Career Connect Manager

Description

Position Title: Career Connect Manager 

Employer: Stark Tuscarawas Workforce Development Board Council of Governments

Location: Canton, OH

Reports To: Assistant Director

Supervises: None

Employment Type: Regular, Full-Time, Salary Exempt, Grant Funded

Salary Range: $65,000 per year

About the Stark Tuscarawas Workforce Development Board:

Stark Tuscarawas Workforce Development Board Regional Council of Governments has designated the workforce development board that serves Stark and Tuscarawas Counties in northeast Ohio under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) that connects funding, expertise, and opportunities to develop a thriving workforce. Stark Tuscarawas Workforce Development Board (hereafter “STWDB”) oversees the public workforce system locally and the programs and initiatives for adults and youth available through the American Job Centers (known as OhioMeansJobs Stark and Tuscarawas County centers). We directly impact our community’s prosperity by serving as the link to business partners for talent attraction, retention, and expansion and by overseeing the career, training, and business services made available through our career centers that enhance the skills of individuals to meet the current and future demand of business. To learn more about us, please visit www.stwdb.org. To learn more about our centers, please visit www.omjwork.com. 

About the Job:

Career Connect is a community collaboration of workforce development partner organizations, all focused on placing unemployed and underemployed job seekers into livable wage jobs. Utilizing shared, aggregated data allows the collaboration to create best practices that lead to better outcomes for job seekers and employers. 

The Career Connect Manager serves as the strategic facilitator of Career Connect and is responsible for all aspects of the Career Connect collaboration with an emphasis on managing trusted relationships with not only the individual partner organizations but various stakeholders in our area or in the field of workforce development. The ability to effectively engage with all levels of partnerships is critical, including frontline staff, management, and senior leadership. The position involves identifying opportunities to make a greater impact in our community, both individually and together as a collaboration. Collecting and analyzing shared data, identification of trends, and sharing best practices with the collaboration learned from both national workforce-leading organizations as well as amongst partner organizations is a key component of the role. 

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Manage Career Connect Partner Relationships: serve as primary contact for key leaders and their teams across the workforce development system, building and maintaining trust and maximizing participation value with each organization and/or contact. This includes all levels of staff including frontline staff, management, and senior leadership. 
• Dot-Connecting: identify and pursue meaningful connections within the local workforce landscape to minimize duplication and maximize impact for job seekers, employers, and the community.
• Manage, Collect, Analyze, and Leverage Shared Data: take ownership of collecting shared data, analyzing data, and relaying learnings from data to identify trends, challenges, and programmatic opportunities. 
• Manage Projects: maintain engagement of partners to execute collaborative projects resulting in illustrative results, encouraging an environment of continuous learning. 
• Identify Opportunities: stay in touch with regional and national workforce development efforts and recommend new ideas to support continuous learning and capacity building for greater impact.
• Reports on Project Performance: prepare results tracking and progress reports throughout the year.
• Create a strategic and operational plan to ensure sustainability and growth of our talent pipeline.

Requirements

Qualifications:

• Strong knowledge of workforce development and/or managing partner networks.
• Demonstrated ability to set and achieve goals, manage metrics, and drive continuous improvement.
• Experience in data collection, analysis, and using insights to inform strategy.
• Excellent relationship management, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to adapt strategies and processes to meet changing workforce and industry needs.
• Legal authorization to work in the U.S.
• Ability to pass a criminal background check.
• Valid Ohio driver’s license and ability to travel in the service area as needed for partner meetings, partner coordination, and events.

Education/Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree strongly preferred.
• A minimum of 2 years of management-level experience in workforce development or related experience.
• Demonstrated experience in managing a network of partners and/or stakeholders. 
• Demonstrated experience managing projects and/or programs. 
• Familiarity with Stark County and/or Tuscarawas County workforce ecosystems is a plus.

Other Skills and Abilities:

• Strategic Leadership: ability to guide diverse stakeholders toward shared goals.
• Relationship Management: skilled at building trust and maintaining productive partnerships with the ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Diplomacy/Political Savvy: navigating sensitive relationships and power dynamics.
• Systems Thinking: anticipates cross-program impacts and trade-offs; aligns decisions with broader organizational and funder goals.
• Communication: outstanding written and verbal communication abilities with the ability to engage and work with diverse stakeholders in verbal and written form.
• Business Acumen: understanding of business operations, business financial considerations, and workforce or business needs as used by businesses in decision making.
• Technology Proficiencies: in Microsoft Office Suite, CRM systems, and software/data systems, with solid technology acumen. 
• Problem Solving: creative approach to addressing complex workforce challenges. Experience in change management and team building.
• Timely Decision Making: analyze in a logical and effective manner, using both quantitative and qualitative information.
• Project Management: experience coordinating multiple initiatives and stakeholders.
• Adaptability: comfort working in dynamic, evolving environments with concurrent priorities. 
• Collaborative Mindset with ability to lead or support as needed.

Physical Work Conditions:

The employee is expected to successfully perform the essential functions of the position. Reasonable employee accommodation for physical and mental disabilities will be considered on a case-by-case basis. While performing duties, the employee is required to sit, talk, hear, and lift up to 20 lbs. The employee is expected to travel to offsite meetings and events that may occasionally occur during evenings or weekends. 

What We Offer: 

• Work from home Fridays (as schedule and organization needs allow).
• Participation in the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS).
• Full-Time staff have access to comprehensive medical, dental and vision benefits; competitive sick/vacation and holiday leave; company paid life insurance.
• Compensation is $65,000 per year.

Stark Tuscarawas Workforce Development Board council of governments is an equal opportunity employer, and we welcome diversity in all forms. Reasonable accommodation may be available to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.