Employability Instructor (Remote)

Application Deadline: 4/18/24

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 Employability Instructor will deliver Propel's Hire Ready curriculum to Fellows across multiple programs, nationally. The Employability Instructor will report to the Senior Director, Program Delivery.

The core responsibilities include:

• Direct Instruction: Package and deliver content to groups of students, virtually and in-person, ensuring Fellows build their employability skills and complete the Propel program as hire ready
• Peer Coaching and Collaboration: Support Hire Ready Coaches to be able to follow-up 1-1 with Fellows so that they are completing key Propel curricular milestones
• Cross-Functional Collaboration and Continuous Improvement: Collaborate with the Director, Curriculum and Design to ensure that content delivered is high-quality and rigorous; provide feedback to the Director, Curriculum and Design so that we are continuously improving our program content

The Employability Instructor will deliver content to ~6 cohorts of students (~50 students per cohort), on a weekly basis. The sessions occur mornings, afternoons, and evenings. Therefore, the Employability Instructor must commit to a flexible work schedule that permits them to engage with cohorts from 7-9 pm EST twice per week.

Additionally, the Employability Instructor will deliver 3 in-person Hire Ready Skills sessions per Propel region. Currently, we have five regions: Baton Rouge, LA; Newark, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; Camden, NJ; and Los Angeles, CA. This will require ~20-30 days of travel in a year.

The major buckets of work for the Employability Instructor include:

Package and deliver content to groups of students, virtually and in-person, ensuring Fellows build their employability skills and complete the Propel program as hire ready (65%)

• Deliver Propel's employability skills content virtually and in-person, leveraging adult-learning pedagogical practices that support learning and engagement
  • This includes: pre-fellowship programming (e.g. JumpStart series) and Fellowship programming (content that results in Fellows being designated hire ready)
• Track Fellow progress in synchronous and asynchronous coursework towards meeting key curricular milestones
• Build community virtually (and in person where possible) among Fellows to build networks
• Assess Fellows in their progress toward becoming Hire Ready over the course of their fellowship program, inclusive of synchronous and asynchronous assessments and review of assignment submissions
• Ensure Fellow-facing resources (e.g., Propel's LMS system, Fellow Success page) is current and up-to-date
• Deliver in-person Hire Ready Skills Labs sessions for Fellows to practice and show growth in employability skills
• Support the ongoing evaluation and refinement of our durable skills curriculum by providing feedback to the Director, Curriculum and Design re: what they are learning about content delivery and mastery among Fellows
• Proactively engage manager to (a) address any barriers Fellows may be facing toward active engagement with Propel's curriculum and (b) ensure key learnings from program delivery are captured so that we refine the model to improve student outcomes

Coach Hire Ready Coaches to be able to follow-up 1-1 with Fellows so that they are completing key Propel curricular milestones (20%)

• 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 are designated Hire Ready
• Provide Hire Ready Coaches with tool/resources to capture, track, and input Fellow data daily toward priority Key Results in order to provide the most accurate picture of Fellows and their needs

Partner with Others (15%)

• Communicate with Propel staff and manager regarding Fellow progress through regular check-ins
• Regularly meet with Director, Curriculum and Instruction to ensure they understand our program's curriculum, and are equipped to deliver it to Fellows
• Share feedback and ideas for improvements across the Propel team as we continue to build and refine our curriculum and 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
• Inform Program Coordinator of key communications that need to go out to Fellows; provide Coordinator with calendar and content for distribution

The Employability Instructor is deeply passionate about supporting our young people to achieve their full potential. The Employability Instructor enjoys creating culturally responsive learning environments that foster community and growth of our young people. The Employability Instructor is a master facilitator, and engages Fellows meaningfully in the content and differentiates appropriately. They will support Propel to enhance our curricula and collaborate with stakeholders to achieve goals. The Employability Instructor knows that data is vital to our programmatic success, and leverages technology to collect and analyze data meaningfully.

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.
• Facilitation & Young Adult Learning: Proficient in high-energy facilitation techniques and adept at maximizing engagement and participation among young adult learners, demonstrating knowledge of instructional concepts and methods and culturally responsive pedagogy.
• Communication: Communicates clearly and effectively across multiple channels.
• Curiosity & Learning Orientation: Takes a proactive approach to learning and growth.
• Analysis & Reasoning: Collect, analyze, synthesize information and data to inform decisions. Examines data to grasp issues, draw conclusions, and solve problems.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 5+ years of professional experience as an instructor, preferably engaging with opportunity youths in career pathways training programs
• Proven track record of using relevant technology and/or strong interest in learning new technology including Zoom, Salesforce, Google Suite, and learning management systems (LMS)
  • Will be responsible for entering key Fellow program completion and progress data into Salesforce

• Ability to work flexible hours (e.g. nights and weekends) as necessary
• Experience or knowledge of healthcare career pathways preferred.

Compensation

The salary for this position is between $59,000 - $77,000 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.