Lead, Employment Opportunities & Entrepreneurship: United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey

United Way of Greater Philadelphia & Southern New Jersey’s (UWGPSNJ) mission is to end intergenerational poverty in our region by harnessing, leveraging and strategically investing the collective power of donors, advocates and volunteers, to help individuals and families break the cycle of poverty.

Team Summary:  The Employment Opportunities & Entrepreneurship Team focuses on creating racial and social equity in the workforce. The team builds capacity, convenes stakeholders, and engages in advocacy that makes the business case for workforce equity. The goal of the team is to support the development and evaluation of high impact practices that can then be replicated.

Role Summary:  The Lead is responsible for implementing the strategy that is set by the Managing Director, providing support for evaluation of impact and providing support for fundraising.

The Lead works with the Managing Director on the strategies and activities within UWGPSNJ’s Employment Opportunities & Entrepreneurship work. The Lead works collaboratively within the Mission Delivery Department and throughout the organization. The Lead is accountable to both United Way’s Mission Delivery agenda and the Job Opportunity Investment Network (JOIN) Funders Collaborative. JOIN is a collaborative of public and private funders that works to enhance workforce systems in Greater Philadelphia to better meet the needs of workers, employers, and the regional economy. JOIN realizes this vision by working with philanthropy, government, community organizations and employers to develop and support innovative efforts to eliminate the mismatch between the levels of skill required for high growth jobs, and the lower skill-level of many working age Philadelphians.  UWGPSNJ is the lead partner in JOIN and serves as its managerial and fiscal home.

Overview of Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

Management of Workforce Development: (40%)

  • Provides leadership and continually seeks opportunities to advance UWGPSNJ’s Workforce Development and JOIN’s collective vision for the region.
  • Manages the Workforce Development’s brand identity and strong foundation of innovative investments and strategic partnerships.
  • Works to expand the Workforce Development’s tactical approach while aligning UWGPSNJ’s workforce strategy and investments to lead the regional effort.
  • Manages Workforce Development operations, including implementation of strategic plan, grantmaking in collaboration with the Grant Management Officer, budgeting, fundraising, and advocacy efforts,
  • Deepen the relationships with key stakeholders to expand and grow UWGPSNJ’s Workforce Development vision.

Strategic Management: (25%)

  • Manages an integrated workforce strategy for UWGPSNJ using the Results Based Accountability Framework through the integration of racial and social equity practice.
  • Coordinates and implements strategy and practices to build the capacity of workforce development practitioners in the region.
  • Gathers labor market information, talent demand and skills requirements and translate data into meaningful information to create workforce development strategies that improve the employability of citizens of Greater Philadelphia.

Grant Management: (20%)

  • Manages JOIN’s, United Way Core Investment and local multi-year grants, ensuring timely and accurate reporting of data and financial statements; works closely with UWGPSNJ financial staff, business analytics team, communications, and giving teams.
  • Gathers information for additional funding opportunities to support workforce solutions and programming in collaboration with the Managing Director.

Advocacy: (10%)

  • Leads workforce advocacy efforts, including advocacy for the incorporation of best practices within local, state, and federal policy and practice.
  • Foster new ideas and sustainable partnerships through relationship-building with employers and community leaders.
  • Ability to speak publicly to promote UWGPSNJ’s Workforce Development strategy.
  • Work with Marketing & Communications to deploy materials to support and provide awareness to UWGPSNJ’s Workforce Development vision.

Miscellaneous Components: (5%)

  • Serves as liaison with the National Fund for Workforce Solutions and other related external collaborators around program effectiveness, technical assistance, and the strategic planning process.
  • Communicate consistently and effectively with the Managing Director and other key stakeholders on any issues.
  • Other duties as assigned by the Managing Director in response to a rapidly changing environment.
  • Note: Work areas for this unit as of 12.31.18 include City of Philadelphia’s Workforce Development Strategy, Philadelphia Works, Inc., Youth Standing Committee JOIN & (Annie E. Casey Foundation) Generation Work; Youth Employment; Thought Leadership and Advocacy and Racial and Social /Equity Initiatives for adult, youth and young adults.

Job qualifications, knowledge, skills, and abilities:  

  • Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline or equivalent experience preferred, MA degree a plus,
  • Minimum of 10 years of related experience; subject matter expert in economic and/or workforce development,
  • Demonstrates required core competencies in accordance with the UWW & UWGPSNJ Competency Framework (Donor-Centric. Mission-Focused, Relationship Oriented, Collaborator, Results-Driven, Brand Steward).
  • Demonstrates ability to drive a systems-change agenda.
  • The ideal candidate is a motivated, highly organized, self-starter who is comfortable working closely and collaboratively with a diverse group of colleagues and stakeholders internally and externally.
  • Microsoft Office skills and experience required as well as relational database capabilities.
  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills with the confidence and ability to communicate and work collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders, including funding partners and community-based organizations.
  • High entrepreneurial skills with demonstrated ability in non-profit fundraising; enthusiastic about identifying new revenue sources and developing relationships with funders.
  • Adept at working at both the strategic and tactical level; must be able to develop and implement strategies.
  • Strong public policy and advocacy experience.
  • Strong values and experience with diversity, inclusion, and equity.
  • Strong problem-solving skills and critical thinking abilities.
  • Ability to work under pressure to complete multiple tasks and meet demands and deadlines with a positive, constructive attitude.
  • Valid driver’s license & insurance and/or reliable transportation required for out-of-office travel as required by the position.

Benefits

Health, dental and vision insurance

Company paid life and LTD insurance

403b retirement plan

Vacation, sick, personal, volunteer time off