As an iMentor Partner, you will be responsible for hiring a full-time staff person to manage the partnership and a cohort of 75-100 mentor-mentee pairs. This also includes designating a supervisor to oversee the program and bringing on additional staff to manage incoming cohorts as the program grows each year.
Below you will find examples of job descriptions for these roles from our direct service program in New York City. Use these examples to learn more about each role's responsibilities and to think through how you will staff your program. Click on the link to jump to the specific section.
Program Manager College Success
Position Overview
iMentor is seeking Program Managers, College Success as a part of a larger team that works closely with mentor-mentee pairs to facilitate high-impact relationships to ensure student success to and through college. Each Program Manager (PM) will support ~100 pairs through curriculum engagement, facilitating monthly events (workshops) and providing case management support. The PM role is a dynamic and rigorous experience with the opportunity to be the “face of iMentor” to teachers, mentors (adult volunteers), and mentees (high school students from underserved communities). PMs will join a result-oriented Program Team working within iMentor’s New York City office to support over 3,500 pairs across local partner schools for the 2016-17 program year.
The ideal candidate will have 3+ years of professional experience working with high school aged youth, preferably with experience in college success programming. Applicants will display strong communication skills, a passion for helping students achieve college success, and a strong customer service orientation. The Program Manager, College Success role presents a unique opportunity to coach adult volunteers to support their mentees as they navigate the college exploration and application process.
Responsibilities
Individualized Pair Support and Monitoring
- Facilitate high impact relationships between ~100 mentee/mentor pairs, including monitoring quality and frequency of participation and providing individualized case management through regular support and communication
- Support students through the college match and application process by identifying student skills, eligibility, costs, interests and aptitudes to support “best fit” college selection
- Help mentor and mentee pairs navigate college essay development, financial aid, encourage college visits, and college entrance test prep resources
- Develop customized programming and outreach to students across academic profiles, ensuring that iMentor’s curriculum is supporting both high performing students and students who are developing a college-going identity to apply and enroll in college
- Monitor safety and health of all pairs and escalate any issues to school partners and organizational leadership
- Document all support provided and maintain high quality, timely notes on progress of all pairs
College Success Program Management
- Lead weekly iMentor class for mentees at participating schools. Use classroom time to develop college aspiration, growth mindset and other non-cognitive skills critical for academic and personal success by encouraging consistent communication between mentors and mentees, and by making the curriculum engaging and relevant to students
- Keep current on college admission policies, eligibility, CUNY and SUNY requirements, Private Institutions etc., especially as they relate to first-generation college student success
- Track program participation, conduct pre-, mid-, and post-program evaluations
- Foster college-going culture within classroom and in mentor-mentee caseload
- Organize and facilitate large scale and multi-faceted monthly mentor-mentee events (career workshops or skill development opportunities) that enhance pair relationships
Partner Site Coordination and Collaboration
- Work closely with Program Director to share school updates, procure class rosters, participation data, and class schedules in order to enhance relationship with school staff
- Work with assigned school co-teachers to monitor classroom sessions and encourage student participation
- Work with iMentor and school-based Grade Teams & College Counseling Teams to discuss curriculum content and critical milestones
- Develop and manage relationships with teachers and administration by attending regular school meetings, and collaborating on curriculum delivery and event planning
- Attend NYC Program meetings to share updates, best practices, and learn about upcoming program implementation strategies
- Support all aspects of program implementation and improvement and iMentor’s overall mission
Qualifications
- A sincere and deep commitment to the fundamental belief that every child deserves a college education, and the desire to assume responsibility for the success of mentor-mentee pairs
- 3 + years of work experience, ideally including demonstrated success working with students within school systems, with a preference for candidates with experience facilitating college success programming, managing classrooms, and/or providing college admissions guidance
- Intimate knowledge of college success and matriculation work, including financial aid, NYS colleges and support programs across CUNY and SUNY
- Results-driven; commitment to utilizing data to take informed action
- Proven organization and project management skills with ability to balance multiple priorities and high-volume tasks in a fast-paced setting
- Strong public speaking and interpersonal skills; able to communicate with professionalism, assertiveness, and empathy to large groups and individuals verbally and in writing
- Ability to motivate adult volunteers; excellent strategic problem-solving skills with ability to ‘think on your feet’ and plan both proactively and reactively
- Able to travel via public transportation to partner sites and staff weeknight events at school sites in NYC
- Comfort with internet technology and office tools within Microsoft Office suite, including Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel
- Bilingual skills, particularly Spanish, a plus
- Aligned in thought and action with iMentor's values (http://www.imentor.org/values)
- Views differences between individuals (race, gender, age, cultural heritage, physical ability, education and lifestyle) as an asset and demonstrates an appreciation of the diversity within iMentor
- Bachelor’s degree required
- Employment is contingent upon the completion of a satisfactory fingerprinting and criminal background check, conducted by the Division of Human Resources at the New York City Department of Education
Program Director
Position Overview
iMentor is seeking dynamic and committed professionals to serve as a Program Director (PD) with the primary responsibility for developing Program Managers (PM) to provide high leverage pair support, data assessment and instructional and classroom management skills to support and sustain iMentors model through focused observations, descriptive feedback and providing different forms of assessment and evaluation. The PD is charged with assessing processes, policies and training to ensure that all mentee-mentor pairs receive high quality support that drives high engagement and impact between pairs. The Program Director will make decisions that optimize program quality, drive participant impact, and ensure parity and model fidelity to achieve organizational outcomes. S/he will support and grow the NYC program team by direct management, and the development and growth of 8 PMs who implement iMentor’s model for 3,000+ pairs.
The ideal candidate will have demonstrated success in coaching instructional staff, managing towards results and a strong interest in assessment and differentiated models of instruction. This role requires an organized and thoughtful leader with a deep passion for iMentor’s curricular goals and outcomes, a proven ability to manage multiple concurrent projects and a talent for inspiring direct reports to reach ambitious and results driven goals. S/he will have a proven ability to anticipate challenges, solve problems, and maintain a calm demeanor in high- pressure situations.
Responsibilities
- Cultivate a high achievement, results driven environment that supports the implementation of iMentor’s model and effectively meets programmatic outcomes and strategic vision
- Ensure PMs are effectively executing the iMentor program at partner sites; utilizing lesson plan structure, communicating effectively with each other and school staff, completing all necessary preparation to run sessions and events and escalating any partner site issues to Director of School Partnerships
- Provide overall management, development, structure and guidance to PMs in the review and development of quality and performance
- Ensure PMs share effective strategies to reach participation benchmarks for pairs including consistent program-wide mentor-mentee communication (through email and in-person meetings)
- Based on regular observation and formative assessment data, provide differentiated, targeted support to PMs to improve facilitation
- Work with the Managing Director of NYC (MDNYC) to devise and monitor high-impact support plans for students outside of program
- Collaborate with grade teams to plan lessons and assessments that support iMentor’s focus on non-cognitive skill development and college success
- Provide thorough, thoughtful, actionable professional growth plans for PMs to maximize their strengths and impact
- Develop strategies to coach PM on implementing and ensuring engagement of iMentor’s program model at a diverse set of sites with unique needs
- Contribute to and collaborates with MDNYC and NYC Leadership
- Support iMentor organization-wide initiatives, requiring occasional evening and/or weekend events
Qualifications
- A minimum of 10+ years of relevant work experience, including at least 4 years of staff management experience with a focus on supporting managers and programmatic effectiveness
- Entrepreneurial, resourceful and persistent with demonstrated success managing and inspiring individuals and teams toward ambitious, measurable results
- Significant experience as an instructional leader required; strong preference for an individual with previous teaching experience and/or coaching professionals in an educational setting
- Demonstrated skills and experience coaching instructional staff
- Exceptional communication, presentation and interpersonal skills and the ability to establish and maintain effective and collaborative working relationships with a wide range of people and personality types
- Experience implementing systems and is able to proactively identify need, think through options and intervene when necessary
- Proven ability to motivate and can get people bought in to programmatic outcomes
- A strong preference for experience working with historically under-served youth and under-resourced communities
- Ability to operate within a defined system or model, yet demonstrate appropriate problem-solving skills and creativity
- Skilled in quantitative analysis (reporting, forecasting), planning, and project management.
- Aligned in thought and action with iMentor's values (http://www.imentor.org/values)
- Views differences between individuals (race, gender, age, cultural heritage, physical ability, education and lifestyle) as an asset and demonstrates an appreciation of the diversity within iMentor
- Bachelor’s degree required
- Employment is contingent upon the completion of a satisfactory fingerprinting and criminal background check, conducted by the Division of Human Resources at the New York City Department of Education
