Title: Employment Placement Specialist (Seattle, WA)
Office: Puget Sound, WA
Location:  Seattle, WA
Career Stage: Specialist 
FLSA Status: Non-Exempt
Job Type: Regular Full-Time

OVERVIEW:

Reporting to the Employment Placement Associate Director, the Employment Placement Specialist (Seattle, WA) will serve as part of Year Up’s Program team and will play a role in coordinating the training, support and assessment of young adult readiness for internships and mission-aligned career opportunities. They will be a critical support in building and stewarding relationships with local hiring managers and staffing agencies. The Employment Placement Specialist will survey and report on partner satisfaction and support the strategy to ensure growth in hiring partner accounts. They will be a critical resource in all efforts needed to support hiring of alumni, while also preparing and coaching alumni through the job search and interview process.

In conjunction with this role, you will also be serving as an instructor for one of our community college partners, teaching one or more courses in which our Year Up students will be enrolled. Year Up works closely with certain academic, corporate, and philanthropic partners that require background checks, and occasionally credit checks in order to gain regular access to their facilities or participate in a grant-funded initiative. 

To be successful in this role, you will thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment that requires you to be extremely detail-oriented. You will be eager to support all efforts in stewarding, managing and leveraging relationships with Year Up alumni, corporate partners and potential employers to identify employment opportunities for Year Up graduates.  You will be comfortable working collaboratively across Year Up teams to ensure that all structures and process are in place to support all goals and metrics centered on student success.  As an ideal candidate for this position, you will be someone who enjoys working with both internal and external stakeholders, and can effectively tailor your communication style to diverse audiences. 

In keeping with Year Up’s values, the Employment Placement Specialist (Seattle, WA) will also have the opportunity to interact with students as a professional skills coach, group facilitator, and advocate.  All Year Up Learning Community members are accountable to building a positive educational environment.

We understand that people gain skills through a variety of professional, personal, educational, and volunteer experiences. We encourage candidates to review the key responsibilities and qualifications below. If you believe you have the transferable skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of this role, we encourage you to apply.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Program and Learning Community

• Work with Employment Placement and Program Management team to support and track asset based, skills focused readiness plans for young adults in all phases of the program
• Act as a key inputter for all student performance evaluations
• Play an active role in supporting the internship matching process and speak to individual skills and internship readiness for all students ensuring the “right fit” match for young adults and corporate partners
• Serve as a coach/mentor for current students and interns
• Join and facilitate weekly group sessions with students
• Participate in staff meetings and trainings

Job Readiness

• Ensure that Year Up young adults are “graduate ready” upon completion of program through college-level and career focused trainings conducted in all phases of the program for ~30 students:
• Teach and assess students in a twice weekly “Career Development and Interpersonal Relations” course as student prepare to go on internship
• Teach and assess a once-weekly Internship Seminar for students as they transition from internships to career
• Systematically deliver skills based seminars and courses for graduates of the program as they continue on their job search; including but not limited to topics such as: resume writing, job searches, interviewing techniques and make connections to higher education resources like FAFSA, grant/scholarship research, and college enrollment
• Accurately track all metrics in a CRM (Salesforce.com)

Job Procurement

• Support the Employment Placement team as they secure and fill job requisition goals annually to be filled by Year Up graduates to meet organizational positive outcomes goals
• Participate in  all efforts to secure job opportunities for alumni
• Support the management of all hiring partner portfolios  
• Generate and update account maps for all accounts
• Organize and support the process for position assessments with hiring companies
• Maintain and update a database of job opportunities

Job Placement

• Provides support to potential Year Up interns/alumni as they prepare for specific job opportunities by coaching and mock interviewing prospective candidates
• Participate in candidate follow-up and hiring companies through regular check-ins
• Support regular check-ins with partners to address partner concerns and gather feedback on alumni hire performance
• Support all efforts to leverage and identify new opportunities with existing partners
• Support all efforts to grow and cultivate key accounts by evaluating fit and success of current and past employees

QUALIFICATIONS

• Minimum of 2 years of experience in staffing,  job readiness or career services 
• Demonstrated knowledge of job coaching, career counseling and/or job training
• Experience teaching and facilitating workforce readiness trainings with a commitment to asset-based adult learning principles, a plus
• Eagerness/ability to identify challenges and implement solutions 
• Excellent organizational and project management skills
• Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication skills
• Impeccable professional customer service skills with exceptional follow up and follow through
• Ability to take initiative and manage multiple tasks and projects at one time, delivering within deadlines
• A professional and resourceful style with the ability to work independently
• Comfortable in a close-knit, team-oriented setting
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office
• Experience with Salesforce.com a plus
• A passion for working with urban young adults, an unshakable belief in their potential and a strong commitment to the mission of Year Up
• Understanding of the Opportunity Divide and its drivers
• Commitment to diversity and inclusion

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:

• Salary: Competitive and commensurate with education and experience
• Benefits: Competitive package including 100% healthcare coverage, dental, and 401(k) match
• Vacation: Three weeks paid vacation in first year of employment; four weeks after initial year
• Professional development: Funds available to support staff in achieving career objectives

ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION:

Year Up is an award-winning, national 501(c)3 organization that enables motivated young adults, ages 18-24, to move from minimum wage to meaningful careers in just one year, by providing the skills, experience, and support they need to reach their full potential. Through a one-year, intensive program, Year Up utilizes a high expectations, high support model where students spend the first six months learning in-demand technical and professional skills, focusing on one of five career pathways, before applying their skills during a six-month corporate internship with a top company. Throughout the program, students earn an educational stipend, and complete coursework eligible for college credits.

Year Up has served more than 24,000 young adults since its founding in 2000, and will serve more than 4,700 young adults in 2019 nationwide. Year Up currently serves 25 U.S. cities across 18 markets, including Arizona, Baltimore, Bay Area, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Greater Atlanta, Greater Boston, Greater Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, the National Capital Region, New York City, Puget Sound, Rhode Island, South Florida, Tampa Bay, and Wilmington. 90% of Year Up graduates are employed and/or enrolled in postsecondary education within four months of program completion and employed graduates earn an average starting salary of $40,000 per year.

Voted one of the Best Nonprofits to Work For in the country by The NonProfit Times for eight consecutive years, Year Up is a rewarding place to work. Our staff is passionate, supportive, mission-driven, and committed to positive change and continuous learning. We set high standards for both ourselves and our students, and live by a set of core values that reflect an unshakable belief in the talent and full potential of our young people. The work we do is life-changing, and we know that our team is the greatest asset in achieving our mission.

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY:

Year Up actively engages individuals from all backgrounds. We are committed to embracing diversity within our organization because we firmly believe that diverse employee teams help us to achieve our best organizational outcomes and provide the most effective support to our young adults as we work to close the Opportunity Divide. We are deeply dedicated to creating and maintaining an inclusive and supportive work environment. Learn more about our commitment to diversity:http://www.yearup.org/about-us/careers/commitment-to-diversity/

As an equal opportunity employer, Year Up is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified individuals and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, parental status, genetic information or characteristics, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.

TO APPLY:

Please submit a thoughtful cover letter and resume through our website.

Note that applications without a cover letter will not be considered. We respectfully request no phone calls.