Job Developer (Bilingual Spanish) F/T

Mercy Center is a comprehensive community center that has been serving women and their families in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx, NY for over 20 years. We address the needs of the whole person, developing skills for healthy family living and economic advancement and building a community of respect, hospitality and non-violence. Mercy Center provides a range of programs and services to our participants, most of whom are immigrants and almost two-thirds of whom survive on annual household incomes of less than $15,000.

Reports to Director of Adult Education and Workforce Development

Job description
Under the direct supervision of the Director of Adult Education & Workforce Development, the Job Developer will provide a variety of employment services to include: seeking job placement opportunities for Mercy Center participants; recruiting employers; assessing employment needs of Mercy Center participants; developing employment training opportunities; and linking participants to appropriate educational, vocational, and social service programs to increase employability. The job developer will provide a variety of administrative functions including but is not limited to: filing various materials for inclusion in participant records; inputting participant records in Mercy Center's data base, producing a variety of reports and documents; and completing necessary forms. The job developer will also teach a Job Readiness course for students wishing to obtain their National Work Readiness Credential and be responsible for the computer skills program. The incumbent will work two evenings a week and occasional weekend hours to accommodate participant needs.

Duties and responsibilities

• Teach job readiness classes for students seeking to obtain the National Work Readiness Credential; 
  
• Develop and maintain positive community business relationships for the purpose of guiding participants to gainful employment and meaningful advancement; 
  
• Provide career counseling, evaluation, skills training/ assessment, job readiness training and other activities related to employment transition and job placement; 
  
• Implement participant centered employment related goals and objectives; 
  
• Maintain cooperative working relationships with vocational programs and other referral sources; 
  
• Refer participants to potential employers for consideration for job openings and provide consistent follow-up to employers; 
  
• Track employment placement outcomes and retention for program participants; 
  
• Oversee enrollment in computer literacy classes and be responsible for recruitment of volunteer teacher; 
  
• Assure monitoring and documentation of each participant's progress by developing and maintaining professional and timely progress reports that track each participant's employment, individual support plan goals, licensing/ certification and other requirements; 
  
• Participate in staff meetings and team meetings; 
  
• Conduct participant intake for potential job readiness and computer participants; 
  
• Prepare resumes; 
  
• Develop job search strategies and tactics; 
  
• Prepare job candidates for interviewing; 
  
• Coordinating occupational trainings, conduct pre screenings; 
  
• Conduct extensive outreach to potential employers to market candidates and increase pool of employers, increase job bank listings, and develop new job site; 
  
• Maintain regular contact with employers to monitor employment satisfaction and to suggest accommodation of requirements for hard-to-fill positions; 
  
• Maintain up-to-date records on employer outreach efforts for tracking and follow up and submit written reports as required; 
  
• Perform other job related duties as assigned by the supervisor. 
  

Qualifications

• A passionate desire to motivate participants to secure and retain employment 
  
• BA/BS degree from an accredited college or university 
  
• 3 - 4 years of prior employment counseling and job development experience 
  
• Knowledge of employment services, job development strategies and labor market trends in a range of occupational fields (professional, semi-skilled and low-skilled) 
  
• Knowledge of/experience navigating low income workforce development and social service systems 
  
• Experience in facilitating National Work Readiness Credential classes and job readiness workshops 
  
• Excellent interpersonal skills 
  
• Ability to work effectively in a culturally diverse environment 
  
• Strong oral and written communication and networking skills 
  
• Excellent organizational skills 
  
• Ability to follow-up and multi-task 
  
• Ability to work independently 
  
• Be a team player 
  
• Flexible, creative and solution-oriented approach to issues 
  
• Proficient in using Microsoft Office and other widely utilized software applications 
  
• Strong work ethic 
  
• Willingness to travel throughout the Bronx and Manhattan 
  
• Ability to outreach, network, and market participants and program. 
  
• Bi-lingual (English/Spanish) a must
  

How to apply
Position is available immediately. Interested candidates should send a resume and cover letter to: Job Developer Search at jcf@mercycenterbronx.org