CharityVillage

About The Career Foundation:
The Career Foundation is a dynamic non-profit organization that offers a wide range of employment, training, and HR services to job seekers and employers. Since its inception in 1988, The Career Foundation has steadily expanded its services. Operating out of multiple locations, we now help thousands of people each year successfully accomplish their employment goals. Our team of dedicated professionals has described The Career Foundation as caring, compassionate, innovative, and team-oriented. For more information about us and our services, please visit our website at CareerFoundation.com.

Some of the benefits and features available to our employees include: 

• Competitive compensation
• A comprehensive Health Benefits plan that includes massage therapy, naturopath services, travel coverage, and much more
• A comprehensive Dental Insurance plan
• An RRSP Matching benefit
• An Employee & Family Assistance program
• Employee wellness initiatives
• Paid days off for religious observance purposes

Program and Role Summary:
The Career Foundation’s Completing the Circle (CTC) program is a youth employment and skills development project funded by Canada’s Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS). Our CTC program provides individualized support to youth with barriers to employment. Through the program, youth participants are empowered to find employment and are equipped with tools, support, new skills, and confidence to start and maintain work.

The Career Counselling Coordinator is responsible for spearheading and executing personalized career guidance and employability skills coaching for eligible youth participants of our CTC program to help ensure they achieve successful outcomes in finding and retaining employment, and that the program meets or exceeds contractual obligations with the government funder. Additionally, as a managerial-level employee, the Career Counselling Coordinator provides direct supervision to a small team and fulfills other managerial-level functions.

• Position type: Full-time (37.5 hours per week)  
• Base location: Hamilton, ON (James Street South & Hunter Street)  
• Schedule and travel requirements:  The Career Counselling Coordinator’s designated base location is The Career Foundation’s Completing the Circle (CTC) program Hamilton office, where they are responsible for the day-to-day management of the program at that site. This role also requires frequent local travel between offices and within the communities served by our CTC program, including York, Peel, and Hamilton. The position currently permits periodic work-from-home days contingent on program operational needs and performance. The successful candidate must have a valid G driver’s licence and a reliable vehicle to meet the essential requirements of the position that require local travel between offices and the communities served. A company laptop, cell phone, and other equipment will be provided.

Responsibilities include:
Career Development and Employability Skills Coaching

• Fosters job search and employability skills through one-on-one coaching with youth participants.
• Provides individualized career coaching to youth participants to develop transferable workplace skills and life skills, including teamwork, responsibility, self-confidence, appropriate work habits and behaviours, and other relevant topics.
• Guides participants in creating effective, tailored cover letters and résumés.
• Works in collaboration with the program’s Job Development Coordinator to support participants in targeting the most suitable employment based on their experience, education, and current labour market factors.
• Facilitates workshops and presents information to youth participants in an engaging, diplomatic, and tactful manner on relevant topics to build their employability skills and achieve successful outcomes, including effective job search strategies, cover letters and résumés, accessing the hidden job market, cold-calling, job posting analyses, salary negotiations, health and safety in the workplace, and other topics.
• Motivates youth participants through enthusiastic presentations and encourages participation in all topics covered.
• Manages conflicts or disruptions when needed during workshops in a proactive and professional manner with the goal of fostering respect, leadership, confidence, and other life skills for youth.
• Provides ongoing coaching and encouragement to youth participants during their work placements to reinforce the skills learned in the program.
• Provides youth participants with referral information for other support services in the community as appropriate based on their individual barriers to employment.
• Ensures that all direct deliverables for the program are met or exceeded and regularly monitors personal performance against program targets to ensure achievement of expected results.
• Performs other relevant duties as needed.

Participant Selection and Intakes

• Works in collaboration with other team members to select suitable youth participants for each cohort of the program, including those from equity-deserving groups.
• Conducts intakes, verifying eligibility and ensuring that new potential participants understand the objectives, benefits, and time requirements of the program.
• Develops and organizes the schedule of activities for each new cohort intake in consultation with the Job Development Coordinator.
• Performs other relevant duties as needed.

Staff Supervision and Quality Control

• Provides day-to-day supervision of direct reports on the team, offering effective oversight and support.
• Cultivates a positive and collaborative working environment, maintaining an open-door policy to provide easy access to advice, feedback, and suggestions.
• Coordinates staff training, including leading and overseeing onboarding and training for new team members.
• Regularly reviews role-specific training curriculum and makes updates in collaboration with senior leadership and HR.
• Monitors performance towards goals, proactively addresses concerns when any target is not on track, and seeks support from senior leadership when needed.
• Adheres to company policies and procedures.
• Prioritizes recruitment when a vacancy on the team must be filled, including actioning interviews in a timely manner when a candidate is presented by the HR department.
• Conducts performance appraisals with direct reports, including interim performance reviews with new hires and annual performance appraisals.
• Receives and approves staff absence requests.
• Attends The Career Foundation’s monthly management meetings and actively participates in discussions.
• Performs other relevant duties as needed.

Case Management and Administration

• Enters and maintains thorough written documentation in online data reporting systems, ensuring that participant files are up-to-date, accurately reflect records, and are ready for file audits, and monitors the quality of documentation maintained by team members.
• Regularly communicates and provides reports when requested to senior leadership regarding the team’s progress towards goals, compliance with the funder’s guidelines, and The Career Foundation’s internal standards of practice.
• Contributes to the preparation of funder reports, business plans, and other communications required for the program for review by senior management.
• Manages policy sign-off requirements and other correspondence with the team in a timely manner when directed by HR.
• Performs other relevant duties as needed.

Budget Management

• Contributes to maintaining, tracking, and administering the program’s budget with accurate and up-to-date data.
• Regularly reviews and reconciles budget expenditures with the Finance team.
• Oversees and approves staff expenses in accordance with related policies.
• Performs other relevant duties as needed.

Qualifications/ Skills Required:

• Demonstrated experience and success of 2+ years in job coaching, employment counselling, workshop facilitation, job development, or other directly related experience is required.
• Prior direct management experience, including supervision of a team, program and budget reporting, and demonstrated target achievement.
• A university degree is preferred, or an equivalent combination of education and experience is required.
• Skilled at identifying systems and practices for operational effectiveness and efficiency.
• Exceptional relationship development skills and the ability to develop rapport with people in all stakeholder groups, including team members, community partners, funders, program participants, and employers.
• Prior experience in government-funded projects, preferably in youth programming, is considered an asset.
• Excellent verbal and written English communication skills with experience writing high-quality reports. Bilingualism in French or other languages is considered an asset.
• Must be willing to work from The Career Foundation’s Hamilton location as well as conduct frequent local travel to other sites and within communities served by our Completing the Circle program, including York, Peel, and Hamilton.
• Must possess a valid Ontario G driver’s licence and reliable vehicle to conduct essential work-related travel.
• Demonstrated organizational skills, effective time management, and ability to multi-task to meet deadlines and achieve objectives.
• High ethics and confidentiality standards with proven experience maintaining sensitive information and exhibiting tact, diplomacy, and good judgment.
• Capable of working under pressure and meeting deadlines.
• Willingness to step in to assist team members when needed to ensure that program goals are achieved.
• A professional and courteous approach to client service with a high level of respect for the diversity of the people served.
• Exceptional customer service skills and the ability to uphold the organization’s service standards, policies, and core values.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), and Office 365 applications, including Teams and SharePoint. Must possess the aptitude and willingness to learn and work with new online systems and technologies.
• Flexibility to occasionally work outside of regular business hours to meet the needs of the program and youth participants.
• An encouraging team player with a positive attitude who leads by example and takes initiative when needed to ensure that objectives are achieved.