Employment Specialist I

POSITION TITLE: Employment Specialist I

POSITION TYPE: Full-time (40 hours); non-exempt

PAY RANGE: $27-$30 Hourly

REPORTS TO: Workforce & Training Manager

HOURS:

• Hours: 9 am - 5 pm
• Days: Monday to Friday
• Hybrid remote work flexibility, expected to work at the MHASF office in San Francisco

BENEFITS:

• 100% Employer Paid Medical: Kaiser HMO or Blue Shield PPO
• 100% Dental, vision, life & long-term disability coverage; EAP
• Over 30+ days of PTO, including 10 vacation days (baseline), sick days, personal days, and major holidays
• Health and Dependent Care FSA, Commuter Check, and 403(b) options available
• Ongoing access to MHASF continuing education and skill-building workshops- all training time paid
• Excellent opportunity for advancement-over 70% of our staff have been promoted internally at least once!

ABOUT THE MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION OF SAN FRANCISCO (MHASF)

MHASF is a mental health peer-run nonprofit located in downtown San Francisco and has been serving people and agencies across the Bay Area since 1947. As mental health consumers, we center the lived expertise of people with mental health challenges in our advocacy, education, and support programs. We believe that dignity and recovery in mental health are something everyone can experience. Our staff is dedicated to creating spaces for learning and healing around stigmatized and under-resourced areas in mental health-hoarding and cluttering behavior; post-hospitalization peer support; mental health and nutrition; peer mental health workforce development; and much more.

OVERVIEW OF POSITION

PROPEL is a workforce development division of MHASF. PROPEL's mission is to support, train, and place individuals seeking employment in mental health and/or substance use treatment. PROPEL achieves this by engaging in recruitment and outreach, career counseling, training, placement, and support activities, prioritizing peer personnel employment.

An Employment Specialist I (ES) with the PROPEL program at MHASF carries out Supported Employment (SE) services by helping participants obtain and sustain employment consistent with their vocational goals and supportive of their recovery. ES is responsible for all SE evidence-based practices that assist in securing jobs for those with mental health and substance use challenges. An ES with PROPEL understands that competitive employment is achievable if a participant wants to become gainfully employed. Participants served are not excluded based on readiness, diagnoses, symptoms, substance use history, psychiatric conditions, homelessness, level of disability, or legal system involvement. An ES for PROPEL will also interface with the business community and community-based organizations to establish relationships that can benefit PROPEL participants. An ideal candidate is highly organized and detail-oriented and should be able to work independently and with a team.

TOP 3 RESPONSIBILITIES

• Engage consumers and establishes trusting, collaborative relationships directed toward the goal of competitive employment in supportive and integrated job settings.
• Assess consumers' vocational experience and abilities.
• Assist consumers in career development and job search activities directed toward positions consistent with consumers' needs and interests.

GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Use evidence-based supported employment practices to help peers with lived experience find and sustain meaningful employment, including usage:
  • Supported Employment Practices (SE)
  • Individualized Career Plan (ICP)
• Work with participants to create contemporary resumes' and/or cover letters, including in last-minute and/or ad hoc situations.
• Ability to utilize Salesforce and maintain Salesforce databases to track client interactions, job placements, and employment outcomes.
• Regularly update job postings and content on job portals to ensure accuracy and relevance, while tracking user engagement and make data-driven improvements.
• Provide ongoing and post-placement support to actively working participants and those with ongoing employment challenges.
• Ability to engage and relate positively with employers in the mental health services community.
• Knowledge of reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities.
• Daily use of all technology tools required to support documenting PROPEL's participant interactions.
• Support a caseload of 25+ participants.
• Assist in the department's goal of achieving established OKRs and KPIs.
• Work collaboratively with the PROPEL team and agency in support of PROPEL participants.
• Ability to work in a supportive environment with a high level of accountability.

As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the above list of responsibilities is intended to provide a general overview of duties to be assigned and in no way is a comprehensive list of position duties and responsibilities.

POSITION QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS

• Commitment to upholding the mission and values of MHASF.
• Lived experience, familiarity with the recovery movement, i.e., Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist, SB803, and knowledge of the peer support model and peer advocacy required.
• Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist certification is highly desirable and required during the first year of employment.
• Experience with evidence-based Supported Employment practices and Individual Career Plan development is desirable.
• Working knowledge of various occupations and jobs in the mental health services sector.
• Staffing, personnel management, and/or vocational services experience desirable.
• Familiarity with social benefits (SSI, SSDI, GA, DOR, WOTC, etc.) and how gainful employment may affect a participant are highly desirable.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills; the ability to organize and present complex information clearly, accurately, and concisely is required.
• Professional-level computer skills and experience working with modern online collaborative tools such as Microsoft Office 365, SharePoint, Slack, Asana, Adobe, and/or other web-based applications.
• Demonstrated ability to organize, prioritize and coordinate work involving various tasks, projects, and teams

SUCCESSFUL ATTITUDES & WORK APPROACHES

• Highly organized and resourceful, with attention to detail and the ability to multi-task and manage time well to accomplish all key tasks and deadlines.
• Willingness to learn and support others, take and provide constructive feedback, and adjust communication and behavior.
• Affirmative and accepting towards people from diverse backgrounds and experiences.
• Experience taking the initiative to self-educate about unfamiliar subjects or concepts.