Program Manager

Program Manager Years 1-10

Reports to: Director of High School Communities

Job Summary

Program Managers report to the Director of Communities and are responsible for building and executing Thread’s goal attainment strategy to ensure all Thread young people complete high school, affirmatively chose a post-high school pathway that enables them to thrive, and continue to provide necessary support of young people in Years 6-10 to obtain their post-high school goals including 2 and 4 year degree attainment and any necessary credentials.  This includes developing and facilitating in and out-of-school academic and experiential programming for young people and volunteers; developing and maintaining a strong relationship with a partner high school that facilitates academic and career advancement; and working with counterpart site staff (Community Managers, Resource & Opportunity Managers, and Recruitment Managers) to ensure that all Thread young people have the skills, knowledge, opportunities, and support they need to complete high school and pursue 2 and/or 4 year degree program. 

Through the Thread Community Model, each young person is part of a Thread Family made up of multiple Family Member volunteers and a Head of Family who provides coaching and support. Every eight Heads of Family are coached by a senior volunteer leader called a GrandParent. Through the Thread model, volunteers work together and with their designated coaches to connect with their young people, their families, and fellow volunteers to deploy the Thread Engagement Process of connecting, setting goals, identifying and removing barriers, and achieving goals. The intended objective for all volunteers is to build the skills necessary to bridge and bond across lines of difference. This includes a deeper understanding of one’s bias, active listening, and how to overcome barriers.  Separately, Thread engages Teammates as content or functional experts to support the community by providing tutoring, post-high school advising, and more. The Program Manager is responsible for building the knowledge and capacity of all Volunteers to ensure Thread young people complete high school and have relevant skills and knowledge to pursue and succeed in 2 and or 4 year degree programs. 

Success will be measured by (1) the number of young people on track to High School completion and completion of High School (Years 1-7), (2)  the strength and bi-directionality of the relationship with the assigned partner high school, (3) the number of young people who have chosen and are prepared for their post-high school pathway, (4) the number of young people who are on track to completion and/or completion of 2 and Year degree programs (4) the design and implementation of quality programming that delivers outcomes, and (5) qualitative feedback from volunteers and young people. While key responsibilities are below, they may evolve.

Key Responsibilities

Program & Project Design and Implementation

• Camp, monthly community service, threadHOURS®, 

• Build and implement strategy to ensure that assigned High School (HS) young people stay on track and complete High School and 2/4 year degree programs (if chosen as pathway in Years 6-10) 

• Design and implement programming to build the capacity of staff, volunteers, and young people to build meaningful relationships while working towards their goals.

• Regularly collect, verify, and analyze students’ academic data, distributing it to volunteers and Young People to monitor their progress in order to be proactive when credit recovery is necessary

• Plan and execute key student transition periods, including new student enrollment and the transition from High School to Post-High School.

• Develop, manage, and assist with additional programs and projects as needed to achieve organizational outcomes.

Partnership Development & Advocacy

• Develop and maintain transformative relationships throughout their assigned High School site that results in an overall partnership that allows for resource needs within school to be met (space, report cards, access to credit recovery) and creates a solid foundation for necessary advocacy for Thread Young People.    

• Advocate with school partners to prevent transfers, ensure student needs are met, ensure that relevant and necessary supports are provided, and exchange performance data.

• Engage and leverage community partners and Teammate volunteers  to co-lead programming, distribute community resources, and more.

Coaching and Capacity Building

• Develop capacity of and support Teammates to support the delivery of programming and supporting site school activities

• Develop, maintain, and deploy  relevant resources for volunteers and Youngeople through all channels, including the Thread mobile app, Thread Guide, email communications, and more.

• Collaborate with and leverage Thread’s other functional teams to effectively support volunteers and students.

• Ensure community compliance with budgets, policies, etc.

• Other tasks and duties as assigned.

Qualifications/Skills

• Required:

  • At least 3-5 years of demonstrated success in project and program management, including building and developing people towards common goals as well as data input, monitoring, and evaluation. 

  • Demonstrated commitment to and experience with equity and inclusion through an intersectional lens, including experience navigating and/or coaching others through a racial equity journey. 

  • Demonstrated experience in working with diverse people, process, and project management, with a strong sense of accountability to achieving goals and student outcomes

  • Highly responsive, adaptive communications style; ability to inspire one-on-one and in groups of all sizes.

  • Ability to clearly communicate and live out Thread’s core values & core competencies.

  • Ability to work during the evenings and weekends as necessary.

• Recognition of the ways that race and other identities (historically and presently) intersect and play out in the workplace.

• Preferred:

  • Bachelor’s Degree in an associated discipline.

  • Knowledge and experience facilitating group programming that connects young people to academic/professional goals

  • Experience counseling young people through the goal-setting and attainment process, as well as identifying high school and post-high school interests

  • Demonstrated success leading, coaching, and developing a team of volunteers to achieve common goals.

  • Familiarity with Baltimore’s human services landscape, including City Public School System, neighborhoods, and/or organizations and resources.

  • Prior experience working in a youth-serving and/or nonprofit environment.

  • Prior experience working with mobile app-based data input and with Salesforce.

  • Fluency in a second language, Spanish.

• Thread Employment Benefits (Full-time)

• 12 weeks of Paid parental leave
• Competitive salaries, meaningful equity; 403(b) plan
• 100% employee coverage of Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance
• 10 Paid holidays
• 4 weeks of PTO in year 1, increase to 5 weeks in year 2
• 5 days of sick and safe leave
• 3 floater holidays
• Annual Health and Wellness reimbursement
• Access to counseling/therapy at no cost
• Paid Sabbatical after 6 years of employment