Position Title: Community Engagement Specialist II
Organization: Jewish Family Service of San Diego
Department: Economic Mobility and Opportunity
Position Type: Full-Time (37.5+ hours/week), Non-Exempt
Work Setting: Remote
Must reside in San Diego County
Reports To: Director of Economic Mobility and Opportunity
Pay Range: $24-$26/hour
Total Compensation:
In addition to standard pay, compensation for this position includes:
- Comprehensive, low-cost healthcare coverage for employees
- Generous employer 401(k) contributions
- Employer-covered life insurance
Time Away from Work:
Being able to take time away from work is critical in bringing your best self to work. Time off benefits for this position include:
- Paid vacation time and sick leave
- 15 paid holidays, including Federal and Jewish holidays (as long as the holiday lands on a normal scheduled work day), and floating holidays
- 2 Wellness Days to be taken any time during the year to support employees’ mental wellness
Position Overview:
JFS is looking for a compassionate, mission-driven individual who has a passion for building community to be a Community Engagement Specialist team lead supporting our guaranteed income and cash transfer projects. In this role you will provide leadership for community engagement activities for exciting research-based programs that represent an innovative approach to address the experience of poverty. In this critical role, you have the opportunity to use your skills to deepen JFS connections to the communities we serve. The Community Engagement Specialist II plays an integral role on the team by helping develop and implement community engagement plans that strengthen relationships and build new connections with stakeholders. In this role you will provide day-to-day program support for multiple divisional programs in coordination with colleagues as well as conduct outreach to community members to incorporate community input into programs and services. You will use your ability to implement, organize, and manage engagement strategies, such as community presentations and events, focus groups, surveying, and listening sessions to support community engagement. This position will also support the onboarding of volunteers who are interested in working with the Economic Mobility and Opportunity department.
Responsibilities:
- Coordinates the implementation of volunteer onboarding and engagement efforts
- Acts as a Team Lead helping plan specialists’ daily responsibilities and support their execution
- Develops ongoing participant engagement plans in partnership with the Program Coordinator
- Identify issues and obstacles that prevent the department from mobilizing initiatives and creating opportunities; create plans to overcome these issues with long-term sustainable solutions
- Promote ideas – act as a representative to promote departmental practices, initiatives, and goals
- Provide opportunities for all community members to play meaningful roles in events and discussions that are hosted throughout the year
- Conducts participant and community outreach, engagement, and supports event planning and set up
- Work in partnership with Program Coordinators and Analysts to identify opportunities to collaborate, layer and leverage existing programs for the purpose of maximizing lasting community impact
- Support the execution of meetings, forums and focus groups with community members, clients, and partner organizations
- Work internally across the agency to communicate departmental activities and opportunities as directed; works externally with the agency Marketing team to create newsletters and leverage social networks
- Build upon existing community engagement efforts and identify new opportunities to expand efforts with a focus on equity and access, especially in traditionally underserved communities
- Assist with the execution of program design and implementation activities across all programs including enrollment and off boarding of program participants
- Triage participant, community, and partner inquiries
- Other duties as assigned
Skills/Experience/Abilities that are a Must-Have:
- Desire and ability to work with a culturally diverse group of people, particularly marginalized communities
- Have a need to be creative and unafraid to try out new ideas
- Excellent communication skills with ability to coordinate across multiple teams
- Comfort with conducting presentations in community settings and honing presentation skills
- Collaborative and effective in a team environment, with the ability to work independently where needed
- Must be flexible enough to respond to any important events that require a change of schedule with strong organizational skills
- Receptive listener, open to feedback
- Proficient computer skills, experience with Microsoft Office Suite; working knowledge of program/project management software (Basecamp, MS Project) a plus
- Communication skills: effective listener, ability to respectfully communicate with staff,
- Excellent writing skills, including the ability to write memos, e-mails, agendas,â¯and high-quality presentations
- Understanding of the nonprofit sector with desire to further a shared goal or mission with and throughout the community
- Observant of cultural trends and ability to act on them using relevant communication tools and effective outreach strategies
- Ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously
- Ability to apply common sense, discernment, and critical thinkingâ¯to carry out instructionsâ¯and makeâ¯decisionsâ¯within scope of authority
- Excellent problem-solving ability: anticipate obstacles and formulate solutions
- High analytical skillset, using specific methods to get excellent feedback, ideas, and thoughts from the community and within your team
- Must be able to work weekends or evenings, as needed, for community events
Skills/Abilities we’d like you to have:
- Preferred five years minimum work experience conducting community outreach and engagement or related work
- Adept at social media platforms (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and communication tools such as Constant Contact
- Familiar with online meeting platforms (e.g. Zoom)
- Ability to build trust and connect with people regardless of their personality, opinions, or communication style.
- Reflective on systemic inequities and root causes of poverty
- Interest in innovative approaches to societal change
- Bi-lingual in Spanish or other language a plus
Important Notice:
Incomplete submissions will not be considered. Please, no phone calls. Please, principals only. Please, local candidates only (relocation is not provided).
About Jewish Family Service of San Diego
Jewish Family Service of San Diego is a client-centered, impact-driven organization working to build a stronger, more resilient community. For over 100 years, Jewish Family Service has been a trusted resource for the entire community, offering an array of services that are always life-changing, and often life-saving. At Jewish Family Service, we believe our employees are the backbone of our Agency. We strive to ensure that each employee is treated with dignity and respect. Our goal is your success. Come work at JFS and be our partner in Moving Forward Together. To learn more about JFS, please visit jfssd.org.
*Jewish Family Service is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.