way of cross-divisional collaborative committee. The focus of the committee includes employee engagement and education; reinforcing OSPI values; and maximizing the value of diversity and identifying strategies for inclusion.

Vision Mission and Values
Vision: All students prepared for post-secondary pathways careers and civic engagement.

Mission: Transform K-12 education to a system that is centered on closing opportunity gaps and is characterized by high expectations for all students and educators. We achieve this by developing equity-based policies and supports that empower educators families and communities.

Values: Ensuring Equity Collaboration and Service Achieving Excellence through Continuous Improvement Focus on the Whole Child

Equity

Each student family and community possesses strengths and cultural knowledge that benefits their peers educators and schools. Ensuring educational equity:

Goes beyond equality; it requires education leaders to examine the ways current policies and practices result in disparate outcomes for our students of color students living in poverty students receiving special education and English Learner services students who identify as LGBTQ and highly mobile student populations.
Requires education leaders to develop an understanding of historical contexts; engage students families and community representatives as partners in decision-making; and actively dismantle systemic barriers replacing them with policies and practices that ensure all students have access to the instruction and support they need to succeed in our schools.

Position Overview

This position serves stakeholders by performing customer service for 85% of their work duties. An additional 15% of this positions work duties support the Professional Certification department.

This position assists stakeholders and deals with customers that call in on our multiline phone systems accommodates stakeholders that arrive in person and will be responding to emails sent to the Professional Certification email account.

This position assists in answering questions from educators school district personnel the public and others regarding certification procedures policies and application protocols. This position assists in answering over 50000 calls per year and callbacks numbering nearly 5000 per year. The Program Specialist position also assists in responding to more than 500 emails per week. The questions include areas of how to apply for educator certification how to navigate the E-Certification system certification rules and regulations and how to renew and maintain Washington state certification. This position will also receive mail which includes certification applications and supporting documentation resulting in nearly 45000 certification actions annually.

In addition this position independently answers more difficult questions resolves issues issues certificates and provides assistance while maintaining confidentiality of the educators personal information. This position requires a working knowledge of certification policy procedures and standards as set forth by the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB). This position uses knowledge of WACs and RCWs to assist customers in understanding certification requirements.

This position will be responsible for reviewing inputting and scanning any additional customer information into the E-Certification system that is received by paper copy.

Key Responsibilities
Customer Service: Provides customer service for the certification department by answering phone calls assisting in-person visitors and responding to emails and voicemails.

Answers incoming customer phone calls and responds to or takes messages for certification specialists.
Read and respond in clear and concise manner to emails from stakeholders regarding status of applications and questions about Washington state certification helping to identify certification requirements and clarifying certification processes.
Responds to in-person requests by providing guidance on the completion and submission of applications and corresponding documents.
Corresponds to districts and school personnel on certification policies procedures and status of certification applications.
Independently resolves stakeholder problems by identifying issues determining procedural steps necessary for resolution working with stakeholders and Certification staff to implement a solution then communicating results to the stakeholder.
Assists stakeholders with understanding RCW and WAC requirements for Washington state educator certification.
Provide technical assistance to stakeholders navigating the E-Certification system including issues with the EDS sign-in online applications and other general account information concerns.
Responding to stakeholder questions on the phone by using multi-line phone system.
Attentive to stakeholders that may come to the agency for assistance.
Accessing and using Outlook system to review research and respond to customers certification questions by email.
Coordinates with other Program Specialists to respond to all emails and voicemails within 24 hours.
Collaborates with all Professional Certification department representatives using advanced communication skills and ability to find information to best serve stakeholder needs.

Training: Assists the supervisory team in the training of new Program Specialist personnel.

Assist the supervisory team in training new hires as part of the multi-week training schedule.
Assist the supervisory team by showing new hire the breakdown of weekly Program Specialist duties.
Work directly with new hire to complete instructional phone calls while still providing stakeholders with assistance.
Assist in the continued growth of new hires after successful completion of training period.

Daily Office Work: Completes certification duties related to partner specialists need and specialization area of focus while managing and maintaining stakeholder records.

Creates and manages educator profiles and maintains integrity of educator data and information while delivering specialized certification services.
Receives reviews and logs into database all incoming certification applications and additional documentation.
Checks applications for completeness reviewing additional documents for certification type and authenticity.
Scans additional materials into E-Certification that are mailed emailed or brought into the Professional Certification department.
Receives fees and logs fee information into the E-Certification system sending deficiency notices if necessary for incorrect and returned fees.
Manages own queue of previously reviewed applications completed by partner evaluator and issues certificates after fulfillment of outstanding deficiencies.
Reviews specialization area of focus webpages forms and other certificate related materials for accuracy recommending updates when needed.
With partner specialist creates informational documents to be used at presentations and other field events.
Participates in meetings regarding implementation of new RCWs and WACs under the direction of the partner specialist and other staff within area of focus.
Acts as offices secondary program expert in support of specialization area of focus.
Opens receives and logs in documentation received by mail and all fiscal information received from the Fiscal department.
Access and scan educator information into E-Certification.
Complete certificate verifications upon request by educator or other state agency.
Retrieve educator transcripts and other application materials from online resources and load them to educator online profiles.
Responsible for the processing and management of specialized educator documentation that is held in online systems microfiche physical documents and other digital formats.
Works with supervisory team on the management of forms and records necessary for program operation.
Self-monitors daily and weekly tasks adjusting when necessary to achieve program goals.

Presentations/Field Events: Assists the Certification team with the promotion of the Certification Department to outside institutions organizations and the and public.

Assists Certification leadership team and other Certification program personnel in presentations and public events.
Represents the department and the agency at field events and meetings with internal and external partners as a secondary program expert for specialization area.
Participate in various certification information presentations to districts and public.
Assist in other field events attended or sponsored by certification program personnel.

Improvement Analysis: Work with supervisory team and other certification program staff to identify opportunities for improvement with regards to customer service.

Identify opportunity gaps in current office policy and processes that may be negatively affecting customer service levels.
Formulate potential solutions for areas of opportunity and present to supervisory team with supporting evidence for evaluation.
Identify areas of service that need review for potential negative impacts to diverse and underserved populations.
Research concerns regarding policy and procedures currently in place and present information to supervisory team for further conversation and analysis of potential issue.
Work within certification team to implement changes for positive effects on policy/procedure and effective workflow.
Track information regarding changes to ensure that the desired impact is being made by implemented changes.

Required Qualifications:

Bachelors degree or 4 years of customer service experience in an education administrative or office setting (Year for year experience may substitute for education)

In addition to those required qualifications our ideal applicant will also have some or all of the following:

Experience showing a high standard of professionalism and customer service in all interactions.
Experience organizing and prioritizing necessary workloads.
Experience working both independently and collaboratively within a team.
Experience answering a high volume of phone calls and responding to emails for extended periods.
Experience with Microsoft Office Applications (Outlook Word Excel etc.).
Must be able to work Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and maintain excellent attendance.

Desired Qualifications:

1 year experience in educator certification or other education related work.

Compensation
The annual compensation for the position is$45024 $60132per year and depends upon experience educational background and qualifications. Geographic differentials may be applied based on work location of successful candidate. Washington State offers a generous benefit package including health dental and life insurance retirement and an optional deferred compensation program. Please visitHealth Care Authorityfor information regarding health benefits and theDepartment of Retirement Systemsfor retirement plan information. This is a general service position. This position is not represented by a bargaining unit.

Application Process

Those interested in this position must apply through. Applications must include the following documents in MS Word and PDF format only:

A letter of interest specifically addressing the qualifications listed in this announcement;
A current résumé and;
A list of three or more professional references.

Please address any questions to:

Sal Salazar Human Resources

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
600 Washington Street Southeast
Olympia Washington 98504-7200

:

Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format may contact the Human Resources Office at or or e-mail .

New Jobs Alert Service

OSPI offers a subscription service which regularly notifies subscribers of new OSPI employment opportunities on . Subscribers are notified via text or email alert. If you are interested in this service then please subscribe at this location.

OSPI is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from job seekers who will contribute to our diversity. OSPI provides equal access to all programs and services without discrimination based on sex race creed religion color national origin age honorably discharged veteran or military status sexual orientation including gender expression or identity the presence of any sensory mental or physical disability or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability. If you would like please include your name and gender pronouns in your application to ensure we address you appropriately throughout the application process. Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format may contact the human resource consultant listed in Application Process.

Required Experience:

DescriptionGENERAL SERVICEJOB ANNOUNCEMENTProgram Specialist 2 - Professional Certification$45024 $60132 annuallyCloses January 2 2026The Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is looking for a Program Specialist 2 (Professional Certification) to join our expanding O...