Financial Fitness Counselor

Job Description

Financial Fitness Counselor, Jobs Plus Program

Woodside, Queens, NY

About Urban Upbound

Founded in 2004, the mission of Urban Upbound is to break cycles of poverty in public housing neighborhoods by providing youth and adults the tools and resources needed to achieve economic mobility and self-sufficiency. The organization achieves these objectives through six integrated, comprehensive, including, Financial Counseling and Affordable Housing, Employment Services, College Access and Youth Development, Tax Preparation and Income Support, Community Revitalization through Business Innovation, and Financial Inclusion services anchored by the Urban Upbound Federal Credit Union. Our services are reared in the Jobs-Plus model, a proven place-based employment program designed to increase the earnings and employment of working-age public housing residents. Jobs-Plus uses a three-pronged approach which includes: employment-related services; financial incentives that make work pay; and community support for work, the strengthening of social ties among residents and community stakeholders to support residents' job preparation and work efforts.

Urban Upbound aspires to hire a dedicated professional Financial Counselor to join our Financial Fitness Program. The Financial Counselor provides a range of financial services that are tailored to the needs of individual program participants; from changing participants' attitudes towards their financial futures and goal setting, to credit repair and debt management, to long-term asset building of homeownership, higher education, and retirement planning. The ideal candidate would have individualized financial fitness counseling experience with clients from diverse economic, cultural, and social backgrounds including low to moderate income.

The Financial counselor is flexible, open, and caring to the greater population. You will be on the front lines of poverty alleviation, working with an innovative city organization, that is constantly changing and evolving its tactics towards tackling poverty in NYC.

Responsibilities:

• Financial counseling with lower-income New Yorkers, helping them achieve financial stability and mobility; measuring impact with specific weekly and yearly goals.
• Assist clients with complex issues of personal finance, including legal aspects, such as wage garnishments, judgments, bankruptcies, etc.
• Coordinate with the NYC Office of Child Support to educate and counsel clients with related issues
• Educate and assist NYCHA residents about the Earned Income Disallowance program. Knowledge about the program is a plus but training will be provided.
• Assist clients with affordable rental and fair education.
• Assists clients in understanding their financial capability including, credit report analysis, budget, savings, and action plan preparation.
• Conduct client intakes and individual counseling/education.
• Public speaking to various size groups. Conduct/coordinate group education and informational seminars utilizing PowerPoint presentations.
• Respond to client inquiries, monitor the progress of participants, and assist participants in understanding affordability and non-delinquency issues. Provide early intervention as needed.
• Maintain confidentiality of client information and provide administrative support by maintaining client records, inputting data in multiple databases, arranging for client appointments, generating status reports, and notifying clients of meeting dates.
• Provide outreach and general marketing services to the community regarding Financial Fitness and other Urban Upbound programs and services.
• Flexible work hours, including some evenings and weekends may be required of this position.

• Duties will be required to be performed at various locations within the five boroughs as determined by the organization. Depending on program needs, you may be requested to work from various office locations other than your main office.

Qualifications:

• Minimum Bachelor’s Degree- Required.
• Prior work experience working with a non-profit organization and low-income communities helpful.
• 2nd Language (Spanish, Bengali, Cantonese, Mandarin, Creole language) proficiency preferred.
• Personal Financial Fitness Counseling experience preferred (You must be committed to taking and passing the OFE CUNY Personal Finance course, as mandated by NYC’s Office of Financial Empowerment).

Preferred Qualities:

• Commitment to helping social empowerment and economic development.
• Genuine passion for service and working with LMI community.
• Client focus and adaptability to different personality types.
• Genuine passion about money is essential, although advanced knowledge on topics may be learned on the job.
• Independent self-starter with strong teamwork abilities, as you will be given a lot of autonomy in managing your own clientele.
• Flexibility in working towards the larger mission of Urban Upbound, as this may involve a lot of experimentation in approaches to working with clients and referrals to other programs.
• Creativity in your approaches to working with people. Ideas are welcome here, including on improving client service delivery through technology, integration and communication methods.

Benefits:

• Training provided in various topics, including technical content skills, operational management, and analytical skills.
• Flexible schedule, committed to work-life balance.
• Provide you with challenges to develop your personal and career development skills.
• We provide medical, vision and dental insurance, commuter pass program and generous vacation and sick days, as well as a wonderful team environment.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $50,000.00 - $55,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person

Salary : $50,000 - $55,000