Program Supervisor

About Our Organization:

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 and capacity-building initiatives, directly serving more than 13,000 youth in Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Washington DC, Chicago, and Allegheny County, PA in 2023.

Our BAM program is a school-based counseling and mentoring program that guides young men in 7th-12th grades to learn, internalize and practice social cognitive skills, make responsible decisions for their future, and become positive members of their school and community.

The BAM program integrates clinical theory and practice, rites of passage work, and a dynamic approach to youth engagement. Each session is built around a lesson plan designed to develop a specific skill through stories, role-playing, and group exercises. Students learn and practice impulse control, emotional self-regulation, recognition of social cues and interpreting intentions of others, raising aspirations for the future, and developing a sense of personal responsibility and integrity.

Position Summary:

Under general direction from the Executive Director of Youth Guidance Allegheny County, the BAM Program Supervisor is responsible for providing direct supervision, feedback, and support to 5-7 BAM Youth Specialists.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

• Oversees staffing, planning, development, coordination, implementation, and evaluation of all program activities and the desired outcomes.
• Recommends hiring of new BAM-FI Youth Specialists, employee transfers, promotions, disciplinary actions, terminations overall performance management.
• Manages performance management process by evaluating and developing BAM-FI Youth Specialists to ensure the effective implementation of the BAM-FI curriculum and professional growth of counselors.
• Collaborates with BAM-FI Youth Specialists and Executive Director to recruit and build relationships with youth and school administration, manage annual program budget, etc.
• Collaborates with Program Managers to promote all non-BAM curriculum activities to program participants.
• Maintains focus on the achievement of key program outcomes and ensures all programs are on track for desired metrics, including goals for student performance, retention, and satisfaction.
• Administers the program by assessing needs, making assignments, and managing programs at multiple sites where the program operates.
• Accountable for meeting specific deliverables for all contracts related to identified program areas.
• Responsible for quality and quantity of work to ensure contract deliverables.
• Primary lead for ongoing communication with school personnel, social service agencies, community groups, and public officials regarding program goals and objectives.
• Occasional travel may be required.

Minimum Qualifications

Education/Experience/Training

• Bachelor’s Degree in social work, human services, or a related field from an accredited college or university; Master’s degree preferred;
• Minimum of five years of work experience in the education, human service, youth development, or social service field.
• Minimum of one year of supervisory experience is required; two years is preferred.
• Youth Engagement experience preferred.

Skills/Abilities/Knowledge

• Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office products (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, etc.)
• Demonstrated ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Proven ability to be an energetic, innovative, and motivated self-starter.
• Ability to commit to working in at-risk environments with the ability to handle emergencies and take on unforeseen tasks.
• Demonstration of strong interpersonal and communication skills that excel in culturally sensitive teams with respect for differences.
• Ability to lead in a changing and ambiguous environment.
• Demonstrated experience in employee supervision and HR administration required.
• Ability to understand and commit to the continuous improvement of service quality and the organization’s mission required.
• Ability to maintain positive relationships with various stakeholders is required.

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:

• The employee is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures, transcribing, and viewing a computer terminal.
• The employee may occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

Work Environment

The work environment described here is representative of those employees encounter while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions:

• Able to spend extended time on a computer.
• Able to travel to citywide program and stakeholder locations for meetings several times per week.
• The duties performed are primarily in a school setting, COVID-19 vaccination is required.
• A regular need for local travel.

Our Program Supervisor exemplifies:

• Continuous improvement-minded:  Takes initiative to identify and execute strategies and processes to continuously improve one’s leadership to strengthen the organization’s overall impact.
• Develops and motivates others: Motivates others and supports their development through strong supervision and management. Effectively stewards self and others through both small- and large-scale change.
• External representation and relationship building: Represents the organization among external stakeholders, and builds strong, trusting relationships with stakeholders.
• Leads with a vision: Has a passionate commitment to the mission of Youth Guidance and the BAM program in particular.
• Manages with data:  Knowledge of program evaluation and performance measurement tools and identifies insights and implications.
• Strategic thinking and resource management: Considers the future of the organization proactively and responsively; weighs diverse inputs to inform strategies; makes and communicates decisions that effectively balance tradeoffs between financial sustainability and impact​.
• Team building: Builds strong relationships with teams and colleagues while fostering effective teams and collaborative interactions.

What Youth Guidance offers:

We offer a robust package for eligible candidates including:

• Hiring Range of $50,000.00 - $84,000.00
• A hiring incentive of $250 for part-time and $750 for full-time
• A retention incentive of $250 after 90 days of continuous service.
• A competitive benefit package. Even though healthcare costs have gone up, we have not passed along those increases to our staff.
• If you are pursuing your social services licensure, we can help you by providing licensure test study support. Licensing test reimbursement. Assistance in attaining licensure supervision hours.

DEI Statement

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, 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.

The above is intended to describe the general content and requirements for this job's performance. 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.

Youth Guidance is an equal-opportunity employer and proudly values diversity. Youth Guidance does not discriminate on the basis of 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 creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity along all of these lines. People of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

EOE/M/F/D/V/SO