Career Pathways and Student Transitions Manager

World Relief

49d•Hybrid

About The Position

World Relief seeks a Career Pathways and Student Transitions Manager (CPSTM) to provide integrated leadership for World Relief Chicagolandâ€™s Career Pathways Specialists and Student Success Coaches (dotted line), ensuring cohesive delivery of career planning, academic transitions, training preparation, and employment support for adult immigrants and refugees. The CPSTM further supports crossâ€‘department integration between the Career Pathways team, Adult Education, and the Employment Services team to ensure that learners, and jobseekers move along coherent, accessible pathways from English acquisition and foundational employment toward long-term economic mobility. This role safeguards team culture, maintains program continuity, ensures integrated programming with Employment Services, Adult Education, and Children and Youth through shared systems, aligned goals, and consistent implementation. Hybrid schedule: 4 days onsite and 1 work from home day.

Requirements

Mature and personal Christian faith
Committed to the mission, vision, and values of World Relief
Desire to serve and empower the Church to impact vulnerable communities
Able to affirm and/or acknowledge World Reliefs Core Beliefs, Statement of Faith, Christian Identity and National Association of Evangelicals' For the Health of The Nation document
Ability to work a flexible schedule including occasional early mornings, evenings, and weekends
Proficient in Microsoft Office applications
Bachelorâ€™s degree required
Valid Driverâ€™s License and good driving record

Nice To Haves

Strong supervisory and coaching skills across diverse functional roles.
Understanding of career pathways.
Ability to manage a regional, multi-site team and maintain cohesion.
Strong communication, problem-solving, and cross-cultural skills.
Experience in collaborative program delivery across departments or organizations.

Responsibilities

Provide direct supervision, support, and coaching to all Career Pathways (CPS) staff and dotted-line support to Student Success Coaches (SSC).
Maintain cohesive team culture across Adult Education (AE) and Workforce Development (WD) functions, ensuring communication flows smoothly between departments.
Lead team meetings, case reviews, and cross-functional planning sessions.
Support staff development in both academic transition advising and workforce readiness coaching (SMART goals, wrap around delivery, career development and upward mobility).
Coordinate dotted-line supervision of Student Success Coaches, ensuring alignment of transition advising with AE instructional goals, without direct personnel oversight.
Promote integration with the Employment Services team to ensure coordinated recruitment and referrals and collaboration on career-based activities.
Collaborate with Adult Education instructors to align curriculum, bridge programming, and ICAPS pathways with employer-informed skills requirements identified through World Relief Chicagoland (WRC) employer partnerships.
Coordinate with Children & Youth (C&Y) to ensure older youth (16+) receive early career exploration, part-time job readiness support, and connection to skill-building opportunities.
Ensure Career Pathways Specialists maintain aligned practices with all collaborating teams around job upgrades, credential pathways, wage/benefits tracking, and advancement milestones.
Support shared recruitment pipelines and current practices across AE classes, Employment 6/12-month job follow-up touchpoints, and C&Y after-school programs to strengthen consistent referral flow into CP services.
Translate AE priorities into career pathways practices through SSC participation on the team.
Translate WD priorities into academic transitions through CPS support of AE-led workforce initiatives and pilots.
Maintain strong dotted-line alignment with the Director of Community Enterprise & Workforce Innovation to ensure strategy, program vision, and AEâ€“WD integration remain consistent.
Participate in cross-department client tracking activities, ensuring CP activities support Employment and Case Management, and AE progress toward grant performance benchmarks.
Maintain relationships with community colleges, training providers, and employer partners for clinical placement, advising, job placement, and post-placement retention.
Represent WRC in external meetings, workgroups, and partnership development activities.
Maintain partnership alignment with employer advisory groups to ensure CP program design reflects current labor market needs, supports employer co-developed training pathways, and increases opportunities for job upgrades.
Coordinate youth-relevant partnerships (high schools, youth workforce programs) in collaboration with the C&Y team for students exploring early employment.
Ensure staff documentation meets the standards of AE, WD, and grant-funded programs (ICCB, WIOA, JTED, etc.).
Monitor progress toward key outcomes such as training completion, credential attainment, employment placement, and retention.
Support continuous improvement processes and contribute to strategic planning with leadership.
Ensure CP staff document job upgrades, credential attainment, training completions, and wage changes consistent with RSS definitions and WRC-wide reporting standards.
Maintain the managerial anchor role even if staffing is reduced due to funding changes. Take on a small caseload if needed to ensure service continuity.
Sustain program presence with a core team of 2â€“3 CPS/SSC and the CSTM, preserving culture and operational continuity.
Support cross-training of remaining staff so they can function in both SSC and CPS capacities if needed.
Prepare the CP/SSC structure to scale up efficiently if new funding is secured.
Strengthen the shared oversight model that supports long-term financial resilience through AE and WD integration.
Maintain consistent processes, SOPs, and team identity regardless of funding fluctuations.
Strengthen the CP teamâ€™s integration footprint by maintaining flexible cross-training models that enable smooth collaboration with AE, Employment, and C&Y.