The Lead Program Manager dedicates their time to managing an estimated five full-time direct reports at their partner schools. The Lead Program Manager's primary role is to support the day-to-day responsibilities of each of their direct reports, or Resource Coordinators, to ensure organization goals, grant deliverables, and performance standards are met. The Lead Program Manager also collaborates with school administrators to ensure partner satisfaction.  

A Day in the Life of a Lead Program Manager - Community Schools Initiative

• Manage the workflow of your direct reports, creating schedules and delegating tasks

• Oversee the recruiting, onboarding, training, and  offboarding process for Independent Contractors and Vendors

• Primary focus is on the retention of existing partner schools by being responsive to school needs and concerns

• Collaborate with the Resource Coordinator to ensure strong relationships with schools 

• Oversee the daily attendance of employees and regulate their use of PTO 

• Ensure school partner satisfaction and retention through regular communication and targeted interventions

• Collaborate with program leadership to ensure all Resource Coordinators are trained effectively to implement the program and supported with ongoing professional development and resources to be successful in their role

• Manage Resource Coordinators to ensure goals are attained and program deliverables are met 

• Supervision of all out-of-school time vendor and contractor staff

• Recruitment and retention of youth participants programs

• Recruitment of adult participants in programs

• Delivery of high quality programming

• Budget expense tracking in alignment with pre-approved budget

• Ensure compliance with organization policies and procedures such as attendance, paid time off, child safety, incident reporting, etc. 

• Ensure completion of all training and engagement required by the Chicago Public Schools to support the Community Schools Initiative

• Complete regular program quality observations to support continuous quality improvement

• Manage budget in alignment with pre-approved expenditures and submit all purchase requests and invoices to supervisor to approve and process

WHAT WE LOOK FOR IN A CANDIDATE:

• Passion for Urban Initiatives’ mission

• Commitment to join the UI team on our anti-racist journey, which includes interrupting oppression in our work whenever we encounter it

• Ability to build relationships and communicate effectively with a diverse set of stakeholders including other staff members, youth, coaches, families, partner organizations, and funders through a variety of different mediums. 

• At least two years of experience working in the youth development field (experience in a supervisor role preferred)

• Superior communication skills, both spoken and written

• Strong budget management knowledge

• Strong presentation and group facilitation skills (demonstrated experience preferred)

• Quick learner and problem solver, experienced in managing conflicts

• Strong time management, administrative, analytical, and organizational skills

• Self-directed while balancing multiple tasks within a team-based work environment 

• Ability to be flexible and manage multiple priorities while maintaining high quality of work

• Demonstrated experience working with a diverse group of people, particularly those living in underserved neighborhoods

• Willingness to travel locally as needed

COMPENSATION PACKAGE:

• $55,000 base salary

• Health, dental, and vision insurance premiums paid 100% by Urban Initiatives (for employees and for their children)

• Life, short term disability, and long term disability insurance paid 100% by Urban Initiatives

• Option to contribute to a 401K with up to a 3% match of your salary after one full year of employment

• Flexible schedule and work from home environment

• 120 hours of paid time off (PTO), accrued monthly (PTO may be prorated based on start date.)

• Paid holidays (Martin Luther King Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the Friday after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day)

• Comp time

HOW TO APPLY:

Apply by clicking below no later than June 30, 2022. 

Target Start Date is July 20, 2022

Urban Initiatives is dedicated to intentionally fostering a climate of purposeful inclusion in our workplace, and candidates of diverse backgrounds and identities are strongly encouraged to apply. Urban Initiatives is an Equal Opportunity employer. Personnel are chosen on the basis of ability without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. This is in accordance with federal and state law.

Urban Initiatives Overview

Founded in 2003, Urban Initiatives is a nonprofit organization that runs youth development programs in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Urban Initiatives’ mission is to use the power of sport and play to empower Chicago’s youth to achieve academic success, develop social-emotional skills, and build social capital. Currently, Urban Initiatives serves an estimated 60 schools throughout the City of Chicago.

Urban Initiatives is preparing to scale program operations to have a significantly greater impact across Chicago. Our programs support social-emotional learning (SEL) and we are expanding our role as the lead partner supporting the Community Schools Initiative across the city. Growing the management capacity of ourCSI team is critical to our delivery of quality and impactful services.