JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

PROJECT MANAGER – YOUTH PROGRAMS SALARY - $95,616.00/Year

Department of Family and Support Services

Number of Positions: 1

This position is funded through a grant and this employment opportunity is contingent on the availability and continuation of the grant supporting this position. The current grant supporting this position is expected to be available through December 31, 2024. The City will provide sufficient notice when the grant and employment opportunity expire.

THIS POSITION IS EXEMPT FROM THE CAREER SERVICE. The position is funded by the Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (LFRF) and will be funded for approximately two years.

Mission

Working with community partners, we connect Chicago residents and families to resources that build stability, support their well-being, and empower them to thrive.

Background - Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS)
DFSS is the largest human and social service funder Chicago. The department serves approximately 400,000 vulnerable Chicagoans every year through seven program areas: children and youth services, human services, workforce, seniors, domestic violence and homelessness. The department provides critical services through its network of approximately 350 not-for-profit agencies with an operating budget of $790 million ($404M annual budget + $386M in CARES, ARP, and Bond investments).

Youth Services

Chicago young people realize their potential as drivers of development, change and leadership. Building upon Chicago’s rich history of providing human services for all residents, the Youth Division of DFSS supports young people through programming in three distinct portfolios and continues to focus investments and resources to address youth who are most acutely at risk. The three portfolios are:

• Enrichment

To meet the needs of youth in Chicago by providing access to high quality afterschool programs to build the key skills necessary to succeed in life.

• Prevention & Intervention

To meet the needs of the most acutely at-risk youth by providing support and services to address their needs and better position them to reach their full potential.

• Youth Employment

To provide youth with access to career readiness and employment opportunities to gain experience and build the skills to succeed in life and work.

Annually, $88M ($56.4M annual budget + $31.6M in CARES and ARP investments) is granted to community partners through a competitive grant making process. In 2021, the youth division funded over 230 programs serving over 75,000 youth across 175 partners impacting every Chicago neighborhood.

American Rescue Plan (ARP)

Under direction, this position oversees a major project(s) within the Chicago Recovery Plan team, such as general administrative, program management, or leading a specific functional area. This position may also serve as a liaison to the Mayor’s Office Project Management (PMO) team.

Project Manager (American Rescue Plan)

Under the direction of Youth Division leadership, the Project Manager oversees a major program established under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) focusing on youth programs and initiatives. The Project Manager oversees the implementation of all program elements, including but not limited to, recruitment and onboarding, program activities and training, and key stakeholder communication and relationship management.

This position is a lead position ensuring that the program is meeting established performance measures, outcomes and overall goals related to the specific program. Sample projects include managing the One Summer Chicago summer and year-round programming, violence prevention work in juvenile justice, and launching the My Chi, My Future hub.

Key Functions

Under the direction of a Manager of Family and Support Programs from the Prevention and Intervention portfolio, the Project Manager will lead and coordinate program operations for projects associated with youth juvenile justice programming. This position is responsible for leading and ensuring that the program is meeting established performance measures, outcomes and overall goals related to each specific portfolio and engage in high level communication and planning with external stakeholders (Mayor’s Office, Chicago Police Department). This position supervises staff.

Program Management –35%

• Manages multiple aspects of programmatic oversight to ensure goals and timelines are met. These aspects may include project plan design, budget, process and outcome metrics, delegate agency management including contract oversight and programmatic monitoring.
• Prepares and presents ideas, trends, strategies, and goals to groups associated with assigned programming.
• Implements fiscal and budgetary controls to ensure monies are fully optimized, leveraged, and expanded.

• Develop of Request for Proposals and proposal evaluations related to the administration of grant funds to delegate agencies.
• Identifies and implements strategies to promote awareness of prevention and intervention programs and services (e.g., outreach campaigns, coordination with stakeholders, etc.)

Program Performance, Strategic Goal Setting and Team Management 35%

• Compiles and analyzes data and information and draft recommendations for executive leadership and stakeholders.
• Analyzes legislative and policy proposals and prepares recommendations identifying potential impacts to departmental and program operations.

• Evaluates the ongoing effectiveness of youth community employment programs and services, ensuring alignment with departmental, local and federal requirements as well as community needs.
• Identifies opportunities for integrating and/or connecting data systems as well as strategies to increase program access to underserved populations.
• Designs new models to serve youth with complex needs and those at highest risk and identifies funding opportunities to expand programming to implement best practices and innovation.

Outreach and Partnerships – 15%

• Represents the department at meetings, planning groups, and work groups to discuss policies, and programs, progress and outcomes. Prepares meeting summaries and various comprehensive management reports including programmatic, budgetary and performance reports.
• Coordinates and implements large in-person youth events.
• Creates, manages, and distributes communication to delegate agencies and other stakeholders.
• Facilitates meetings with partners and stakeholders (e.g., sister agencies, community groups, private sector companies, etc.) to ensure that strategies and trends within the assigned program.

Other – 15%

• Provides inspiring leadership, coaching, and supervision to a team of youth service coordinators and interns.
• Performs related duties (programmatic and administrative) as required.
• Must be able to work a flexible schedule.

Location: Department of Family and Support Services - Central Office

Address: 1615 West Chicago Avenue

Shift: Monday-Friday

Hours: 9:00am – 5:00pm

THIS POSITION IS EXEMPT FROM THE CAREER SERVICE

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in Social Sciences, Human Services, Business Administration, Public Administration, or a directly related field plus five years of project management experience in the planning and administration of a social or community service program.

Note: Ideal candidate will possess a passion for increasing the quality of life for Chicago’s young people, being trauma informed, and implementing culturally competent interventions and a strong understanding of youth engagement with law enforcement.

Note: Applicants must submit a resume, cover letter, and writing sample of no more than three (3) pages addressing how youth program participation fosters the development of children and youth and what special considerations should be taken when designing programs for youth in large urban cities.

All written materials must be attached at the time of application. Applicants that fail to attach the required documents will be considered to not have completed the application.

Selection Criteria

This position requires applicants to complete an interview. The interviewed candidate(s) possessing the qualifications best suited to fulfill the responsibilities of the position, based on the oral part of the interview will be selected.

Preference will be given to candidates possessing the following:

• Master’s degree
• Management/supervisory experience

• Communication: Able to use effective written and oral communication with internal and external audiences and stakeholders; demonstrates empathy and listening
• Client orientation: Can recognize needs of diverse stakeholders and approaches relationships with a service orientation to ultimately maximize impact.
• Equity mindset: Understands and is committed to goals of equity; consistently brings an equity mindset to the organization’s work and workplace.
• Growth mindset: Views growth as important for personal and professional development; seeks out opportunities to expand skills, even if change is required; Demonstrated ability to be solutions-focused, self-reflective, and dedicated the continuous improvement of service quality.
• Ownership and quality of work: Effectively manages own work and work of teams ensuring delivery of high-quality work. Proven ability to be innovative and a self-starter.
• External representation and relationship building: Represents DFSS among external stakeholders, and builds strong, trusting relationships with stakeholders.
• Experience using data: Understands data, can think analytically about data and can identify insights and implications.
• Proficient use of Microsoft Office Products (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

ALL REFERENCES TO POLITICAL SPONSORSHIP OR RECOMMENDATION MUST BE OMITTED FROM ANY AND ALL APPLICATION MATERIALS SUBMITTED FOR CITY EMPLOYMENT.

The City of Chicago is an Equal Opportunity and Military Friendly Employer

City of Chicago Department of Human Resources

Lori E. Lightfoot, Mayor Christopher Owen, Commissioner

Applications for this position will be accepted until 11:59p.m. CDT on 5/12/2023