Manager of Partnership and Program Development

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 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 still relevant today, Youth Guidance is a leading provider of outcomes-driven programs serving more than 11,000 youth and touching the lives of more than 14,000 youth, parents, teachers, and community members.

Our Manager of Partnership and Program Development is responsible for leading the development and strengthening of the agency’s career readiness program models and initiatives by developing curriculum and resources, staff capacity building, and executing strategic projects. The Manager of Partnership and Program Development will work in collaboration with the department Director and Managers to align practices and training across the department. This work may include supporting Executive Directors at Youth Guidance expansion sites as they launch and lead CRS programs such as @Work.

Additionally, the Manager of Partnership and Program Development will track the placement of youth who have participated in Chicago based CRS career readiness programs into partner programs and internships such as Year Up, One Million Degrees, CTA Internship Program and others. The Manager of Partnership and Program Development will work closely with CRS Program Managers to effectively share these opportunities with young people in CRS programs through updated and aligned curriculum.

Our Manager of Partnership and Program Development provides management and expansion of school programming by:

• Being responsible for leading interdepartmental collaboration to conceptualize, outline, write, and revise curriculum and tools for existing and new career readiness and success initiatives

• Working closely with CRS Program Managers and CRS Director, maintain “Partnership Placement Directory” of youth supported by CRS team into partner programs and internships.

• Working closely with CRS Program Managers and CRS Director, imbed a system for sharing partner opportunities into CRS programs.

• Supporting Managers in creating, aligning, and executing effective learning and development plans for Department staff.

• Developing and updating CRS Competency Framework for onboarding and training staff in key Career Readiness competencies.

• Designing and providing direct training and/or train-the-trainer modules on youth-facing activities and workshops, coaching best practices, industry research and standards, and related topics to specialists and counselors

• Collaborating with WOW and BAM program leaders  as well as National Executive Directors on strategies to build capacity and effectively deliver the @Work curriculum

• Creating and organizing youth-facing resources and tools for utilization by program staff

• Consult with local and national program leaders in developing localized program and partnership strategies to support youths’ career readiness and success

• Developing and recommending to the department Director and other Senior Program leaders long- and short-range plans for the development of career readiness services

• Establishing and executing clear goals and project scopes for consultation projects, including phases of analysis, formulation, implementation, and evaluation

• Ensuring agency and BAM/WOW core values, key concepts, and best practices in workforce development, career readiness, and postsecondary success fields are integrated into the design of program models, curriculum, training, and resources

• Partnering with the Evaluation and Quality Improvement Department to create learning goals and evaluation plans for new initiatives

• Maintaining an excellent relationship with external funder(s) and ensures the timely submission of all contract deliverables

• Collaborating with Finance and department Director to plan and manage budgets; monitors spending to ensure expenditures are aligned with budget scope

• Providing inspired leadership, coaching, and supervision to intern(s)

• Actively engage with key internal and external stakeholders and participates in working groups, action teams, and committees

Our Manager of Partnership and Program Development has been equipped for this impactful work in education and training with at least:

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, human services, or a related area from an accredited college/university program required; Master’s Degree preferred

• Three years’ experience providing career readiness skills training or postsecondary supports to young adults

• 2-3  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

• 2-3 years of project or program management or development experience

Our Manager of Partnership and Program Development exemplifies:

• 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 in the use of Microsoft Office Products (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Our Manager of Partnership and Program Development successfully meets the physical demands of this job:

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.

The above is intended to describe the general content of and requirements for the performance of this job. It is not intended to be an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities, or requirements. This document does not create an employment contract,
implied or otherwise, other than an “at will” relationship.

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.

EOE/M/F/D/V/SO