Director, Externships and Employment

Director, Externships and Employment

Application Deadline: Friday, September 20, 2024

Location: National (remote), Philadelphia/NJ preferred

About Us

Our country's education and workforce systems are inequitable, failing to meet the needs of our most marginalized citizens. Historically, workforce education has led to low-wage jobs disconnected from ongoing higher education, which has created significant barriers for career advancement. At the same time, traditional higher education has increasingly become unaffordable for Americans from lower-income backgrounds while also lacking direct connection to the labor market. The consequences of these systemic failures are dire.

At Propel America, we believe a better system should and can exist. We believe high school graduates shouldn’t have to choose between forestalling income and accruing significant debt while pursuing a traditional college degree, or forestalling education and mobility for low-wage, entry-level work with few opportunities for advancement. Propel is building that better system: a Jobs-First Higher Education allowing young adults from low-income backgrounds to access an affordable and efficient pathway to a good job, propelling them into a choice-filled life.

By privileging both the needs of young adults and those of our employer partners, Propel America:

• Partners with employers to assess talent needs, create relevant training programs, and hire diverse, local talent for their in-demand roles.
• Recruits, guides, and supports opportunity youth (18-24 years old), particularly those from low-income backgrounds, through a blended, technology-enabled career accelerator inclusive of a suite of products and supports (e.g., career exploration, cohort learning, one-on-one coaching, etc) to ensure Fellows have what they need to be successful in their job interview, persist in the workforce, and a plan for ongoing education and career advancement.
• Partners with training and higher education organizations to offer in-demand credentials that allow young adults to earn college credits

To learn more about Propel America, please visit https://www.propelamerica.org.

The Opportunity

The Director, Externships and Employment is responsible for achieving the organization’s annual hire and persistence targets. They will report to the Chief Program Officer.

The Director, Externship and Employment will oversee:

• Employer Partner Management and Success: In collaboration with Propel’s Client Services team, ensure strong employer partnership engagement by meeting partnership goals and milestones
  • Engage directly with employer partners to ensure students are effectively placed into externships and hired into roles
• Effective Coaching and Support to Fellows: Ensure Fellows meet all externship requirements for externship and employment
  • Establish and manage 30/60/90 day plans for Fellows hired into employer partner roles
• Analytics: Leverage analytics to understand programmatic impact and opportunities for improvement
• Fellow Communications: Inform Program Coordinator of key communications that need to go out to Fellows; provide Coordinator with calendar and content for distribution
• Project and Process Management: Set clear objectives, create detailed project plans, coordinate resources, manage timelines, and ensure effective communication among external and internal stakeholders.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work collaboratively with Program and non-Program team members to ensure Fellows (a) successfully complete externship, and are (b) hired and retained by employer partners
  • Provide regular updates to key stakeholders via check-ins, team meetings, Salesforce and other data tracking systems so that the organization is able to monitor program implementation and success on a timely basis

The Director, Externships and Employment will have a caseload of about 40 students at a time. They will support a team delivering Fellow career success supports across five regions: Baton Rouge, LA; Newark, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; Camden, NJ; and Los Angeles, CA.

The Role

The major buckets of work include:

Effective Coaching and Support to Students During Externship and Hiring (50%)

• Manage the strategy/work that directly supports the Program team to achieve improvement in the “completion to hire” journey, leading to improved hire and retention rates among Fellows
• Collaborate with employer partners and Client Services to ensure Fellows successfully obtain the job in their career field
  • Discuss externship expectations with Fellows, review hour logs with supervisors, attend meetings with employer partners, and facilitate feedback to discuss student progress, plan of improvement, and advocating for hire efforts
  • Share available job opportunities with Fellows
  • Tracking job applications progress for Fellows and follow up as needed
• Continue 1-1 support to prepare Fellows for on-the-job success before and during internship/job
  • Ensure students submit externship requirements on-time
  • Provide positive and constructive feedback to fellows to ensure successful progression on externship
  • Establish and manage 30/60/90 day plans for Fellows hired into employer partner roles; engage hiring managers in this process as well so that they are clear on the support our students will need to be successful in their new roles
• Achieve department-identified metrics and goals for Fellow externship completion and hire rates

Employer Partnership Management and Success (25%)

• In collaboration with Propel’s Client Services team, ensure strong employer partnership engagement by meeting partnership goals and milestones
  • Regularly engage directly with employer partners to ensure students are effectively placed into externships and hired into roles
• Provide Client Services team and employer partners with real-time data re: Fellow successes and challenges during externship
• Problem solve, with employer partner, to ensure our program is meeting BOTH the Fellow and employer partner needs

Partner with Others (15%)

• Serve as a thought partner to the CPO in defining the “externship/hire” stage of the Propel fellowship program, such that the work is sustainable and scalable
• Collaborate to strengthen the Propel program, technology, and coaching methodology so that every Fellow is receiving the same supports, broadly, with room for differentiation when needed
• Collaborate with key stakeholders, including Hire Ready Coaches and employer partner hiring managers, to solve problems, provide feedback to best support fellows, and ensure fellows complete training and get hired into their chosen career field
• Collaborate with training partner to ensure SkillsLabs are effective and impactful experiences for Fellows
• Communicate with Propel staff regarding Fellow progress through regular check-ins.

Leverage Technology for Impact (10%)

• Capture, track, and input fellow data daily toward priority Key Results in order to provide the most accurate picture of Fellows and their needs.
• Share feedback and ideas for improvements collaboratively across the Propel team as we continue to build and refine our coaching methods to ensure more and more fellows reach their career goals.
• Continuously reflect on data/analytics to increase impact, with an eye toward positive fellow experience, outcomes, and scalability.
• If applicable, support in the Case Management and data input for the public grants in the local region

Important Notes:

• Role requires 30-40% travel to engage with local employer partners

Who You Are

The D, Externships & Employment is a results-oriented leader eager to support our young people succeed early in their work experience. The D, Externships & Employment is excited to work with Fellows directly during their externship while also managing the relationships with employer partners. They will have a propensity to collect and analyze data, and will provide thought-leadership related to the program’s approach to increase outcomes for Fellows.

Core Competencies:

• Mission & Core Values Alignment: Demonstrated commitment to our mission and values, particularly in promoting equity and advancing a Job-First Higher Education approach for our fellows, with in-depth knowledge of the population we serve.
• Equity Focus: Dedicated to fostering inclusivity, actively addressing bias and building strategies to promote diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) within our organization and programs.
• Student Coaching & Mentorship: Coaches effectively by both building strong relationships and supporting through accountability.
• Impact & Results: Focuses on results and desired outcomes and how best to achieve them in order to get the job done.
• Collaboration: Builds and maintains constructive relationships characterized by mutual respect, clear communication, and accountability, which ultimately advances the work.
• Customer Service Orientation: Sees their role as being in service of others; demonstrates customer service orientation to internal and external stakeholders.
• Problem Solving: Resolves difficult or complicated challenges.
• Curiosity & Learning Orientation: Takes a proactive approach to learning and growth.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 4+ years of professional experience as a college advisor, career coach, counselor or other relevant experience.
• Experience using relevant technology including Zoom, Salesforce, Google Suite, texting platforms, and learning management systems (LMS).
• Experience or knowledge of healthcare career pathways
• Ability to work flexible hours (e.g. nights and weekends) as necessary

Compensation

The salary for this position is between $72,000 - 83,000 annually. We consider candidate experience and location when determining where a candidate may fall within that range. Propel America offers a competitive total rewards package including coverage of 90% of health insurance premiums, unlimited PTO, 401k contribution up to 5% of base salary, and a flexible work environment.

Propel America is an equal-opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

We encourage candidates from historically underrepresented backgrounds to apply.