Healthy Veteran Initiative Program Director
VFW Ole Beck Post 209 | Missoula, Montana
Full Time | $42.50 / Hour | Benefits | Veterans Preference in Hiring
About VFW Ole Beck Post 209
VFW Ole Beck Post 209 is one of Montana’s oldest and most active Veterans service organizations, headquartered in Missoula and chartered in 1921. With more than 300 members and deep roots in the Missoula community, the Post has spent more than a century serving Veterans and their families through peer connection, resource navigation, advocacy, and community-based support.
The Post is now undertaking its most significant transformation since its founding. In September 2026, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded the Post a Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant (SSG Fox SPGP) to launch the VFW Healthy Veteran Initiative (VFW-HVI). VFW-HVI is anchored in a new Veteran Gym and Resource Center in Missoula, scheduled to open in early 2027.
The Gym holds the four VFW-HVI pillars at the core of the program’s suicide prevention model, which are strength and conditioning coaching, nutrition and lifestyle coaching, inner strength programming including yoga, qigong, and meditation, and Veteran-led outdoor adventure. The Resource Center delivers outreach and screening, peer support, clinical connection, and benefits navigation. Together they serve Veterans across Missoula and western Montana.
This is a program being built from the ground up by people who believe it can save lives. The Program Director is the person who makes it work.
The Role
The VFW-HVI Program Director is the operational and relational heart of this program. This senior leadership position carries full responsibility for program implementation, day-to-day operations, staff and vendor oversight, participant intake and eligibility, grant financial management, compliance, and all VA reporting. The Program Director reports directly to the Post Commander and works in close coordination with the Grant Oversight Committee and the Grant Compliance Officer.
This role requires someone who can run a complex, federally funded program with precision and accountability, and who can also walk across the room, sit down next to a struggling Veteran, and build the kind of trust that keeps people coming back. Administrative excellence and genuine human connection are both essential. The person who will thrive here is organized, resourceful, mission-driven, and deeply invested in the Veteran community. The Program Director is the primary point of accountability to VA for program outcomes. This is not a role for someone who manages from a distance.
Core Responsibilities
Program Leadership and Operations
Lead VFW-HVI from startup through ongoing operations, including facility readiness at the new Veteran Gym and Resource Center, vendor activation, and participant enrollment within the SSG Fox SPGP launch timeline.
Oversee day-to-day operations across all program components, including the program schedule, facility use, and service calendar, to ensure consistent, accessible programming for Veteran participants.
Develop, implement, and refine program policies, intake workflows, safety procedures, and service delivery protocols in alignment with SSG Fox SPGP requirements.
Supervise VFW-HVI staff, including the Fitness Program Manager and the Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach, along with peer support personnel and volunteers, and monitor vendor performance against executed MOUs through quarterly reviews and annual onsite monitoring.
Convene quarterly coordination meetings with partners and referral organizations to review program performance, strengthen referral pathways, and address emerging Veteran needs.
Participant Intake, Eligibility, and Service Planning
Own all eligibility screening, intake, enrollment, and service planning for VFW-HVI participants.
Verify Veteran status through VA-approved documentation, screen for health, environmental, and historical suicide risk factors under 38 CFR 78.10, and administer the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) to determine eligibility and degree of risk.
Administer the VA-required BHL Touch screening battery (C-SSRS, PHQ-9, WEMWBS, SES measure, and Psychosocial Risk Factors Screening) at enrollment, every 90 days during participation, and at program exit.
Conduct whole-person intake assessments covering housing, employment, legal needs, food security, family, physical health, and social connection, then develop individualized service plans and update them through 90-day progress reviews.
Facilitate warm handoffs to VA Montana Health Care System, the Missoula Vet Center, and community providers when needs exceed program capacity or individuals do not meet eligibility, and follow program protocols for crisis response, safety planning, and mandatory reporting.
Grant Compliance and Reporting
Serve as primary point of contact for VA communications, technical assistance, monitoring visits, and grant administration, including program change requests through VA eGMS.
Own all SSG Fox SPGP reporting in BHL Touch and UDPaaS, ensuring participant data, screening outcomes, attendance, service utilization, and referral activity are submitted accurately and on time, and train a secondary BHL Touch user to cover staff absences.
Maintain complete, audit-ready participant case files, including eligibility documentation, screening records, service plans, attendance, progress notes, and satisfaction surveys completed before program exit.
Support 90-day concurrent compliance audits by the independent Grant Compliance Officer and monthly Grant Oversight Committee reviews, and implement corrective actions when needed.
Financial Oversight and Administration
Hold financial approval authority for grant expenditures, maintaining budget controls and expenditure tracking in alignment with the VA-approved budget and 2 CFR Part 200, with monthly reconciliation alongside the Post Commander.
Review and approve vendor invoices against executed MOUs, documented deliverables, and attendance records, ensuring every expenditure is allowable, documented, and tied to approved program activities.
Maintain administrative, financial, and audit records ready for VA monitoring at any time, and provide regular budget and performance reports to the Grant Oversight Committee and Post Commander.
Qualifications
Required
Bachelor’s degree in social work, public health, psychology, nonprofit administration, public administration, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Lived connection to the Veteran community through military service, family, or sustained professional work with Veterans.
Experience managing a complex program with multiple service components, staff or contractors, and external stakeholders.
Grant administration or regulatory compliance experience, with strong recordkeeping, budgeting, and federal reporting skills.
Comfort working with mental health, suicide risk, trauma, and substance use in a nonclinical, community setting, with sound judgment and professional boundaries.
Strong communication and partnership skills, from federal reports to one-on-one conversations with Veterans.
Ability to learn BHL Touch and UDPaaS, pass a background check, and travel within western Montana with a valid driver’s license.
Preferred
U.S. military Veteran.
Graduate degree in social work, public health, psychology, nonprofit administration, public administration, or a related field.
Experience in Veterans services, behavioral health, case management, or suicide risk screening and crisis response.
Familiarity with VA systems, 2 CFR Part 200, and Montana’s Veteran services network.
Current QPR Instructor, Mental Health First Aid, or peer support certification.
Compensation and Benefits
This position is funded through the VA SSG Fox SPGP award. Continued employment beyond the current award period depends on renewed funding.
$42.50 per hour
Employer health care contribution
A role with genuine organizational authority, community trust, and the infrastructure to build something that lasts
Veterans Preference
VFW Ole Beck Post 209 has a strong preference for hiring U.S. military Veterans and family members of Veterans for all positions. We believe the people best positioned to lead this program are those with lived experience of military service and the Veteran community. If you have served, or have built your career in service to those who have, we want to hear from you.
How to Apply
Submit a resume and a letter of interest by email to VFW209MT@Gmail.com with the subject line “VFW-HVI Program Director Application.” In your letter, tell us about your connection to the Veteran community, describe a program or initiative you have led or managed, and explain why this role matters to you. We are looking for someone who sees this not as a job, but as a mission.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. The target start date is November 2026. The position is open until filled.
VFW Ole Beck Post 209 is an equal opportunity employer. Veterans are strongly encouraged to apply.