Program Manager

SSN is a community of 80 organizations working together to improve programming, practice, and policy to close opportunity gaps for youth in NYC. Founded in 2013 by the leaders of 15 education and youth development organizations, The Network was built on a shared understanding that all organizations could serve more students more effectively by collaborating instead of competing. At that time, there was little infrastructure to support collaboration, and youth-serving organizations had limited capacity alone to create or influence the systems, solutions, and structures to address the complexity of barriers their students faced.  

Most recently, COVID-19 has sharpened the focus of inequitable systems on black, brown, and marginalized communities across the city and has presented unprecedented challenges for Network members. Though intensified now, these barriers to opportunity have existed long before the pandemic. We know that, as a field, we are not going to see lasting change by doing what’s always been done; programs and interventions are necessary, but not sufficient. Today, we carry out activities to build the capacity of our members - in partnership with other organizations - in addressing root causes of inequitable outcomes. Specifically, we:

• Conduct research to expand collective knowledge about key challenges and solutions related to inequitable outcomes;
• Build practitioner capacity to create stronger organizations, more impactful programming, and better systems;
• Fuel collaborations and working groups, in partnership with others throughout the city, to develop policy and practice solutions for key barriers to equitable outcomes;
• Share and scale solutions to disseminate evidence-based practices and approaches.

Position Summary:

Student Success Network is seeking a Program Manager, who will be responsible for developing and executing program opportunities in partnership with SSN’s members and young people. Program Manager will report to the Director, Capacity Building. 

Core responsibilities include: 

• Develop and and facilitate SSN programming aimed at building the capacity of practitioners, nonprofit leaders, and students to improve organizations and outcomes, including:
• Coordinate and create program materials and logistics, including timeline, workplans, agendas, and presentations;
• Conduct literature reviews to elevate best practices in programming and materials;
• Conduct regular conversations with network members to ensure their perspectives are informing programming development and they are connected to the appropriate initiatives;
• Build and curate tools that support nonprofit staff in developing key skills they need to improve programs and organizations;  
• Support oversight of SSN’s youth program, which prepares students and adults to partner with one another to improve outcomes;
• Contribute to programmatic progress monitoring and evaluation efforts
• Contribute to SSN’s Transformative SEL research that critically analyzes injustices and centers youth contributions;
• Provide coaching to members to achieve measurable results;
• Budgeting, reporting, vendor contract negotiations, and deliverables to drive productivity.
• Design and implement program communications, including:
• Create and send event recruitment and promotion materials;
• Contribute to social media and blog strategy;
• Conduct targeted outreach and follow up;
• Serve as liaison with SSN’s Communications Manager.
• Support external engagements, including:
• Develop partnerships with external partners;
• Represent SSN at conferences and other external settings.
• If applicable, supervise 1-2 staff and interns.

The ideal candidate will be: 

• Interested in Racial Equity, including expanding their analysis and knowledge about the role that racial inequity plays in our society, and building and/or deepening your commitment to racial justice work; 
• Intersectional thinker: you see the connections between seemingly disparate ideas, and understand how systems interact to impact humans;
• An expert relationship builder who develops and cultivates trusting relationships and inclusive networks;
• Able to create inclusive, community-engaged spaces that empower partners to challenge inequity;
• An excellent facilitator who feels at home in front of large groups of people;
• An excellent written and verbal communicator; 
• Experienced in the application of different learning modalities, including project based learning, and different mediums, including in person and virtual, to meet different needs;
• Stellar project manager, with a proven ability to create and manage complex project plans on tight deadlines with a high level of accuracy;
• Able to anticipate potential roadblocks and develop solutions for overcoming them;
• Excited by the challenges and opportunities for growth in a young, rapidly evolving organization, and adaptable to evolving needs and opportunities;

Not required, but a bonus:

• Oriented towards aesthetics, with some communications experience (familiarity with MailChimp and Canva are a plus)
• A data junkie with analysis or evaluation experience (familiarity with Tableau and other data visualization tools are a plus)
• Familiar with the Youth Participatory Action Research model
• Experienced managing outside vendors

Education and Work Experience: 

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree a plus but not required
• Minimum 5 years work experience
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*Note: we are currently fully remote until it is safe to return to the office