Director of Mentoring

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Mentoring is responsible for implementing quality mentoring programs in local YouthBuild programs, expanding resources focused on the successful mentoring of opportunity youth, using evidence based practices, innovative approaches, youth oriented and outcome driven measures, and managing multi-million dollar federal mentoring grants.

The organization seeks an individual who understands the importance and best practices of mentoring to connect low-income youth who have left school without a diploma to the world of work and postsecondary education and to productive engagement in service and leadership within their communities,

The Director will collaborate with other YouthBuild USA departments and initiatives to ensure mentoring is supporting the goals of helping YouthBuild students get placed in careers and postsecondary education, reduce their engagement with the criminal justice system, and be reconnected to a productive future. The role will represent YouthBuild USA mentoring work in the wider mentoring field.

SCOPE OF WORK

• Provide vision and leadership for the growth of mentoring across the YouthBuild field: Be the driver and visionary of the development of YouthBuild USA Mentoring. Help YouthBuild program Directors, staff and students understand the significance of mentoring in re-connecting young people to the next steps of career and postsecondary education success. Includes managing and involving various stakeholders from YouthBuild young people to YouthBuild program directors and staff to mentors and mentor partners to subcontractors to public and private funders. Includes mapping future growth, building partnerships, helping to develop resources, and communicating progress of mentoring work to the YouthBuild field, federal and private funders, partners, and others.

• Manage multiple multi-year federal mentoring grants: Provide tight oversight on budget and program implementation and keeping all parties focused on impact, success, and deliverables.

• Coordinate overall work plan and timeline for grant project implementation: Includes detailed understanding of grant deliverables, YouthBuild USA’s capacity and resources, and the mentoring program members’ goals, objectives, challenges, staffing, and operating environments.

• Manage the contract and deliverables of our contractors; including establishing close partners with consultant personnel, coordinating timeline, reviewing and editing drafts of publications, webinars, and training designs, and overseeing remote and on-site technical assistance (TA) and monitoring.
• Oversee remote and onsite (TA). Supervise the Mentoring consultant TA providers in setting up a workable system for ongoing phone coaching and on-site TA. Personally provide phone and onsite TA for a subset of local YouthBuild mentoring programs. Includes travel; estimated to be 3-5 days per month.
• Solve challenges and obstacles to project implementation, engaging relevant stakeholders in course correction or program shifts as necessary.
• Oversee timely and correct data collection and submission. For federal grants, we are required to track a specific and extensive set of data points. This includes working with YouthBuild USA’s Data Services Team to collect and analyze the data on a regular basis and creating reports.
• Oversee timely and correct submission of fiscal, data, and narrative reports to funders.
• Review all reports, publications, written communications to the public. Responsible for alignment of values, information, viewpoints, and data regarding written materials that goes out to the public.

• Create a well-functioning mentoring staff team: In addition to direct individual supervision of staff, includes developing effective departmental systems of communication and accountability, motivating staff, building a shared vision and method of working together, and creating an atmosphere of productivity and success.

• Manage an evaluation study of the YouthBuild USA Mentoring model: We are committed to studying the impact and results of the mentoring work for older opportunity youth. This task includes hiring and contracting with a qualified evaluator, working closely with the evaluator to design the study, assist the evaluator in carrying out the research, monitoring the interim results, and thinking through the data near the end of the study to help shape the story told by the data.

• Represent YouthBuild USA in the national mentoring, education and career development, and criminal justice fields. This includes making presentations at forums and conferences, communicating our learnings to the wider youth development world, writing articles and reports that capture the story of our mentoring work, and sharing and promoting mentoring within the YouthBuild USA program community.

• Garner mentoring expertise from the program field and to gather youth voice as it relates to mentoring towards successful future engagement with work and citizenship. Includes managing and expanding a robust online YouthBuild mentoring Community of Practice.
• Forge strong mentoring partnerships both nationally and at the program level.

• Work with the VP to help raise further funding for mentoring: Expanding funding to cover all students 16-24 years of age. Director will help expand the funding base with the long range goal of securing national funding for all ages of YouthBuild students and providing mentoring support for graduates.

The Director of the YouthBuild USA Mentoring reports to the Vice President for Leadership Development, Graduate Leadership, and Mentoring.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and skills required of personnel so classified.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s degree preferred.
• Minimum of 5-10 years of professional experience in the fields of youth and community development,education and career development, or criminal/juvenile justice with a strong background in mentoring services.
• Knowledgeable about the national mentoring field, including recruiting, training, and supervising of mentors; training resources, and funding options
• Knowledgeable in helping mentors work with mentees on education and career success, and in meeting the needs of court involved youth.
• Experience writing proposals, managing large federal contracts, and monitoring multi-year/multi-million dollar budgets.
• Excellent writing, editing, and oral communication skills.
• Ability to manage the interests of various stakeholders: young people, local programs, mentors, partners, and funders.
• Ability to function well under pressure, meet deadlines, and handle multiple requests.
• Strong interpersonal skills. Able to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Superior organizational skills and attention to detail and follow-through
• Sense of humor, energetic, and efficient.
• Ability to display good judgment, discretion, confidentiality.
• Broad understanding of the issues of cultural identity, a proven ability to work well with a multi-racial/cultural staff and a deep commitment to the advancement of young people and young adults from low-income backgrounds.
• Strong computer skills (i.e. Microsoft Office, Internet, Data Collection and Management Systems.)
• Willing to travel approximately 30-40% (as necessary).

If you are interested in learning more about YouthBuild USA, please visit our website at www.youthbuild.org. If you are interested in applying for this position, please send your cover letter and resume to: Job Search, YouthBuild USA, 58 Day Street, Somerville, MA 02144 or you may apply on-line @ http://www.youthbuild.org/apply. Please apply by December 5, 2014. YouthBuild USA is an Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/Disabled/Vets.