Career Pathway Coach

This position is currently open to internal applicants only with a deadline of July 2, 2025.

About Us

Youth Guidance creates and implements school-based programs that enable children to overcome obstacles, focus on their education, and ultimately, to succeed in school and in life.  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 the 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 and celebrating 100 years of impact this year, Youth Guidance is a leading provider of outcomes-driven programs serving more than 18,000 youth around the country.  For more information, visit www.youth-guidance.org.

Position Summary The Career Pathway Coach plays a key role in delivering the @Work career readiness program by directly engaging with youth across multiple sites. This position is responsible for developing and implementing individualized service plans that help participants explore and access relevant career pathways. The Coach facilitates group workshops and provides one-on-one guidance to support foundational skill-building and career exploration. Additionally, this role contributes to overall program operations to ensure high-quality and consistent implementation.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities

• Leading & co-facilitating work readiness workshops and career exploration opportunities to address student needs in line with the program design.

• Providing service planning, ongoing coaching, and follow-up support to a cohort of youth across multiple sites by assessing participant’s job readiness and determine needs, provide career counseling, and assist participants with meeting long and short-term employment and educational goals.

• Proactively engaging multiple stakeholders (Youth Specialists, Counselors, Program Supervisors, Curriculum Specialists and Director of Program Administration) to effectively recruit and build relationships with students, assess their needs and match students to relevant employment and postsecondary

• Collaborate with the Director of Program Administration interdepartmentally to revise curriculum and student-facing materials, ensuring best practices in the workforce development field are integrated.

• Contributing to the development and implementation of a strategy to integrate workforce preparation into the BAM and WOW programs in collaboration with their supervisor and program designees.

• Support our interdepartmental event planning team to design and execute multiple events focused on work readiness skill building, career exploration, and networking.

• Preparing timely reports of the status of the program and participating in ongoing professional development, as needed, to stay current with program area trends.

• Coordinate recruitment and enrollment of program participants

• Provide individual and group-based career readiness training/workshops

• Develop and execute professional curricula related to job skills and post-secondary education

• Use labor market information and industry trends to help participants assess employment and educational opportunities

• Build relationships with potential employers and coordinate the placement of well- prepared youth into those opportunities

• Develop relationships with community partners and other stakeholders to support participant’s goals as outlines by the coach and Director of Program Administration.

• Coordinate supportive services and provide follow-up services to program participants

• Prepare and maintain case file documentation throughout the duration of youth participation in the program, ensuring that data is entered in an accurate and timely manner and that deliverables are reviewed on an assigned cadence with the Director of Program Administration.

• Conduct employer, postsecondary, and partner engagement activities, including, participation on local chambers of commerce, work groups, and internal/external networking or engagement opportunities.

• Other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications

Education/Experience/Training

• High School Diploma (Bachelor’s preferred) in social work, human services, or a related area from an accredited university program or any combination of education and relevant training and/or experience
• 3-5 years of experience providing job skills training or postsecondary support to young adults within the BAM/WOW program at Youth Guidance.
• One year of project management and case management experience or demonstrated experience in successfully managing initiatives with hard deadlines and working with multiple

Skills and Abilities

• Ability to facilitate engaging, youth-oriented workshops
• Strong interpersonal skills, excelling in relationship building with youth, staff, and having cultural sensitivity when motivating and encouraging youth and peers.
• Ability to deliver/present data and content to various stakeholders
• Flexibility to embrace and maximize changing environments
• Ability to navigate challenging situation or settings with both youth and
• Having the ability to ask for support and seek professional development opportunities to address needs of the program and
• Collaborate in team settings as well as work independently
• Ability to be solutions-focused, self-reflective, and dedicated to the continuous improvement of service and program quality
• Proven project, case, and data management skills
• Clear verbal and written communication skills

Core Competencies

• Communication: Uses effective written and oral communication with internal staff, teams, and community served; demonstrates empathy and listening
• Client orientation: Recognizes needs of diverse stakeholders and approaches relationships with a service orientation, to ultimately maximize the 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 the change is required, demonstrates curiosity and eagerness to learn
• Ownership and quality of work: Effectively manages own work, and work of the team to ensure delivery of high-quality work
• Supervisory skills: Effectively manages and develops others
• Mission drive: Demonstrates commitment to the missing of the organization as a whole and alignment with organization values

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
• Occasional local and national travel

Benefits

Youth Guidance offers a competitive benefit package for eligible full-time employees including the option to participate in medical, dental, and vision plans as well as short-term disability, life insurance, flex spending accounts, pet insurance, 401k, a wellness program and more. You may also quality for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

Our Values

At Youth Guidance, we believe that creating a welcoming and supportive environment where everyone feels valued and respected is fundamental to realizing our vision of bright and successful futures for all young people. We acknowledge that many systems and institutions intended to support youth do not provide fair treatment or access for everyone. We strive to celebrate the unique qualities of youth and recognize them as empowered leaders, problem-solvers, and experts of their own experiences.

Youth Guidance is an equal opportunity employer. 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 fostering a welcoming and supportive environment where everyone feels valued and respected. People of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Legal Notice for Applicants in Massachusetts:

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability. M.G.L. c. 149, § 19B.