Program Director For Friends - Utah

FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN is a national nonprofit impacting generational change by giving children and families the ability to create a new story. We do this by providing children facing the greatest obstacles with a long-term, paid professional mentor, called a Friend, from kindergarten through high school graduation – 12+ years, no matter what. Founded in 1993, Friends of the Children reaches thousands of children in 33 locations across our national network. Friends of the Children-Utah, launched its chapter in 2020.

Basic Function/Position Objective:

The Program Director is a member of the senior management team at Friends of the Children - Utah providing overall leadership, management, and accountability for program staff and services delivered to youth and families. Specific areas of responsibility include creating a culture of accountability, program development, collecting data and reporting outcomes. The Program Director will work closely with key community partners, schools, potential donors and the caregivers of youth enrolled in the program.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Know and understand the needs and challenges associated with the Friend role and be prepared to support the mental health and wellbeing of the team by reducing the risk of secondary trauma to Friends.
• Ensure compliance with and accountability to organization’s policies, procedures, and practices as outlined in the Employee Manual and Friends Handbook. Contribute to the development of any of these as required. Help move the organization to one of increased accountability and zero tolerance.
• Manage the performance of Friends, including completing and conducting annual and semi-annual performance appraisals. Hold Friends accountable for high performance, adequacy of time spent with children, quality and diversity of activities with children, and administrative/reporting responsibilities.
• Participate in regular conference calls with Program Directors in the network, and otherwise communicate with personnel at the National office and other chapters about the program. Research, develop, implement, and sustain best practice programming to serve current and future needs of the organization as required.
• Be relentlessly committed to ensuring that youth and caregivers achieve their goals and our long-term outcomes.
• Actively participate as a member of the senior management team in leading the organization, participating in strategic planning, budgeting, and making, implementing, and upholding decisions or policies related to the operations of the organization.
  • Effectively lead organizational change. Establish priority partnerships and programming that are responsive to the needs and goals of our children and families. Utilize all resources that provide feedback, e.g. data collection, reports (using organizational database “ETO”), and annual caregiver and youth evaluation assessments.
• Understand and inspire others to buy into the organization’s mission, vision, values, and principles and be able to clearly articulate the organization’s function.
• Directly supervise the Program Manager, Lead Friends, and other program leadership positions to support overall leadership of the program team through regular meetings and clear communication.
• Communicate regularly and effectively with Executive Director about key aspects of the program, including status of children, performance of Friends, recommendations for improvement of the program, and potential issues with particular staff members or children.
• Lead and facilitate effective, weekly staff meetings ensuring focus on child and Friend successes, setbacks, issues, concerns, and ideas. Ensure focus on the communication of organizational information or issues to team and solicit feedback from team.
• Work with National program staff to implement initial Friends training, as well as ongoing training and other required professional development and performance improvement activities.
• Hire, supervise, inspire, develop, and evaluate efforts of Friends. Serve as role model and mentor for Friends, ensure that they have resources necessary to perform their jobs, act as team facilitator and organizational motivator, and facilitate effective communication in all directions.
  • Directly supervise the Program Manager, Lead Friends, and other program leadership positions to support overall leadership of the program team through regular meetings and clear communication.
• Know and understand the needs and issues of the families served. Meet with each Friend one-on-one each month, and review Roadmaps and Transition Plans for each child monthly. Assure that each Friend has helped to identify and develop a specific area of interest or talent for each child.
• Manage the child identification and selection process, including developing and sustaining a robust, formalized process, and training and supervising process participants.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with partner schools and/or other community partners to allow for effective program implementation and sustainability. Design and implement a process to ensure others are trained/developed to work in this capacity as well, to further strengthen our efforts to cultivate and maintain these critical relationships.
• Effectively lead organizational change. Establish priority partnerships and programming that are responsive to the needs and goals of our children and families. Utilize all resources that provide feedback, e.g. data collection, reports (using organizational database “ETO”), and annual caregiver and youth evaluation assessments.

Essential Skills and Abilities:

• Strategic planning and budgeting skills.
• Ability to work in diverse work environments and demonstrate equity and inclusion in professional settings.
• Awareness of community agencies and resources, and the ability to cultivate and sustain relationships with these resources.
• Ability to cultivate relationships with children, families, school personnel, organizational supporters, and community partners.
• Ability to solve problems, work in a team environment, manage several issues concurrently, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced constantly changing work environment.
• Ability to cultivate and sustain relationships and work effectively with a wide variety of constituencies, including staff, program children, parents, schools, organizational supporters, Board members, and community partners.
• Enthusiasm for planning and managing the growth of Friends – Utah, and commitment to developing personal skills and knowledge as appropriate to that growth.
• Strong project management skills. Proven ability to manage multiple deadlines, responsibilities, and competing priorities.
• Knowledge of child development, mental health, child welfare, and the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on health and developmental outcomes for youth. particularly those most relevant to our program youth.
• Ability to contribute program data and high-impact stories to relevant stakeholders, partners and funders.
• Ability to influence the behavior of others to achieve necessary results.
• Ability to research, analyze data, design/develop, propose, implement, and sustain programming.
• Ability to represent, effectively and professionally, the organization to a wide variety of audiences.
• Strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills; organizational and time management, delegation and follow-up skills.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, education, child development, or related field; Master’s degree highly preferred.
• Five years’ relevant experience in a director level position working for children/family issues in progressively responsible roles.
• Proficiency in Microsoft applications; familiarity with databases, office functions and data reporting
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, attention to detail and accuracy.
• Ability to influence others to action through creating a shared vision and sense of ownership and personal accountability.
• Strong, effective leadership and supervisory skills; ability to collaboratively set goals, provide direction, ensure accountability, and motivate others to achieve and overcome barriers.
• Ability to pass a full criminal background investigation and Motor Vehicle Record check.

SALARY

$75,000 - $90,000 Annually DOE

BENEFITS

• 401(k) with 3% employer match (immediately 100% vested)
• And more
• Three weeks paid vacation, two weeks paid sick leave, 12 paid holidays, and additional team earned time off
• Cell Phone Stipend
• 100% Employer paid Long Term Disability, AD&D, and Life Insurance
• 100% Employer paid medical, dental, and vision
• Employee Assistance Program for staff and their families to support in times of crisis and mental health needs.
• 8 weeks of paid parental leave (birth, adoption, foster)
• Flexible scheduling with partial remote work

PROFESSIONAL LEVEL:

Director

Location: Salt Lake City, UT

Friends of the Children is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to addressing discriminatory practices, and to working toward racial equity. The equal employment opportunity policy of Friends of the Children provides fair and equal opportunities for all employees and job applicants regardless of race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, disability, or genetic information, in compliance with applicable federal, state and local law. Friends of the Children hires and promotes individuals solely on the basis of their qualifications for the job to be filled.

Friends of the Children is growing rapidly as communities across the country are experiencing the power of how “One” changes a child's story: One Friend. One Child. 12 ½ years. No matter what. #ThePowerOfOne

To learn more about Friends of the Children go to https://friendsutah.org