Common Ground is Seeking Our Next Green Jobs Corps Manager

The Green Jobs Corps Program Manager is responsible for overall success of Green Jobs Corps – a long-running youth employment program that connects over 80 high school students with paid environmental jobs, leadership and career development opportunities, and a web of supports each year.  In addition to overseeing all aspects of the program, the Program Manager plays a critical role in facilitating career development opportunities for all Common Ground students: managing credit-bearing internships during the school day, facilitating career exploration experiences for juniors, and acting as a strategic leader in strengthening Common Ground’s career development strategies. The Program Manager reports to Common Ground’s Director of Impact & Engagement, and works closely with other Common Ground staff to ensure the successful implementation of this program.   

This job involves a really rich combination of direct work with young people and opportunities to lead a high-quality, high-impact program. The Green Jobs Corps Program Manager is a year-round, full-time position.

Responsibilities

Program Management

• Work with the Director of Impact & Engagement and other staff and constituents to set the strategic direction of the program and developing annual goals and implementation plans — ensuring that Green Jobs Corps continues to improve and remains a model, high-impact program, meaningfully integrated into students’ four-year experiences in and outside of classes.
• Manage the Green Jobs Corps program budget — approximately $150,000 per year — track grant budgets and timelines, and participating in fund development.
• Work closely with Workforce Alliance and maintaining all documentation in compliance with Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act funding — including reporting, case notes, and other paperwork.
• Manage ongoing program evaluation and improvement activities: tracking participation and outcomes, and seeking opportunities for improvement.

Recruiting & Supporting Corps Members

• Coordinate Corps member recruitment — ensuring the program prioritizes involvement of low-income students, students of color, and students with disabilities, while remaining open to all students.
• Track students’ participation in different aspects of the program, and work with Common Ground teaching and administrative staff to award academic credit to students who have successfully participated in the program.
• Partner with other Common Ground staff to support Corps member academic success on an as-needed basis.
• Build opportunities for crew members to reflect on their experience and growth, and to provide feedback on the program.
• Support Corps members after they have completed the program, helping them to make successful transitions to college, work, and advanced training.

Managing & Supporting Work Placements

• Coordinate Corps member placements at a variety of work sites on and off of the Common Ground campus — helping young people take on more than 120 job placements per year.
• Sustain strong working relationships with program partners (in coordination with the Director of Impact & Engagement), and seek out new partner organizations as capacity allows.
• Supervise Corps members placed on the Common Ground Summer Youth Crew.
• Ensure that students demonstrate mastery and growth in job placements through common assessments used across workplaces.

Career and Leadership Development

• Lead career exploration opportunities for all juniors — including career exposure events and field trips, workshops on resume/cover letter writing, job search, job application and interviews; and identification of career options and creation of a career reflection for inclusion in students’ leadership portfolios.
• Help to coordinate Common Ground’s credit-bearing internship program — currently placing students in internships on campus, and potentially expanding over time to include off-campus opportunities.
• Work with other members of Common Ground’s Student Opportunities Team to strengthen career and leadership development opportunities over students four years at Common Ground, and to create flexible pathways where students can explore their post-high school passions and interests.

Qualifications

Common Ground seeks candidates who have the following qualifications:

• Program management skill and experience — including managing program budgets.  
• Experience working with racially and economically diverse high school-aged young people.
• Skills and background in youth development, teaching/facilitation, leadership development, and/or helping young people grow into agents of change.
• Passion for working at an organization that is committed to building social justice, dismantling systems of oppression, and creating an equitable and inclusive culture.
• Knowledge of career development resources, trends, and approaches.
• Attention to detail, data management, and paperwork/organization and management skills.
• Experience in and passion for environmental issues, particularly related to the urban environment and environmental justice.
• Strong critical thinking, problem solving skills, and ability to work independently.
• Excellent communication (written, oral) and collaboration skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft and Google applications — including spreadsheets in particular.

Other qualifications that are desirable but certainly not required include:

• Career counseling, case management, or other related experience.
• Connecticut teacher certification, or interest in pursuing certification.
• Experience and background in food justice, sustainable agriculture, and related fields.
• Spanish language proficiency/fluency.
• A driver’s license or willingness to get one.

Compensation:

• Salary range: $40-$46,000 per year
• 3 Weeks Vacation, 8 Sick Days, 3 Personal Days
• Medical, Dental, HSA plan

We are accepting resumes and cover letters on a rolling basis until the position is filled, and will start interviewing candidates in mid January. Please send your Resume and Cover Letter to Joel Tolman, Director of Impact & Engagement, at jtolman@commongroundct.org.

COMMITMENT TO JUSTICE & EQUITY/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Common Ground has a commitment to examining the intersection of social, environmental, and food justice issues; how systems of oppression, including white privilege, impact the organization’s work; and how resistance to those systems can offer windows into a more sustainable society.

Common Ground is committed to the recruitment and retention of staff that is reflective of the communities with which we work. We strongly encourage applicants from people of color, immigrants, women, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ community, and other underrepresented and historically marginalized groups.

It has been the policy and will continue to be the strong commitment of the Common Ground and all contractors and subcontractors who do business with Common Ground to provide equal opportunities in employment to all qualified persons solely on the basis of job-related skills, ability and merit. Common Ground will continue to take Affirmative Action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during employment without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, mental disorder (present or past history thereof) age, physical disability (including but not limited to blindness), marital status, intellectual disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and criminal record. Such action includes, but is not limited to, employment, promotion, demotion or transfer; recruitment or recruitment advertising; layoff or termination; rates of pay or other forms of compensation, and selection for training, professional development, attendance at conferences or other opportunities for advancement. Common Ground, its contractors and subcontractors will continue to make good faith efforts to comply with all federal and state laws and policies which speak to equal employment opportunity.

The principles of Affirmative Action are addressed in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments of the United States Constitution, Civil Rights Act of 1866, 1870, 1871, Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VI and VII of the 1964 United States Civil Rights Act, Presidential Executive Order 11246, amended by 11375, (Non-discrimination under federal contracts)< Act 1, Section 1 and 20 of the Connecticut Constitution, Governor Grasso’s Executive Order Number 11, Governor O’Neill’s Executive Order 9, the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Law (Sec. 46a-60-69) of the Connecticut General Statutes, Connecticut Code of Fair Practices (46a-70-81), Deprivation of Civil Rights (46a-58(a)(d)), Public Accommodations Law (46a-63-64), Discrimination against Criminal Offenders (46a-80), definition of Blind (46a-51(1)), definition of Physically Disabled (46a-51(15)), definition of Intellectual Disability (46a-51(13)), cooperation with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (46a-77), Sexual Harassment (46a-60(a)-8), Connecticut Credit Discrimination Law (360436 through 439), Title I of the State and Local Fiscal Assistance Act of 1972.

This Affirmative Action Policy Statement re-affirms Common Ground’s commitment to equity in the workplace and the principles of Equal Employment Opportunity.

Toms 2018-19 goals, for reference …