Position Title: Program Manager, Youth Programs



Commonwealth Corporation

Youth Pathways-Justice-Based Initiatives

|Position Title: |Associate Director of YouthWorks |

|Reports to: |Director of Youth Employment, Curriculum and Training |

|Classification: |Level 4 Professional |

|Starting Salary |$75,000.00 |

Who We Are: Commonwealth Corporation is a quasi-public workforce development agency that strengthens the skills of Massachusetts youth and adults by investing in innovative partnerships with industry, education and workforce organizations.  Our primary goals are:

• To build regional industry training partnerships that prepare youth and unemployed workers for jobs in demand that lead to higher rates of employment;

• To upgrade the skills of workers to meet specific employer skill demands leading to more productive and competitive businesses, job growth, retention, upgrades and wage gains; and

• To increase the share of youth engaged in education and employment pathways preparing them for post-secondary education and careers. 

Commonwealth Corporation works with hundreds of Massachusetts companies, thousands of new and experienced workers, and thousands of youth and young adults each year. 

Program: Commonwealth Corporation has a strong history of designing, implementing, and managing a range of programming and initiatives that address the needs of youth and young adults who are among our more vulnerable populations. Using evidence-based practices and regional sector partnerships to address social and workforce issues, CommCorp manages grant funds, designs and supports implementation of programming for the state’s large-scale subsidized career development and youth employment initiative, YouthWorks, serving approximately 5000 young people each year. CommCorp has created a well-recognized, evidence-based career exploration and work readiness curriculum and initiative called Signal Success that is being implemented in YouthWorks, federally-funded WIOA programs, school districts, the state’s Safe and Successful Youth Initiative and industry-based programs. Beyond these implementations, CommCorp is engaged in ongoing work to support other career development efforts and Signal Success expansion in other communities and states across the US.

Equal Employment Opportunity: Commonwealth Corporation is committed to building a culturally diverse workforce. We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Position Description

Key Responsibilities

Reporting to the Director of Youth Employment, Curriculum and Training, the Associate Director of YouthWorks is a full-time, professional position, based in downtown Boston. The Associate Director supports successful implementation of YouthWorks including procurement, contract and fiscal management, program-related technical assistance, training and evaluation of the YouthWorks program as well as Signal Success. The key responsibilities of the Associate Director are outlined below:

YouthWorks Grants Management

1. Oversees grants procurement processes of Commonwealth Corporation’s YouthWorks grants, including:

a. Under the direction of the Director, Youth Employment, Training and Curriculum, conducts procurement activities, including development of solicitation documents, managing of the procurement process, proposal review and grant recommendations process.

b. Works with supervisees to negotiate contracts with grantees, ensures grantee orientation and start-up activities are delivered for effective start-up and implementation;

c. Authorizes contracts in accordance to approved grant amounts and initiative budget

2. Oversees grant management process of Commonwealth Corporation’s youth employment grants, including:

a. Manages and conducts on-going performance reviews and develops strategies to assist grantees with any challenges they may encounter.

b. Provides guidance to grantees about program design improvements, requests to modify contracts and general grantee policies and practices; identifies and coordinates the deployment of resources to meet technical assistance needs.

c. Ensures grantees meet outcomes and that initiative/round level goals are met, including negotiating reduction in grant awards to ensure consistent cost per outcomes are maintained.

d. Develops and implements mechanisms for tracking grant expenditures and program performance.

e. Oversees review of grantee invoices for conformance with approved budget and scope of service. Establishes goals and ensures adherence to fiscal reviews of grantees

f. Under the direction of the Director, develops reporting systems, deadlines and processes and ensure adherence by team members and grantees.

g. Develops, ensures adherence to contract modification guidance and approves modification requests for programs.

YouthWorks Technical Assistance and Training

3. In collaboration with the Director of Youth Employment, Curriculum and Training, lead the development of technical assistance and professional development plans for YouthWorks partners as well as a variety of projects and partnerships.

4. Provide guidance on technical assistance, professional development for YouthWorks sites and training designed by other team members.

5. Plan and deliver professional development and technical assistance in a variety of forms including from multi-day in-person trainings to webinars and written informational resources.

YouthWorks Data and Evaluation

6. Work with Director for Youth Employment, Training and Curriculum and Associate Director, Youth Employment, Training and Evaluation on data collection and analysis for YouthWorks and other programs as needed. Provide internal feedback on ways to streamline and improve assessment processes.

7. Work collaboratively with the Director to support workflow with the database and other data/ assessment-related consultant services.

8. Implement assessment and evaluation procedures in collaboration with CommCorp staff to ensure participant learning and program goals are met.

YouthWorks/ Signal Success Partnerships and Implementation

9. Support program implementation by conducting partner needs assessments and providing guidance and support to other staff members on new or challenging partnerships and implementation models.

10. Build the capacity of instructors to effectively deliver curriculum and ensure teen/young adult learners are engaged and making progress with learning objectives by providing coaching, which can include co-planning with instructors, demonstrating lessons, co-teaching, observing and providing targeted feedback in debrief conversations.

11. Assist in expansion and promotional by developing and delivering conference presentations, meeting with potential partners to educate them on advantages of CommCorp’s offerings and services.

Leadership, Effective Partnership and Other Responsibilities

12. Supervise one YouthWorks program manager and up to two Instructional Coaches and provide onboarding and development support to other new team members as needed.

13. Manage and support ongoing partnerships with grantees, foundation-funded partnerships and fee for service partners by executing deliverables in a timely fashion, communicating regularly with appropriate program contacts to support curriculum delivery and in some cases overall program execution, and lifting up larger program concerns that threaten the success of the partnership/ program.

14. Additional projects as needed: these may include leading workshops and classes for youth, documenting models of effective practice in youth employment and training; expanding and revising curricular resources, participating in internal or external committees; developing profiles of local programs and youth participants; managing promotional aspects such as developing marketing collateral and tracking new partner leads.

15. Contribute to other Youth Pathways-Justice-Based Initiatives team projects and other organizational initiatives

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Experience with youth workforce development/school to career initiatives and non-profit or public program management

• Strong understanding of grants and fiscal management and procurement processes

• Strong understanding of program and learning evaluation/ assessment tools

• Prior experience developing and delivering curriculum to youth/young adults and or staff working with youth/young adults

• Knowledge of research on effective instructional strategies and know how to align instruction with content

• Demonstrated effectiveness with a wide range of group presentation and facilitation skills

• Familiarity with youth development programming and

• Excellent written and oral communication skills and commitment to developing collegial and professional relationships with various stakeholder groups

• Proficient in Microsoft Office, especially the use of Excel to aggregate and analyze data. Experience or willingness to learn desktop and web publishing software (InDesign and WordPress) as well as in-house databases and CRMs.

• Ability to effectively structure and implement own work

• Commitment to equity and diversity

• Ability to function in a statewide project that, at times, may require frequent travel within the state; must have access to a car. .

Minimum qualifications

B.A. degree required. Master’s degree in education or related field preferred. Minimum seven years of professional experience with at least five years of experience leading professional development and experience supervising other mid-career professionals required. Experience working with diverse populations, and/or with students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds preferred. Previous successful experience in coaching and/or training adult learners desirable.

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