Program and Partnership Manager, Project Prepare

About Our Organization

At Youth Guidance, we believe that no matter what challenges a young person faces, they are more likely to succeed when they have caring adults in their lives. Our highly-trained staff guides kids to overcome the life and academic challenges facing Chicago's youth. We meet kids where they are — physically and emotionally — to help them focus on their education, make positive choices, and remain on the right path toward life success. Founded in 1924 today Youth Guidance is a leading provider of outcomes-driven programs serving more than 8,500 youth while touching the lives of more than 14,000 youth, parents, teachers, and community members

Position Summary: The Program and Partnership Manager is responsible for the planning, development, coordination, implementation, and evaluation of the agency's workforce development program model Project Prepare, for high school students and young adults at multiple sites in Chicago. The Program Manager supports quality program implementation through effective supervision, program development, and stakeholder relationship management.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

• Leads the strategy and implementation of Project Prepare program model, informed by best practices in the field and localized workforce needs
• Maintains focus on achievement of key program outcomes, including placement, retention, and satisfaction, ensuring program activities are on-track for desired metrics
• Leads documentation and compliance for Youth Guidance's Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) grant through the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership.
• Provides leadership for the WIOA funded Project Prepare program, including but not limited to, day-to-day program functions, budgets and financials, complying with federal guidelines, file and data monitoring, completion of accurate monthly and quarterly reporting, etc
• Stay current with and ensure WIOA Staff have a deep understanding of WIOA regulations and policies
• Supports the creation of new program curriculum, workshops, and tools informed by best practices in the fields of workforce development, career readiness, and postsecondary success fields
• Collaborate with the CRS Leadership Team to create processes for connecting youth to work and career-related opportunities
• Coordinate engagement opportunities between participants and partners, including career exploration events, mock interviewing, job shadowing, and career mentoring
• Maintain a current knowledge of local labor market information and trends

Stakeholder Relationship Management

• Serves as primary liaison and communicates with school personnel, social service agencies, and public officials regarding program goals and objectives
• Proactively seeks and effectively manages partnerships to support program goals, including establishing recruitment pipelines and identifying supportive services to meet client needs
• Responsible for recruiting employers for on-the-job training and paid/unpaid work experience sites
• Establishes and maintains relationships with employers, labor organizations, economic development agencies, American Job Center program partners, and training and education providers
• Maintains an excellent relationship with external funder(s) and ensures the timely submission of all contract deliverables
• Actively participates in local and national working groups, action teams, and committees to contribute to and stay abreast of developments in the workforce development field.
• Develop and maintain structures for connecting participants in CRS and other YG programs to career-related opportunities (e.g. maintain and internal "opportunities" board for youth).

Project Management

• Creates and manages detailed program implementation project plans and timelines
• Collaborates with the Development and External Affairs team on strategy for cultivating and engaging stakeholders for fundraising and volunteerism efforts
• Contributes to grant proposals, manages grant/contract deliverables for all active awards, and meets reporting deadlines
• Oversees the learning agenda for workforce development programs with the Evaluation and Quality Improvement Department to develop systems to monitor participants' progress and collect data to document program impact
• Provides leadership in evaluation of program metrics and quality
• Manages and implements policy and documentation compliance strategies for WIOA contract
• Collaborates with Finance and department Director to plan and manage program budget; monitors spending to ensure expenditures are aligned with budget scope

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Provides inspired leadership, coaching, and supervision to a team of career specialists at local high schools supported by Youth Guidance's Project Prepare Program
• Collaborates with Human Resources to recruit and retain talented program staff
• Recommends hiring of new career specialists, employee transfers (school to school), promotions, disciplinary actions, terminations, and overall performance management of career specialists
• Designs and integrates professional development plans and activities for program staff, working closely with direct reports and the Partnership and Program Development Manager to create professional development plans
• Identify and implement strategies to ensure staff reach program goals and objectives through the interpretation, study of data, use of management plans and other mechanisms
• Performs other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications

Education/Experience/Training

• Bachelor's degree in a public/non-profit administration, business, social work, human services or a related area from an accredited university program; master's degree preferred
• 3-4 years of program leadership experience in a social service organization or educational setting
• 3-4 years' experience with supervision and managing a team in a manner that cultivates and sustains a strong team-oriented culture, with an emphasis on results and accountability
• 3-4 years' experience managing complex and multi-faceted programs or projects that include deliverables for multiple partners, funders, and/or senior level decision makers
• Experience managing workforce development (i.e. WIOA) and/or complex government contracts strongly preferred

Skills/Abilities

• Communication: Able to use effective written and oral communication with internal and external audiences and stakeholders; demonstrates empathy and listening
• Client orientation: Can recognize needs of diverse stakeholders and approaches relationships with a service orientation to ultimately maximize impact
• Equity mindset: Understands and is committed to goals of equity; consistently brings an equity mindset to the organization's work and workplace
• Growth mindset: Views growth as important for personal and professional development; seeks out opportunities to expand skills, even if change is required; Demonstrated ability to be solutions-focused, self-reflective, and dedicated the continuous improvement of service quality
• Ownership and quality of work: Effectively manages own work and work of teams ensuring delivery of high-quality work. Proven ability to be innovative and a self-starter
• External representation and relationship building: Represents the organization among external stakeholders, and builds strong, trusting relationships with stakeholders
• Manages with data: Understands data; analyzes data and identifies insights and implications
• Proficient use of Microsoft Office Products (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Physical Demands

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 essential functions

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• This job operates in a professional office environment, school setting and working with the public, all Youth Guidance employees must be fully vaccinated or approved for a medical or religious exemption
• Occasional local and national travel

DEI Statement

At Youth Guidance, we understand that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) are fundamental to realizing our vision of bright and successful futures for all young people. We celebrate the diversity of youth and recognize them as empowered leaders, problem-solvers, and experts of their own experiences. At the same time, we acknowledge that many systems and institutions meant to support youth are inequitable and unjust.

As such, we are committed to advancing DE&I through our words and our actions, both internally and externally, by:

• Strengthening cultural competence as well as policies, practices, and organizational structures that foster belonging and leverage the unique backgrounds and talents of staff;
• Offering youth-centered programs that are accessible and responsive to people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, abilities, sexual identity, gender identity and expression, language, and cultural and religious beliefs and practices;
• Influencing systems that youth, their families, and communities are impacted by, such as schools, organizational networks, governmental bodies, researchers, and the funding community, to apply approaches that embrace DEI in addressing the needs and supporting the aspirations of young people.

Youth Guidance is an equal opportunity employer and proudly values diversity, equity, inclusivity, and belonging. Youth Guidance does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law and is committed to creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity along all of these lines. People of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

EEO/M/F/D/V/SO