Career Navigator

The Career Navigator partners with individuals experiencing homelessness who are furthest from opportunity to help them achieve stable employment, increased income, and long-term housing stability. Through career coaching, workforce development, individualized case management, and employment placement services, this role empowers participants to overcome barriers, build on their strengths, and pursue meaningful career pathways.

Working within the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) program, the Career Navigator provides career navigation, counseling, coaching, job readiness training, connections to WorkSource and community resources, and ongoing job placement and retention support. This position plays a critical role in helping participants achieve both their career and housing goals while advancing YWCA's mission of promoting economic stability and racial equity.

This position works closely with the YWCA Homeless Employment and WIOA teams, other staff within the Economic Empowerment department, WorkSource partners, housing providers, employers, and community stakeholders.

This position has a strong social justice component that requires critical thinking through the lens of structural racism and its intersections with poverty, housing instability, and employment. Applying the principles of racial equity and trauma-informed care in daily work is an essential responsibility of this position.

WORK LOCATION: This position is based 100% onsite at YWCA Opportunity Place in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood. Due to the nature of this role and the need to provide direct, in-person services to participants and collaborate with community partners, regular onsite attendance is required. Limited hybrid or remote work opportunities may be available on an occasional basis based on program needs and supervisor approval.

• Recruits participants from the community, then interviews, and screens applicants todetermine eligibility.
• Builds trusting, empathetic, respectful, and empowering relationships with people who are experiencing homelessness and who are furthest from opportunity.
• Administers strength-based assessment tools to determine employment needs, goals, and gaps and need for additional community resources.
• Provides individualized and culturally-relevant career development, support and workforce development services to people experiencing homelessness.
• Develops and customizes clear and realistic employment plans using SMART goal format.
• Assists participants to identify dependable strengths and helps participants identify gaps and barriers including those rooted in racist policies and systems.
• Assists job seekers to navigate the workforce and housing systems as well as the job search, application, and interview process.
• Assist participants in overcoming institutional barriers that may impede their career and housing goals, such as lack of access to education, healthcare, childcare, transportation, and housing and employment resources and supports.
• Maintains accurate participant files and consistently and thoroughly enters client data into funder-required databases including the HMIS (Homeless Management Information System), and ETO (Efforts to Outcome) databases.
• Completes monthly and quarterly data and narrative reports on program performance.
• Potential to assume responsibilities for new contracts as organizational needs evolve.
• Develops and maintains collaborative relationships with employers, workforce partners, housing providers, and community organizations to expand employment opportunities for participants.
• Represents YWCA at community meetings, outreach events, job fairs, and workforce development activities as assigned.
• Maintains regular onsite attendance at YWCA Opportunity Place to provide direct participant services, collaborate with staff and community partners, and support program operations.

• One to two years of demonstrated experience required performing work related to participant recruitment and enrollment, career assessment and planning, workforce development, file management, data entry, and outcomes reporting.
• Understanding of issues related to racism, poverty, homelessness and the employment, housing, governmental, educational, and social service systems that serve or disserve low-income people of color.
• Sensitivity to the needs of YWCA participants who are experiencing homeless, are low income, and who may be impacted by racism, domestic violence, immigration, chemical dependency, disabilities, the criminal justice system, and/or other challenging circumstances.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team and to make sound judgments without on-site supervision.
• Good oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to respect and maintain participant confidentiality.
• Familiarity with Windows, Word, Excel, Outlook and database.
• Must be able to travel independently throughout King County to attend meetings, trainings, employer visits, outreach events, and other program-related activities.
• We recognize that experience may be gained through a variety of professional, educational, volunteer, and lived experiences. If you are passionate about YWCA's mission and believe your background has prepared you for this role, we encourage you to apply.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an individual to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. In performing this position, the employee:

• All positions at YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish are exposed to clients who have experienced or are experiencing trauma in various forms including but not limited to domestic violence, sexual violence, homelessness, unemployment, financial hardship, etc. As a result, staff are at risk of secondary trauma. Employees are encouraged to seek external support and maintain self-care when working indirectly or directly with clients.
• Continuously exchanges information through listening and talking with clients, agency staff, employers, representatives of community organizations and other individuals in the community.
• Frequently stands, walks, sits, and climbs in performing duties in the office and in traveling to off-site meetings.
• Frequently reaches and grasps in using telephones, computers, fax machines and other office equipment and supplies.
• Frequently lifts and carries up to 5 lbs. of paperwork, files, and training materials, occasionally up to 40 lbs.
• Frequently to occasionally performs close work while updating files, reading program information, and using computer.
• Occasionally kneels, bends, pushes and pulls in obtaining files in drawers
• Occasionally stands for long periods of time while conducting training programs or attending job fairs.

*Continuously = Over 80% of the time * Frequently = 20-80% * Occasionally = Under 20%