High School Program Manager

Summer Search Boston is seeking a Program Manager to join its 29-member hard-working and mission-driven team. This hire ensures that staff are trained, coached, and developed to work collaboratively with their students and our program team to achieve short-, mid- and long-term student outcomes. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced people manager and coach to enhance the quality of our programming for students, advance the impact of Summer Search in the local community, and join a team that is committed to learning, social and racial equity, and the students we serve. We are passionate about working with youth and committed to building long-term, holistic, individualized relationships with each student to support them in their journey through high school and beyond.

This Manager will report to the Director of Programs and join the High School team comprised of an additional High School Program Manager and 7-9 Program Associates. This person will also work closely with the School & Community Engagement Manager.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Specifically, the Program Manager will advance Summer Search’s mission through the following job responsibilities:

People Management and Staff Development

• Support the High School and Post-Secondary program team working in Boston by grounding in team values and advocating for team needs.
• Manage 3-5 HSP Program Associates (mentors) through individualized supervision, performance management and evaluation, and on-going training. Provide nuanced and holistic coaching centered in well-being, critical consciousness, and student support in 1:1 and group settings. Conduct observations of 1:1 and group mentoring to support staff development of mentoring quality behaviors.
• Support the mentoring work, data management, and outcomes for all students served.
• Drive short and long-term program outcomes by holding mentors accountable to the process and deadlines around outreach and recruitment, summer experiences, and school-year program participation and expectations, as well as demonstrating a commitment to students that result in a high level of engagement throughout their Summer Search experience.
• Track challenges that students in the program face and provide support to Program Associates in developing plans to address these challenges, including helping staff leverage available resources.
• Collaborate with local and National leadership to develop and implement trainings for program staff to support their work with students focused primarily on well-being, critical mentoring, group mentoring, adolescent development and identity development.
• Collaborate with local and National leadership to advocate for needs of mentors, especially the unique needs of the Boston Area.
• Continue integration of our well-being & race, equity, diversity & inclusion practices into our daily work.
• In partnership with the Talent Team and Program Site Lead, support the hiring process for staff, including scheduling and conducting interviews as well as onboarding Program Associates when they join the team.

Project Management and Program Operations

• Support the execution of daily high school program operations, collaborating closely with the Director of Programs and Regional Program Director, and in response to student and team needs.
• Identify and pursue opportunities to innovate and improve program operations and performance, including implementing systems for assessing program quality.
• Ensure a high-quality data culture by establishing and communicating clear expectations for accurate and timely data collection by high school program team.
• Ensure the timely response to student safety issues related to their physical, social, and emotional well-being by partnering with teammates in a student-centered approach.
• Collect and analyze program data on a weekly basis in Salesforce Lightning database to assess student progress and drive organizational learning, ensure high levels of program quality, understand trends in student engagement and outcomes, and identify key drivers/barriers to program progress and performance.
• Support Director of Programs with the annual planning and budgeting process by consulting on projections and plans for the local high school program.

Student Engagement & Program Facilitation

• Support the program team with direct student support and coverage needs, including providing direct mentoring to students.
• Liaise closely with Summer Programs, Outreach and School & Community Engagement, and Post-Secondary staff to execute against the annual program calendar and milestones.
• Lead projects with other Program Managers to develop and implement strategies to increase family engagement in high school program by establishing multiple points of contact throughout program year.
• Support with supervision and implementation of group mentoring program in schools and community locations in the Boston Area.
• Lead program team in creating and developing program initiatives. Program initiatives may include student celebrations and events, student recruitment, student enrollment, summer experience support and family engagement.
• Support in student outreach in Boston area schools and develop relationships with school staff to support in implementing programming on campus.
• Provide support both nationally and locally for Summer on-call service during summer experiences.

WHO YOU ARE

We are seeking a Program Manager grounded in our values of centering relationships, well-being, critical consciousness, and responsiveness to the needs of our team and our communities. Specifically, the Program Manager will bring:

• EXPERIENCE: At least 4 years of work experience, inclusive of 1-2 years in a management role, at a youth development, educational, or other social service organization that serves low-income communities. Experience supervising and coaching frontline staff working with youth preferred. Demonstrated understanding of crisis management, ideally with youth populations is a plus.
• PROJECT MANAGEMENT: You take initiative to create systems and structures to achieve goals and objectives. You succeed at managing multiple workstreams and motivating, coordinating, and directing others to stay on track.
• PEOPLE MANAGEMENT: You coach, guide and support members of your team towards achieving individual and collective goals. As a leader you embody practices to effectively hold space, facilitate professional growth, amplify strengths, and hold staff members accountable. Your management style reflects your ability to be adaptive, responsive, and supportive of your team to show up as their authentic and full self.
• CRITICAL CONCIOUSNESS: You have an understanding of the root causes of societal discrimination and injustices and are self-reflective about your own privilege and positional power. You apply critical thinking and take action toward liberatory and inclusive practices.
• ADAPTABILITY: You tackle challenges and unfamiliar scenarios head-on with a solutions-oriented, flexible, and curious approach. You are willing to try new things and actively seek to understand multiple perspectives.
• ACCOUNTABILTY: You hold yourself and others responsible for processes, decisions, actions, and commitments to results to drive high quality outcomes. You're responsive to the needs of stakeholders and follow through on commitments.
• TECHNOLOGY SKILLS: Proficiency in detailed data tracking and management; experience using a database with experience with Salesforce a plus.
• LANGUAGE SKILLS: Bilingual in English-Spanish/-Haitian Creole/-Cantonese/-Mandarin/-Vietnamese/-Cape Verdean Creole/-Portuguese is a plus.

In addition, all Summer Search staff bring a commitment to our mission of unleashing students’ potential through mentoring and transformative experiences, as well as the ability to thrive in an environment that values excellence, gratitude, well-being, diversity, authenticity, and collaboration.

LOCATION AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Work hours are Mon-Fri 10am-6pm with occasional weekend and evening special events. Work location is Summer Search Boston office in Jamaica Plain and we currently have a hybrid schedule in place. Staff can work from home 2 days a week/3 days in the office. Must have a current driver’s license and a clean driving record or access to reliable public transportation. 

This is an exempt position with a starting salary range of $67,893-73,922. Summer Search is committed to transparent, equitable compensation practices. Salaries are benchmarked using current market data and salary bands are created to demonstrate the growth potential within the band. The hiring manager works with the Talent Team to place all hires appropriately within the band. We strive to maintain internal equity in compensation, while also considering prior experience.

Well-being, flexibility, and ongoing learning and development are pillars of our culture. We value our staff and are committed to creating an environment where every individual feels seen, heard and valued. Investments in our staff include:

• Medical insurance with up to 90% employer contribution
• Dental, vision, FSA, life and disability insurance plans
• 401 (K) and Employer Match up to $2,000 annually
• Generous time off including 15 vacation days, 10 sick days, and 18 holidays (2 floating holidays of your choice, a birthday day-off, 10 company-wide holidays, and a 1-week December closure). Plus, Refresh Friday’s - a paid day off the first Friday of every month!
• A comprehensive Employee Recognition Program (years of service awards, spot awards, and professional development funding).
• A four-week paid sabbatical after five years of continuous employment.
• Individual, local, regional and national training
• A commitment to developing leaders from within the organization.
• An organizational culture that supports staff well-being and holistic self-care/community care
• Ample opportunities to connect with the students and communities we serve.

OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION

With a staff that cares deeply about social justice and equity, we believe that diverse perspectives and backgrounds create a rich work environment and enhance our ability to pursue our mission. We are committed to building an organization with raised consciousness in order to impact how we work with students, as well as how we work together as a team. We hope you will join us as we continue to build a diverse organization that fosters a work environment where people from all backgrounds are welcomed and valued.