Employment Specialist
Denver
- Organization: IRC - International Rescue Committee
- Location: Denver
- Grade: Mid level - Mid level
-
Occupational Groups:
- Labour Market Policy
- Closing Date: Closed
Founded in 1933, the IRC is a leading nonsectarian,
voluntary organization providing relief, protection and resettlement services
for refugees and victims of oppression or violent conflict. One aspect of the
IRC is to assist refugees resettling in the United States. The IRC opened a
Denver office in 2016 to provide reception and placement services to newly
arrived refugees. The office is slated to resettle more than 600 refugees and
500 Afghan parolees in federal fiscal year 2022. Wraparound program services
and holistic supports aim to realize positive impact in clients’ safety,
health, education, economic wellbeing, and power. Some services are limited to
refugees and other Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR)-eligible populations,
while others are open to a broader population of refugees, parolees, asylum
seekers, immigrants, and forcibly displaced people.
The IRC in Denver’s approach is client-centered,
empowerment-focused, trauma-informed, and multigenerational. Advancing racial
equity and narrowing the gender gap are priorities for the IRC in Denver. The
team’s efforts in this space are ongoing and evolving. Current work is focused
on participating in learning and dialogue to deepen understanding and awareness
of systemic inequities and systems of oppression; building an internal
organizational culture that reflects a commitment to antiracism and gender
equality for clients as well as staff, volunteers, and the broader community;
engaging clients more deeply in making decisions that affect them, whether at
the individual, household, program, or organizational level; using our power and
influence to advocate for rules, policies, and laws that address inequities
experienced by the people we serve and seek systemic change for the benefit of
all who are impacted by these inequities; undertaking intentional efforts to
shift dynamics and promote power sharing between leadership and the broader
team as well as between staff and clients; and examining and changing practices
in recruitment, recognition, and other areas of employee engagement and talent
development to prioritize access to opportunity and work toward full inclusion
and belonging for clients, staff, and volunteers who identify as Black,
Indigenous, People of Color, and LGBTQI, as well as those who have lived
experience as refugees and immigrants.
JOB
OVERVIEW
IRC in Denver’s Economic
Empowerment Program seeks to support clients’ immediate needs for economic stability,
while ensuring that near-term demands do not overshadow longer-term economic health.
The Employment Specialist assists clients in setting employment and career
goals, coaches them toward those goals, assists in securing jobs that will
advance their efforts to achieve economic self-reliance, and helps connect
clients to supports to pursue career pathways.
The IRC in Denver is recruiting a new Employment Specialist to focus
on initial job placements for early self-sufficiency, working directly with
clients and in close collaboration with colleague Employment Specialists and
other direct service staff across the IRC in Denver team. The Employment
Specialist engages clients in employment assessments and employment service
planning. Together with the Employment Services Coordinator, the Employment
Specialist identifies the clients’ work needs, as well as the skills, expertise,
and assets they bring, and assesses alignment with employers’ workforce needs.
The Employment Specialist facilitates client participation in all phases of job
search and placement, including applications, the hiring process and post-placement
follow up. They maintain ongoing relationships with both clients and employers,
assisting in troubleshooting when challenges arise, promoting opportunities for
job upgrades and advancement, and advocating for fair treatment of clients by
their employers when warranted.
This position supports a caseload of individuals that includes new
arrivals seeking initial employment or re-employment and may also serve
longer-term clients in need of assistance with re-employment and/or job upgrading.
This may include clients who have been adversely impacted by COVID-19. This
role also serves as a bridge between the education and employment teams to ensure impacted individuals have access to a variety of supports to
support their stability and self-sufficiency, such as digital literacy,
vocational ESL, and job readiness training where applicable.
MAJOR
RESPONSIBILITIES
Major responsibilities include, but are
not limited to:
Employment Services
- Employing a
coaching approach, including motivational interviewing techniques, in
client interactions.
- Conducting
and documenting client employment assessments, individualized employment service
planning, and meaningful goal setting.
- Enhancing
clients’ work readiness by offering weekly job club support and providing
one-on-one coaching and job readiness support, together with colleagues
from the education team.
- Providing
employment-related coaching and promoting client engagement in activities
that further job readiness, job retention, career laddering
post-employment, and ongoing career development.
- Advocating
for benefits, higher pay, and advancement opportunities for clients.
- Re-engaging
eligible clients with positive 90-day job retention and longer-term
clients to support job upgrades and career advancement through CAREERS and
other services and supports.
- Assisting eligible clients in
accessing public benefits and providing referrals and navigation to
facilitate access to other services as needed.
- Coordinating
services with the broader IRC in Denver team and with external service
providers to ensure a holistic approach to moving individuals and entire
families forward.
Employer
Engagement
- Representing
the IRC and the IRC’s clients professionally to the local business
community.
- Researching
and identifying local industries and employers who stand to benefit from
employing refugees and similar populations and may be amenable to hiring
them.
- Building
working relationships with potential employers through outreach,
education, and events.
- Maintaining
relationships with clients and employers and assisting with questions or
issues that may arise in the course of the client’s employment.
- Maintaining
contact with employers through site visits, appreciation events, and other
means.
- Liaising
between employers and with other Employment Specialists and team members
to ensure successful employment placements for clients.
- Responding
to incoming inquiries from employers regarding employment opportunities.
Quality
and Compliance
- Documenting case notes, entering
program data, and preparing required reports in an accurate and timely
manner.
- Ensuring that services are delivered
in accordance with relevant quality assurance standards.
- Abiding by the standards of case
management and delivery expectation set forth by the IRC, the Colorado
Refugee Services Program (CRSP), the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and
in accordance with the requirements of other private and public
grant-funded programs supported as applicable.
- Meeting
monthly and annual individual goals and outcomes under Matching Grant, the Reach Program, and
other donor agreements.
Other
- Participating in training and professional
development relevant to the role.
- Attending meetings as appropriate and
requested by CRSP and/or other state and local partners.
- Other
duties as assigned.
JOB REQUIREMENTS
- Combination of education and experience normally represented by an undergraduate degree, or equivalent combination of work and lived experience.
- Minimum of 2 years of related professional experience, ideally working with diverse clients in a non-profit setting.
- Lived experience as a refugee or immigrant and/or previous experience working in a resettlement context strongly preferred.
- Previous experience working with job development and job placement is preferred.
- Ability to work effectively in an environment that is multi-cultural and multi-lingual; experience using interpreters desired.
- Highly effective communication skills, demonstrating strong partnership skills, emotional intelligence, and situational awareness
- Highly adaptable and flexible self-starter with ability to work independently as well as collaborate with others, juggle multiple priorities, and meet deadlines in a demanding work environment.
- Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint).
- Working knowledge of Salesforce, Efforts to Outcomes (ETO), IRIS, and other relational databases is a plus.
- Fluency in English; written and spoken.
- Fluency in additional languages spoken by local refugee populations strongly preferred, such as Amharic, Arabic, Burmese, Dari, Farsi, French, Karen, Karenni, Oromo, Pashto, Russian, Sango, Somali, Spanish, Tigrinya, or Vietnamese.
- Ability to occasionally work flexible hours, including nights and weekends, is required.
- Valid driver’s license, reliable vehicle with current assurance, and the ability to travel regularly throughout the service delivery area.
COVID-19 VACCINATION REQUIREMENT
In accordance with IRC’s duty to provide
and maintain a workplace that is free of known hazards and our commitment to
safeguard the health of our employees, clients, and communities, IRC requires
candidates who are selected for interview to furnish proof of full vaccination
against COVID-19 to be considered for this position.
WORKING ENVIRONMENT
- Work is typically conducted in a standard office work environment with considerable time spent in the community, primarily in neighborhoods where clients live and at local care providers.
- At
present, the IRC in Denver office is partially open. Hybrid
remote/in-person work modifications are in place due to ensure staff and
client safety given public health guidance related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Staff will be provided with IRC laptops and cell phones and must have
access to a location with secure internet service where remote work can be
performed according to the hybrid work schedule negotiated with their
supervisor.
- All
staff are required to adhere to IRC’s COVID risk mitigation policies,
which include but are not limited to masking, physical distancing,
enhanced hygiene practices, symptom screening, and isolation and
quarantine as needed. In some cases, these policies may be stricter than
those imposed at the federal, state, or local level.
- The
IRC in Denver strives to offer a positive working environment, with
intentional efforts to ensure that it is diverse, equitable, inclusive,
and accessible for all. Staff are required to adhere to the values and
principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These
are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality. In accordance with
these values, the IRC operates under policies on Beneficiary Protection
from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti-Workplace
Harassment, Respect at Work, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
This
position is a full-time, regular, non-exempt position scheduled at 37.5 hours
per week and eligible for overtime, with a starting hourly wage of $22.00 depending
on qualifications and experience. As a regular, full-time employee, the Employment
Specialist is eligible for the IRC’s phenomenal benefits package, which includes:
- Generous paid time off with 20 days
of paid vacation per year, 10 days of paid sick leave per year (not
inclusive of paid COVID leave), and at least 9 paid holidays per year.
- Outstanding medical, dental, and
vision care benefits with low employee premiums and prescription benefits.
- Optional health care and dependent
care flexible savings accounts and pre-tax commuter benefits.
- Life, accident, short-term
disability, and long-term disability insurance.
- Supplemental employee and spouse/domestic
partner life insurance.
- Comprehensive parental and family
leave benefits.
- A 403(b) retirement savings plan that
offers employer contributions and a matching contribution program.
- Gym reimbursement program.
- A comprehensive global Employee Assistance
& Resilience Program.
- United Nations Federal Credit Union
membership.
- Business medical evacuation and
travel accident insurance, access to Guardian Nurses, and more.
In addition, the IRC in
Denver actively promotes learning and growth for its team members,
through staff development accounts that allow staff to engage in
individualized goal-aligned professional development, access to a range of
talent development offerings to build skills in a wide array of areas from
humanitarian principles to management skills, and opportunities to lead and
engage with colleagues from across the IRC through communities of practice,
special assignments, and designated roles that represent the Denver office,
whether here in the U.S. or globally.
We are an
equal opportunity employer, and we value diversity in our organization. We do
not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender,
gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status,
disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We
will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable
accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to
perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges
of employment. Please contact us at IRC.Denver@rescue.org to request
accommodation.
However, we have found similar vacancies for you: