Career and PostSecondary Education Specialist

Type:
Exempt, Full time

Supervisor:
Director of Youth and Alumni Services

Location:
430 Rindge Avenue Suite #202, Cambridge, MA 02140

Salary Range: $60,000-$70,000 annually

Are you passionate about working with opportunity youth ages 16-24 to increase their access to career and post-secondary educational (PSE) pathways? Do you enjoy learning about new and growing occupations and programs that help young people achieve their career goals? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you could be our next Career and PSE Specialist!

The Career and Post-Secondary Education Specialist role sits on the Youth Programs team which is one of two workforce development programs in Just A Start’s Education and Training department. Join our team of passionate youth workers committed to wrap-around supportive services, education, leadership training, and workforce development. The Career and Post-Secondary Education Specialist serves participants in the Youth Build program as well as Solar Start, our new training program for young adults preparing to enter careers in solar installation and beyond.

From job/college application support, partner cultivation, to placement readiness skill building workshops, this is an exciting opportunity for entrepreneurial workforce development and youth development professionals.

Just A Start is a community development corporation dedicated to promoting equity by creating access to stable housing and building pathways to economic opportunity. We build and preserve affordable housing, offer education and workforce training, and provide housing resources and services to low-to moderate-income people in Cambridge and nearby communities. Founded in 1968 as a teen summer jobs program, Just A Start has a long history of serving young people in Cambridge.

Youth Build Just A Start is a full-time, comprehensive youth workforce development program for ages 16-24 in the Boston Metro North region. Our program is one of 11 independently operated Youth Build programs and members of the Massachusetts Youth Build Coalition. As a proud affiliated member of the global Youth Build movement, we help young people reclaim their education, gain job skills, and become community leaders.

We define students by their potential, not their challenges, offering mentorship, counseling, and support. Utilizing positive youth development and trauma-informed practices, we provide wrap-around services and academic and career training to out of school youth.

As part of Just A Start’s 5 year strategic plan, the Youth Programs team has embarked upon a journey to explore, improve, test, and implement new supportive services and workforce training. The Career and PSE Specialist will not only advise and support placement of participants, they will also design and facilitate career and college readiness workshops, manage and develop partner relationships that lead to college campus tours, job fairs, and placement in jobs or post secondary education.

The Career and PSE Specialist is a central figure in all Youth Programming and is seated within the Supportive Services team which includes Case Management, Academics, and Leadership Development.

1. Employment and Post Secondary Education Exploration and Placement

• Deliver high quality 1:1 career and PSE coaching and advising to a portfolio of 60+ trainees and graduates across our Youth Build and Solar Start programs.
• Support trainees with developing durable skills that lead to job and PSE success and retention through 1:1 coaching, group/workshop skill building, and hands-on activities.
• Empower trainees with the skills and knowledge needed to write their own resumes, FAFSA/college prep, online job board fluency, and build skill, certification/credential inventories that connect to individual goals.
• Secure trainee and graduate placements in jobs and PSE that meet or exceed funder contractual obligations while communicating with Case Managers to coordinate services and retention.
• Develop and facilitate Life Skills workshops that teach career/PSE readiness skills including workplace professionalism, communication, and reliability, in collaboration with the Director of Youth and Alumni Services.
• Design, curate and implement group and participant-centered experiences that help trainees explore new career and PSE pathways (e.g. annual career/PSE fair, job shadowing, worksite tours; and guest speakers, etc.).
• Strengthen relationships and build partnerships with the trades, unions and registered apprenticeships that lead to MOUs and tangible opportunities for trainees.
• Work closely with Case Managers to develop achievable student success plans, goal-setting and supportive services plans.
• Coordinate and communicate with all Youth Programs teams (e.g. Academics, Construction, Retail Entrepreneurship, Case Management, and Operations) to deliver integrated services.
• Organize and document placement outcomes, activities, and certifications on our CRM…