Career Readiness Manager

The Career Readiness Manager works within the Department of Community Engagement and Postsecondary Pathways (CEPP). Our vision is that every New Visions school in our core network will support students and their caregivers to explore college and careers so that students graduate high school with a postsecondary plan that includes best fit education, training or employment and the skills and experience to succeed in that plan. We believe that all high school graduates, whether they begin college, enter career training or work full time after high school, need to be prepared for the world of work and how to explore career paths. The career readiness team develops systems and support strategies to integrate career readiness in schools, with the goal of ensuring that more students graduate with career exposure, strong postsecondary plans, and have access to viable pathways that will lead to employment in growth sectors and fulfilling careers.

The Career Readiness Manager (CRM) will work within the career readiness unit and collaboratively across the CEPP department’s units which include: Career Readiness, College Access and Success, and Community and Family Engagement to support the New Visions career pathways agenda. Under the guidance and supervision of the Deputy Director of Career Readiness, the CRM will support the development of career pathways with schools. The development of career pathways strategy in high schools will allow for a more comprehensive approach to supporting the needs of all students throughout high school and especially as they plan for postsecondary transitions.  This will involve engaging key stakeholders in the field including schools, employers, workforce development organizations, corporate partners, colleges, etc. The CRM is responsible for supporting professional learning, coaching, and designing resources for schools across the New Visions’ network so that career readiness is incorporated in a meaningful way for students and staff. The CRM will lead pilots and new programming with schools and during summer when we lead programs that support students directly. The CRM is not a supervisory position, however, this position plays a leadership role in supporting schools across the network.

Essential Job Functions

Professional Development & School Support

• Collaborate with schools to identify sustainable ways to incorporate career readiness into schools and therefore, students’ experiences
• Coach educators on the various resources and content that the CRM designs along with coaching on strategies for integrating career readiness within the school
• Support the creation of and lead professional development to support schools in building systems and structures that link career exploration with college planning
• Support schools to engage key stakeholders such as families and partners in their career readiness initiatives
• Support the development and implementation of training to support schools in utilizing the New Visions Data Portal (a comprehensive school management platform available to all NYC public schools to make timely and strategic decisions about students) to track and monitor the development of postsecondary plans and expand engagement with postsecondary planning in the Portal
• Track user feedback to inform the development of resources to support and scale use of the career pathways functionality in the portal 

Project Management

• Support the execution of multiple, high-profile, strategic growth initiatives with partners including managing career readiness and workforce readiness pilots with accountability for high quality deliverables and timely results
• Partnership management with various stakeholders including corporate partners, community-based organizations and in our relationship with the NYC DOE as we develop new programs and coaching supports
• Support the expansion of current programming in order to reach more educators and students
• Co-lead our summer programs for students and staff reaching hundreds of students across NYC. Summer programming is central to our career readiness model
• Ensure the success of complex projects by creating work plans, collaborating across the department and organization, incorporating direct feedback, thought partnership, and coaching
• Support the development of a career readiness framework that lives in grades 9-12 and is scalable across schools 
• Utilize and onboard educators to new tools and platforms that advance career readiness in schools and within pilot programs

Resource Development, Research, and Evaluation

• Create new resources to support educators in ensuring all students get to explore and identify careers of interest and the pathways to those careers 
• Develop new curricular resources to integrate work-based learning across content areas
• Develop school facing tools to guide students to best fit career pathways, including researching career pathways that are of high interest to students, and developing programs that support student learning about related careers
• Support research and analysis on program design and impact, in coordination with internal data analysis team and any external evaluators. This will include developing processes for collecting data from program sites, documenting program implementation and best practices, and preparing reports to capture program outcomes
• Make recommendations to leadership based on program findings that suggest scalable potential of successful career pathways strategies
• Prepare presentations for a wide audience of stakeholders and leadership on program design, policy and impact, and makes recommendations for changes that affect current program design and policies

Required Education and Experience

• B.A. required; Master’s degree or working towards a Master’s degree preferred or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Minimum of five years satisfactory full-time professional experience in supporting career readiness, preferably in NYC with workforce development organizations, CTE high schools, employers, intermediaries, training programs and/or high schools
• Experience in creating and leading professional learning experiences (such as professional development workshops/series, coaching colleagues or leading professional learning communities) for seasoned professionals in the field 
• Knowledge of youth development, college and career readiness, and K-12 public education 
• Expertise in working with partners (ie; other non-profits, schools or employers) to identify mutual goals and ways of working to achieve successful outcomes

Required Knowledge and Skills

• Passionate about expanding access to career pathways for all students
• Ability to successfully cultivate and manage relationships with internal and external stakeholders and ability to make connections across disciplines 
• Strong background in providing professional development, technical assistance and/or capacity building supports to direct service staff, employer partners and/or schools
• Ability to use research to inform the design and management of school support systems and build programs at scale
• Excellent writing, communication, presentation, and facilitation skills
• Ability to synthesize information, frame program models and document lessons learned 
• Knowledge of workforce development organizations, industries of growth, NYC neighborhoods, CBOs, career programs and resources
• Strong strategic thinking, project management skills, attention to detail, and the ability to proactively identify key issues and risks
• Flexible, collaborative attitude needed to effectively function in a fast-paced and highly-changeable environment
• Experience working with employer or corporate partners a plus
• Background in working with mentorship programs a plus
• Ability to work evenings and weekends as needed

Disclaimer:

The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by the employee in this position.  These statements are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of a person in this position.