Industry Partnerships - Program Mgr (ACCESS to Manufacturing Careers)

BACKGROUND:
Founded in 1976, Towards Employment is a non-profit leader in providing innovative solutions to move people out of poverty, into quality jobs and along a career pathway. Towards Employment has gained local and national recognition for achieving excellent outcomes through the hard work of its dedicated staff of 58 and a $6.2 million annual budget. Towards Employment offers a continuum of support to low-income individuals preparing to enter the workforce or looking to advance from low-wage employment while also fulfilling the staffing needs of local employers.

OVERVIEW: This position is part of the Industry Partnership team and supports the Manufacturing Sector Partnership by leading the on-ramp to manufacturing careers for Northeast Ohio employers. ACCESS is a 3-week training program which teaches foundational skills in

manufacturing to accelerate advancement opportunities within manufacturers. The Program Manager provides oversight to the ACCESS staff involved in our community-based projects as well as incumbent worker trainings. They also lead that team to achieve overall contract and program metrics. The Program Manager will oversee a cross-functional team to ensure that program activities, objectives, outcomes, and reporting requirements are met or exceeded. This includes coordinating workshops at community partner sites and building relationships with community employers and stakeholders, ensuring quality delivery of services, and oversight of the program budget, and reporting requirements.

Program Manager will provide strong supervision and clear protocols for program management; supportive service guidelines; and communication with partners to ensure seamless service delivery.

Key Areas of Responsibility

• Program management: manage the process of people progressing through the pathway, attaining skills, gaining employment, and advancing in careers
• Partnership building & relationship management: develop and maintain relationships with partners, oversee and continuously improve engagement with the manufacturing community, and community organizations involved with the program. Develop regular communication with stakeholders regarding program progress and impacts.
• Team leadership: help build and lead team with the skills and a shared vision to meet the goals of a complex program

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Staff Management and Leadership

• Provides supervision and coaching to assigned program staff and fulfills supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and procedures.
• Lead staff members in the development of individual programmatic goals that are consistent with program goals and needs; oversee and provide evaluation of the implementation of the goals
• Provide a supportive environment to achieve goals
• Monitor progress against goals and provide regular/ongoing employee feedback; if staff member is not meeting expectations, discuss and monitor corrective action
• Communicate regularly with staff on program and staff needs, organization news, changes, challenges, etc.
• Utilize company data and case management system (Commence) for monitoring workflow

Program Management & Operations
Internal:

• Work with the Senior Manager and Director of Industry Partnerships on relationship management with funding source to ensure clear communication and successful partnership
• Continual focus on process improvements, documentation of learnings and identifying efficiencies to scale the program
• Oversee and assist with ACCESS career readiness instruction that includes goal & career mapping, strength identification, interviewing skills, as well as technical training.
• Monitor programming to ensure that activity levels and service quality lead to goal attainment; when necessary, develop strategies and work with team members to implement program enhancements to meet shared goals and outcomes or gain efficiency.
• Ensure that ACCESS contract requirements are consistently met; work with Chief Finance and Administration Office, Senior Manager Industry Partnerships, and Director of Industry Partnerships to ensure timely and accurate financial and programmatic reporting.

External:

• Coordinate partnership meetings to clarify roles and responsibilities, updates on program and performance metrics
• Develop and maintain positive relationships with partners, establishing processes for service within the community.
• Through the learning community and industry publications, stay current on workforce development best practices.
• As a member of the Management Team, actively participate in meetings, including raising significant program matters for discussion among management team members

Other:
All other duties as assigned by the Director of Industry Partnerships

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience with at least five years’ experience managing activities related to workforce development, community economic development and/or direct services for economically disadvantaged populations; or combination of education and experience.
• Previous experience and passion for working with formerly incarcerated individuals
• Commitment to using data to inform and improve programming
• Experience scaling a program
• Ability to work in a flexible, collaborate work environment
• Excellent relationship building and proven customer service skills with varied stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with people from diverse cultural, socioeconomic, racial, and educational backgrounds
• Team player with the ability to exercise good judgment in a rapidly changing – and sometimes stressful – environment
• Commitment to Towards Employment mission and values

Computer Skills

• Proficient with computers, Competency with Microsoft Office Suite including Word, Excel, Power Point, Publisher, Outlook, and Internet. Experience and knowledgeable with electronic case management tracking systems (databases).

Competencies Required

Success in this role will also require:

• Problem Solving – Demonstrates ability to anticipate organizational needs and challenges, gather needed information, synthesize and analyze sometimes disparate data, assess risk, make recommendations, and take decisive action.
• Emotional Intelligence – The ability to understand what motivates the team, and to lead with consideration of the whole employee; able to build rapport and maximize individual strengths while driving outcomes. Demonstrated ability to work with people from diverse cultural, socioeconomic, racial, and educational backgrounds.
• Managerial Courage – Actively engages in the thought leadership of the organization; seeks information, expresses informed opinions and respectfully challenges status quo; provides feedback to others; takes action to the betterment of the organization.
• Relationship Builder - Builds and maintains effective relationships with all stakeholders, including staff and external individuals and organizations that can impact Towards Employment’s success and future. Outstanding ability to effectively communicate plans and desired outcomes.
• Flexibility – Able to be flexible in the face of changing circumstances or plans. Ability to support and guide others through change.
• Social Justice Advocate – Passionate about promoting racial equity and inclusion at personal, organizational and systems level.
• Embraces the Towards Employment mission

EEO Statement: Towards Employment provides equal employment opportunity to employees and job applicants regardless of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal law.