Employment Specialist - Snoco Connect

Purpose:

SnoCo Connect program assists youth and young adults ages 14-24 by offering in-person, virtual, and mobile person-centered support in obtaining and maintaining employment, training, or educational opportunities. The program is a consortium of four agencies funded through the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act

The Employment Specialist will work one-on-one with participants throughout their enrollment, helping to identify pathways to income stability. The Employment Specialist will work with participants to determine eligibility, provide career guidance, and ensure that participants can find employment, training, or educational opportunities that can lead to a path to self-sufficiency. The Employment Specialist’s focus will center around providing education and employment wrap around services in a responsive manner which is informed by the realities and needs of program participants and accommodates the barriers and challenges faced by young people.

The Employment Specialist will also play a significant role in developing best practices for the position, working with the SnoCo Connect team to ensure that this newly developed program truly connects youth and young adults to employment, training, and education opportunities. 

Essential Functions:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Will maintain a caseload as determined by the Director, ensuring services are provided to qualifying applicants and all programmatic requirements are met and documented through timely, detailed case notes.
• Engage in extensive mobile outreach and case management throughout Snohomish County to find and engage WIOA eligible youth.
• Utilize motivational interviewing, Positive Youth Development, and Trauma-Informed best practices to engage and motivate youth and young adults.
• Provide tailored employment services to participants including employment counseling, employment preparation, and training such as resume and interview skills, and support in placement in training programs or jobs.
• Assist youth in finding employment and education, including intensive assistance with the search and application process.
• Provide comprehensive employability assessment for all Employment & Training (E&T) referrals and collaborate with partners to ensure the handoff is successful.
• Maintains complete, accurate, and timely case notes in hard files and ETO database.
• Maintain ongoing coordination and communication with Family Support Coaches and partners regarding delivery of each participants employment, training, and education services.
• Monitor participant goals and objectives and revise as appropriate.
• Ensure all monthly and annual goals are on track for completion, notifying the Program Manager of any potential issues in meeting these measurable outcomes. Maintain program tracking system files.
• Support Program Manager in grant management including tracking and reporting Prepare related documents and reports.
• Participate in program development.
• Refer and collaborate with area Employment & Training agencies.
• Build relationships and maintain positive relationships internally and externally to meet the needs of our participants.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly and extensively required to use hands to type and perform other administrative tasks.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.
• The employee may occasionally lift, carry, push, and pull up to 15 lbs. 
• Ability to work in a general office environment as well as an outdoor environment.  Possible exposure to weather—heat, wet, cold, wind, and noise.

Required Education & Experience:

• Experience working with youth with many barriers to employment including youth who are out of school, low income, justice-involved, homeless, current, or former foster care, English Language Learners, single parents or pregnant, BIPOC communities, and/ or youth of TANF grant households.
• Applicants with lived experience strongly encouraged to apply.
• Ability to pass a DCYF (Department of Children, Youth and Families) background check and fingerprints.
• Proficient in Microsoft Suite.

Other Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Flexibility to adjust the schedule to meet client needs, including working the occasional weekend or evening.
• Open commitment to serving, supporting, accepting, and collaborating with individuals of all races, ages, genders, backgrounds, political opinions and beliefs, sexual orientations, criminal histories, citizenship or marital statuses, and religious beliefs. Special consideration is given to applicants with a demonstrated history of supporting and advocating for the LGBTQ community, women, people of color, immigrants, or other historically marginalized or persecuted groups.
• Ability to manage and prioritize competing demands and tasks.
• Ability to do high-quality data entry and compliance.