Director of Programs

Position Summary

Are you a strong relationship manager with experience in youth development or education professional with a passion for increasing economic opportunity for all? Urban Alliance (UA), a national youth workforce development nonprofit, is currently seeking a Director of Programs to oversee our High School Internship Program (HSIP) and the Obama Youth Job Corps (OYJC))  and Teacher Institute (TI) on Chicago’s South Side. These programs focus on building economic mobility for our high school seniors while providing social, emotional learning for our 10^th and 11^th graders. This Director of Programs must build and retaining strong relationships with CPS schools, the Obama Foundation staff district relationships, and program staff in Chicago. This position reports to the Chicago Executive Director with an opportunity to join a dynamic hard-working team that always puts students first and knows how to balance peer accountability with peer support.

About Urban Alliance & the Chicago Region

For more than 25 years, Urban Alliance has provided thousands of young adults from historically excluded communities with the skills, social capital, and career exposure needed to overcome systemic barriers to equal employment and economic mobility. Urban Alliance is a bridge between young adults, employers, and schools that provides high school students with comprehensive soft skills and digital literacy training, paid internships with local employers, individualized mentoring and case management, and ongoing post-high school planning support. In Chicago, Urban Alliance has formed strong strategic partnerships with more than 100 corporate partners who host, guide, and develop interns within their organizations. Additionally, Urban Alliance Chicago has joined with the Barack Obama Foundation to establish the Obama Youth Jobs Corps, which was formed to increase economic opportunity for youth from the South Side of Chicago through workforce readiness training, paid internships, and civic education. This partnership has served more than 700 young people over the past four years and is about to embark on its fifth year.

Director of Programs Responsibilities

Program management & execution:

• Oversee and execute regional student recruitment, training, and programming for HSIP. Utilize data to maintain consistent quality and continually improve outcomes for youth.
• Work in collaboration with school contacts and OYJC staff to develop and execute participant recruitment and retention strategies to meet growing annual impact goals.
• Facilitate conversations with school staff to identify needs around professional skill development for youth in Chicago and provide suggestions for program content enhancements.
• Oversee and assist the team with planning and facilitating of high-quality daily workshops focused on professional development and civic engagement for high school students.
• Support OYJC staff with facilitation of the annual Teacher Institute training week (August) and ensure teacher observation sessions and support goals are being met.

Staff management:

• Set and enforce clear guidelines and expectations; Train, develop, and manage program staff.
• Recruit, interview and hire program staff as needed.
• The Program Director will supervise a team that consists of a Program Manager, Internship Program Leads and a Teacher Training Manager.

External relationship management:

• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with Chicago Public Schools (CPS), including district-level contacts, school-level contacts, and community partner organizations to enhance support and resources for UA students.

Data management

• Track, analyze, and report program and intern data; Actively use outcome data to guide program decisions for real-time course corrections; Collaborate with national Data & Evaluation team to consistently ensure strong outcomes for youth.

Budget management:

• Oversee programmatic budgets for HSIP and OYJC and track program and staff expenses.
• Collaborate with UA’s national Evaluation team for programmatic assessment needs to consistently ensure OYJC and TI are tracking towards strong outcomes for youth
• Apply data to guide program decisions for real-time course corrections and long-term strategy.
• Collaborate with Executive Director and UA’s Finance team to build annual spending plans
• Monitor OYJC and TI program budgets against annual spending plans to stay on target

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred
• At least five to seven years prior experience in program implementation, management, and execution ideally in youth or workforce development
• Experience managing external partnerships
• Three to five years’ experience managing staff
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Ability to meet tight deadlines and manage projects effectively
• Proficiency in MS Office suite
• Prior experience with budgeting preferred

Core Competencies

• Evidence of developing and implementing a program with strong results
• A demonstrated ability to work effectively and implement innovative and data-driven programming
• Outstanding interpersonal skills and an ability to develop and maintain deep relationships with a variety of diverse constituents
• Ability to develop and execute long-term strategy while being able to pivot to meet immediate needs, or address unforeseen student needs, as they arise
• Operates with a sense of urgency and thoughtfulness around accomplishing goals and objectives
• Excellent judgement and sound decision-making skills
• Strong organization skills and demonstrated ability to follow through

Benefit Package:

At Urban Alliance one of our core values is taking care of each other, and this includes offering competitive benefits, paid time off, and options for remote work.

In addition to having paid time off between December 25^th and January 1^st, we provide 18 days of paid time off plus 10 paid federal holidays, as well as birthday and diversity paid holidays. Additional days are provided to staff after three years.  The compensation for this position ranges between $80,000 – $90,000. Depending on the calendar, additional paid closure days and early closure days are established each year.  Our benefits include a comprehensive health plan with 90% individual healthcare coverage for employees, 403(B) retirement plans with a 3% match, whole life insurance and pre-tax commuter benefits. In addition, depending on responsibilities, we offer working remotely up to two days per week and flexible hours when possible.

Urban Alliance Vaccination Policy

As established by the Urban Alliance Board of Directors, all employees are required to receive a vaccination against COVID-19, unless a medical or religious reasonable accommodation is approved. If offered a job, the candidate must be able to prove that they have been vaccinated with one of the CDC-authorized vaccines, including either Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson / Janssen or request and be granted an accommodation before their start date.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

Urban Alliance is a racial and social justice organization committed to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. Urban Alliance is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. Applicants from all underrepresented groups, including people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and DACA recipients are encouraged to apply.    

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