BUSINESS & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST

Business & Community Engagement Specialist

The Business & Community Engagement Specialist will cultivate, grow, and actively maintain lasting partnerships with businesses in the region for the purposes of determining industry skill/training needs, and facilitating business engagement programs. A focus is to develop, recruit, and build relationships with businesses to determine their workforce needs, industry-identified skills/program needs and how Goodwill Southeast Georgia mission services programming can address those needs. This team member will spend a substantial amount of time marketing the activities of Goodwill to local employers and facilitating career development activities.

Essential functions and major responsibilities include:

• Source and identify new business relationships to serve as recurring referral leads. Identify business requirements and determine how to integrate their services with Goodwill's mission. Maintain on-going communication with employer partners to address any issues and help identify qualified candidates for available positions. Collaborate with partners to enhance established Goodwill programs and services. Follow up on pre-existing employer partnerships to ensure quality and partner satisfaction. Responsible for documenting new, expanded, and existing partnerships.
• Understand and articulate the company's value proposition and benefits of partnering with Goodwill Southeast Georgia. Demonstrate a deep understanding of Goodwill's participant interests, skills, and barriers to target employer outreach based on this understanding. Embrace the core values of the organization in the spirit in which the organization operates at work and in the community.
• Develop and nurture relationships with local community agencies to identify resources that assist clients in overcoming barriers such as housing, food insecurity, and medical needs.
• Attend relevant events and activities to represent Goodwill, participate as an informed partner to promote Goodwill programs and build strong relationships with key employers & stakeholders.
• Use labor market and feedback data to adjust services to increase effectiveness and efficiency.
• Ensure accurate skills assessments on clients to help determine career interest for optimum placements that meet the needs of both participants and employers.
• Assist with identifying critical knowledge and/or skill gaps during career coaching sessions and help clients with obtaining the necessary training to overcome the skills gap.
• Collaborate with Mission Service leadership to address barriers identified during career coaching session that may hinder a client from achieving their career goals.
• Recommend additional educational/training to clients that will enhance their career goals.
• Provide job readiness training opportunities to clients to include interviewing techniques that will help strengthen employment outcomes.
• Facilitate job readiness trainings to ensure individuals seeking services are prepared to enter the labor market.
• Assist clients with registering for post-secondary opportunities to gain credentials.
• Contribute to the fulfillment of department and agency objectives and goals. Comply with all department and agency policies, procedures, and regulations.
• Coordinate with employers and mission services team members to coordinate hiring events.
• Oversee the management of all cultivated relationships and track progress of individuals hired.
• Partner with OC team to maintain an up-to-date resource manual that outlines community resources available to clients for barrier removal and support services.
• Meet/exceed the key performance indicators monthly of individuals served, trained and placed.
• Collect and report on metrics and programmatic activity.
• Generate weekly, and monthly reports outlining individuals served and the community needs for barrier removal.

Qualifications and special skills required:

• * Bachelor's degree in Human Services preferred and a minimum of three years' experience in a similar role. Relevant Goodwill experience will be evaluated and may supplement for prior workforce development experience.
• * Must possess a valid driver's license, own insurance, and independent transportation.
• * Excellent verbal and written communication skills, interpersonal and presentation skills.
• * Ability to draft and present on business engagement programs, Goodwill's Mission, and programmatic data across a variety of stakeholders and audiences.
• * Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook
• * Excellent time & project management skills.
• * Provide timely updates to supervisor on development and progress.
• * Function independently in a multi-task environment, as well as part of a team. Ability to work in teams and across departments while managing both solo and team priorities.
• * Ability to maintain confidentiality.
• * Be flexible and a willingness to adjust to changing assignments.
• * Ability to work evenings and weekends to meet employer and event needs.
• * Must be willing to travel. This position requires travel between locations, off-site meetings and events as needed.