Family Services Director - Boston

Jeremiah Program•Boston, MA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Family Services Director (FSD) serves as the campus-level program leader. The FSD is responsible for leading a team of 3-4 Family Coaches to deliver a transformative experience for families that supports their path to reaching their goals. They manage the team to deliver high impact 2-generation coaching, to build and leverage community partners who can provide wrap-around supports for families, and to facilitate a supportive sisterhood community. They track, analyze, and utilize data to ensure campus program goals are met. The FSD sets the tone for the program experience by modeling excellence in client service, cultural responsiveness, trauma-informed support, flexible leadership, and dedication to family success. The FSD sits on the campus leadership team and collaborates with the development and operations teams to support cross-cutting campus goals. They collaborate with national program leaders and peer FSDs across all 9 campuses. The FSD reports to the campus Executive Director. The ideal candidate has a passion for partnering alongside families to support their goals and dreams. They believe in the power of a college degree as a path towards economic mobility. They understand the systemic barriers moms and kids face and are skilled community builders who can galvanize and activate support for families that address those barriers. They are experienced and effective people-manager. They build high-performance team culture, support individual and team growth through skilled coaching, set clear direction and hold themselves and the team accountable, and strategically leverage data to drive outcomes. They are both strategic and operational: able to see the larger program picture while maintaining sufficient visibility into daily execution to identify issues early and ensure commitments are carried through. They bring a balance of heart-centered leadership, rigorous outcomes-driven management, and a collaborative and flexible operating mindset.

Requirements

BA/BS (master's degree preferred) in human services, higher education, social work, or closely related field.
10+ years of experience in the field of social services and/or college support programs working with people who face systemic oppression.
3+ years of direct-line people management experience and strong ability to coach a team towards successful outcomes and build a high performing culture that reflects JP core values.
Knowledge of local partners and community resources in the areas of college, housing, childcare, academic support for moms and kids, mental health, and financial management.
Understanding of the college journey and how to access supports and navigate barriers to degree completion (e.g. financial aid, academic support, managing course load, etc.).
Understanding of the educational milestones for youth on their own path to college and career goals.
Deep understanding of the structural inequities that lead to generational poverty, and in particular the systemic barriers that women and people of color face, and self-awareness of how one’s own identity fits within this larger context.
A constant learning orientation and a track record of integrating feedback, seeking new learning, and establishing a culture of continuous improvement.
Solutions-focused and resourceful approach to overcoming challenges and ability to create a culture of shared accountability.
The ability to work collaboratively with peers and other key stakeholders in person and remotely across local and national teams.
A great teammate who people want to work with, learn from, and can trust.
Excellent culturally competent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to represent the interest of Jeremiah Program, interact effectively with diverse groups, and be at ease building successful collaborations with program participants and internal and external stakeholders.
Ability to speak with radical candor with team, peers, and moms in ways that build mutual trust and respect.
Comfort and skill with using data to inform strategy and implementation.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and Salesforce and data entry skills and an ability to learn new technologies that enable effectiveness in the role.
Availability on some nights and weekends to deliver occasional local programming and an ability and motivation to work with the team in-person 4 days per week to promote an in-person culture and community, with the option of having one remote workday.

Nice To Haves

master's degree preferred

Responsibilities

Ensure high-impact 2-generation coaching
Ensure high-impact coaching that supports moms reaching goals for themselves and their families.
Ensure moms are regularly meeting with their coaches per the prescribed model and that they are on track to meet their goals.
Manage program transitions to ensure that graduating moms are set up for success as alumni.
Build and sustain a supportive and restorative sisterhood community
Deliver culturally responsive, trauma-informed, relevant, and engaging local cohort programming that advances family agency, develops cohort culture, and reinforces strong relationships between JP and families.
Mediate or de-escalate situations to ensure that staff and families can solve conflicts, policy violations or other situations in a positive, consistent, and unbiased way.
Maintain relationships with alumni, communicating alumni opportunities and supporting ongoing engagement with JP.
Oversee a robust community partnership strategy
Utilize determined criteria to recommend fruitful partnerships that can continue to future growth.
Codify a partnership repository to facilitate warm hand-offs for moms to partners who can provide support in key areas (housing, childcare, mental health, academic support, 2nd generation support, financial management, and with local colleges).
Identify and activate community partners who generate mom referrals to support mom recruitment and outreach.
Project-manage group learning and community events
Use quantitative and qualitative data to identify interests and needs across moms and kids to inform group learning and group event opportunities.
Project manage powerful group learning and inspiring group events (e.g. workshops, graduations, Mother’s Day event, etc.).
Leverage partnerships to enable high-quality group learning and community building events.
Manage local recruitment, enrollment, and program entry
Partner with the ED and Family Services team to develop and execute a consistent recruitment and enrollment strategy that supports campus roster goals.
Monitor the recruitment pipeline from initial interest through enrollment and program entry, using data to identify conversion gaps and adjust outreach strategies.
Lead strong program-cycle kickoffs so new moms feel connected, informed, prepared, and invested in the JP experience.
Grow and sustain a high performing Family Services team
Lead team of family coaches towards key programmatic outcomes by modeling strong coaching, developing a strong team culture, and supporting individual coach effectiveness and growth.
Enable a team culture that is positive, inclusive, trusting and focused on outcomes.
Coach and develop direct reports, building on their strengths.
Give and receive direct, clear, actionable feedback.
Conduct regular one-on-one check-ins and weekly team meetings to support progress towards outcomes, communicate about families and facilitate a strong campus work culture.
Ensures strong data practices with family services team, including accurate, timely data input and regular analysis at the individual, cohort, and campus level to identify bright spots, emerging risks, and areas of opportunity and to translate insights into clear action plans with defined ownership, timelines, and follow-through.
Partner with the Executive Director to link local program, operations and development functions
Serve as a member of the Campus Leadership Team alongside the Executive Director (ED), Director of Development (DOD), and Operations Manager (OM).
Maintain proactive and transparent communication with the Executive Director regarding program performance, staffing and team dynamics, emerging risks, family escalations, and decisions requiring ED input or approval.
Collaborate with the ED and DOD on fundraising by providing data and stories that illuminate the impact of JP’s work.
Support fundraising events by facilitating connections to partners and moms and by executing tasks assigned by the development team.
Collaborate with peers across the organization to inform JP program strategy and to ensure strong implementation of organizational initiatives at the local campus level
Partner with CST leadership to inform design and guide implementation of programming initiatives or pilots that work across JP to disrupt cycles of generational poverty.
Build and maintain strong and sustained communication channels to ensure family services staff are informed of relevant national CST and local campus priorities and events.
Engage in consistent reflection and step-backs with CST and peers to drive continuous improvement and innovation.
Model JP core values, data-informed/outcomes-driven leadership, self-awareness, and self-management
Set the tone for the Family Services team by modeling JP core values.
Ensure data integrity and manage in a data-informed way.
Demonstrate strong self-awareness about personal identity and operating style and facilitate team awareness to build a culture of belonging and high performance.
Model self-management (personal organization and follow through, ability to “pause, notice, and choose” responses as compared to reacting, use personal strategies to stay resourced).
Other Duties as Assigned: This job description provides a comprehensive overview of the role's responsibilities, but it's important to note that duties, responsibilities, and activities may evolve with or without prior notice.
JP is an entrepreneurial organization that is in constant motion and strives to be responsive to families, context, and the moment while staying anchored to our mission and guiding principles.
We are currently at the beginning stages of a new strategic plan that calls for “strengthening core program” and so we anticipate changes in our model over the next few years.
We are seeking FSDs who are personally comfortable with change and who have a demonstrated ability to lead teams through organizational change by communicating clearly, building shared understanding, addressing resistance constructively, and translating changing priorities into actionable expectations for staff.
The Family Services Director must believe in and be a passionate advocate for JP’s mission.
The Family Services team works with moms from a range of backgrounds and must be able to engage with deep cultural responsiveness, humility, and embodiment of our values.
FSDs must be open to professional development, growth, and feedback.