Case Manager / Field Officer - MATES North America Pilot

Location: New York City (NY) or Houston (TX)

Type: Full-time

Duration: 12-month contract with possibility of extension, commencing February 2026

Salary: $75,000 - $85,000 + benefits commensurate with qualifications and experience

Reports to: Program Operations Manager

Direct reports: None

Works with: Field Officer; Case Manager / Field Officer; Administration, Communication & Reporting Officer; Senior Leaders from US and Australia

About MATES and the North America Pilot

MATES in Construction is an evidence-based, industry-backed, peer-led workplace program that brings suicide prevention and mental health support onto the jobsite. The model blends:

• Engagement, awareness and capacity building through toolbox-style conversations and formal training that reduce stigma, empower help-offering and reduce barriers to help-seeking.
• Peer network activation by training and supporting natural helpers called “Connectors” who notice, ask, and link people to help.
• Facilitate pathways to care via structured referral and escalation. The MATES team are the bridge to supports, not the clinicians.

For more information, please visit www.matesna.org

The MATES North America pilot is adapting the proven Australian model to North American conditions through a pilot delivery approach with strong governance, and rigorous evaluation. This pilot is delivered in partnership with Quanta Services, whose leadership and nationwide network provide real-world pilot sites and industry ownership for a solution built by and for the construction industry. Your work will directly enable the industry to own a sustainable solution.

Purpose

Shape and own this newly created role, and influence program and operational implementation from the ground up. Operate as the region’s non-clinical casework lead. Co-deliver training, support the Field Officer with site mobilisation, and provide short-term case management, navigation and supported referrals. You ensure construction workers experience clear, safe pathways to support while delivery stays to fidelity, privacy is protected, and evaluation-ready data is captured.

Why this role will excite you

You’ll spend your week working on real worksites with real people, co-delivering training with Field Officers, then walking alongside construction workers through practical, short-term casework that makes an immediate difference. Because this is a pilot, your on-the-ground insights will directly shape how MATES scales across North America. You’ll help ensure we know what works, why it works, and how we keep it safe, credible, and industry-owned. You’ll receive high quality supervision, and operate in a supportive regional team that makes a real difference and celebrates wins together.

Training and accreditation you’ll receive

• MATES Model Induction: learn the history, methodology and evidence of the program, understand the brand, and become part of our mission.
• Training and support to deliver General Awareness Talk (GAT) sessions, boundaries/safe messaging, and referral/escalation protocols.
• safeTALK Training and Trainer Accreditation (LivingWorks): complete train-the-trainer requirements to deliver safeTALK to fidelity and maintain trainer currency.
• Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) training (LivingWorks).
• Operational systems: orientation to HR, communications, finance, IT and program database platforms.
• Ongoing coaching: regular practice feedback, reflective sessions with your Coordinator, and oversight from senior leaders in the US and Australia.

Key responsibilities

Engage, mobilize and support sites

• Build relationships and trust with leaders, foremen, union reps, and crews; assess readiness for the MATES program; and tailor the approach to local realities.
  • Co-facilitate GAT and Connector (safeTALK) sessions to fidelity; support Connector activation and follow-up.
  • Assist Field Officers with site activities: readiness checks, version-correct materials, room/gear setup, attendance, and follow-ups.
• Maintain ongoing site relationships and provide support as needed, including when critical incidents or suicides occur.

Deliver case management and supported referrals (non-clinical)

• • Conduct brief assessments; develop simple action/safety plans; coordinate supported referrals to internal/external services and relevant resources.
  • Maintain professional boundaries; document contacts/plans/outcomes; schedule follow-ups and close loops.
  • Escalate risk via defined protocols to professional and emergency services if required.
  • Collaborate in case/concern huddles to find sustainable support solutions.

Operate as a regional team, and one program

• Work within your regional team coordinating activity calendars, coverage, and resources.
• Share learning across regions; use standardized materials; log any proposed adaptations through governance to protect fidelity.
• Spot risk; respect role boundaries; escalate issues to leaders per protocol.

Stakeholder liaison (site-level)

• • Translate stakeholder commitments from leadership into site-level activities.
• Feed site intelligence up (risks, opportunities, emerging champions) to senior leaders to inform engagement strategies and funding asks; align messages with established comms plan.

Contribute to data, reporting and evaluation

• • Enter accurate, timely case notes and training/site data in the CRM; meet privacy and consent requirements.
  • Provide inputs for weekly ops snapshots and monthly KPI reports; respond to evaluation data requests on time.

What you’ll bring

Minimum qualifications and experience

• • Bachelor’s degree in a related field (e.g. Social Work, Counselling, Psychology, Public Health, Human Services) from an accredited institution; Master’s preferred.
  • 3–5+ years of program delivery and/or case management in mental health, suicide prevention, or adjacent human services.
• Relationship-building and stakeholder management skills: demonstrated ability to build rapport quickly across roles (from apprentices to project managers); collaborate well with unions, contractors, and site leadership.
• Training delivery and facilitation: demonstrated experience leading groups from 10 to 150 people; able to adapt style to crews; use activities, stories, and plain language; can handle tough questions with composure.
• Comfort discussing suicide and mental health: ability to work within safe-messaging principles; ability to open, hold, and close sensitive conversations and escalate appropriately (you do not do clinical work).
• Data discipline: demonstrated ability to keep accurate notes and CRM entries; comfortable with checklists, attendance records, and simple dashboards.
  • Digital literacy: confident using Microsoft 365, shared drives with version control, email/calendars, video meetings; able to learn new operational systems quickly (e.g. CRM/database, HRIS/onboarding, travel booking and expenses).

Highly regarded qualifications and experience

• Accredited professional background in Social Work, Counselling, or Psychology (e.g. MSW, MA/MSc Counselling, MA/MSc Psychology).
• Licensed or license-eligible in a relevant US state (e.g. LCSW, LPC/LCPC/LMHC, LMFT, Psychologist) or equivalent professional registration.
  • Construction familiarity (civil, utilities, major projects, EHS/OHS) and/or union/peer leadership experience.
  • Bilingual capabilities (English and Spanish) and experience working with culturally diverse people.
• Lived / living experience of your own, or caring for someone with, mental health challenges, suicidality or suicide bereavement.
• LivingWorks safeTALK/ASIST program completion or trainer accreditation.

Essential attributes

• Boundaries with warmth: compassionate and practical while holding non-clinical limits and escalation pathways.
• Trauma-informed and dignity-affirming: emphasize choice, control, and safety; never force disclosure; check in before moving forward.
• Strengths-based problem solver: focus on what’s working; identify small, doable steps that build momentum.
• Reflective and coachable: actively engage in supervision, invite feedback, and turn learning into better practice.
  • Casework discipline: clear plans, timely follow-ups, accurate notes, dependable closure of actions.

What success looks like (first 6–12 months)

• • Timely, supported help pathways are implemented; intakes acknowledged quickly and first contact occurs within agreed service levels; clear next steps are set at first touchpoint.
  • Referral networks in place: up-to-date local resource directory (EAPs, community services, crisis lines); partners know how to reach you, and you respond quickly.
  • Safe escalation and boundaries: risks escalated to protocol; role boundaries held consistently; incidents documented and debriefed.
  • Onsite activity commitments are fulfilled with version-correct assets and smooth logistics.
  • CRM data ≥95% complete at cut-off; evaluation requests met on time; issues/risks/actions tracked and closed.

Role conditions

• • Regular travel across your region and sometimes to others; early starts/occasional evenings aligned to site schedules.
• Valid driver’s license.
• Ability to move training kits.
• Compliance with all site safety requirements.
• Pre-employment checks as required.

Like people work with real outcomes?

If you can lead a toolbox session, hold a steady, compassionate conversation when it counts, and still keep your documentation crisp, we’d love to hear from you. This role suits a practitioner who can also facilitate training, develop strong and sustainable stakeholder relationships and navigate complex support pathways. Please send a short cover note or video explaining how you build trust and connect people to the right help, along with your resume and evidence of experience.

We use a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) for payroll and benefits administration.

Health & benefits

• • Medical insurance offered; employer contribution is employee-only with a cap
  • Dependent coverage is available, with premiums for dependents paid by the employee (the employer contribution applies to employee-only coverage)
  • Dental and vision offered as voluntary benefits (100% employee-paid)
  • 401(k) offered
  • Employer-paid basic Life insurance + Long-Term Disability (LTD)
  • HSA contribution: only for employees enrolled in an HSA-eligible plan
  • Benefits start: 1st of the month after hire

Travel & expenses (when travel is required for work)

• • Mileage reimbursed at the IRS standard rate for business travel between sites; tolls/parking reimbursed for business travel.
  • Overnight travel: company-paid hotel + meals paid using General Services Administration (GSA) – Meals & Incidental Expenses (M&IE) per diem by destination
  • Required training (and related travel) is employer-paid

Other provisions

• • Pre-employment checks apply (consistent with applicable law).
  • Paid sick leave will be provided consistent with applicable law and policy

Benefits are subject to eligibility requirements, plan terms, and may change over time.

Comfort discussing suicide and mental health: ability to work within safe-messaging principles; ability to open, hold, and close sensitive conversations and escalate appropriately (you do not do clinical work).

Data discipline: demonstrated ability to keep accurate notes and CRM entries; comfortable with checklists, attendance records, and simple dashboards.

Digital literacy: confident using Microsoft 365, shared drives with version control, email/calendars, video meetings; able to learn new operational systems quickly (e.g. CRM/database, HRIS/onboarding, travel booking and expenses).

Preferred: Bilingual capabilities (English and Spanish) and experience working with culturally diverse people.