Learning & Development Specialist

Position Responsibilities

The Learning & Development Specialist is a member of the Coaching & Training team, which designs and delivers the Forum’s learning assets to our clients in the youth development field. Our training workshops and coaching systems provide youth development professionals the knowledge, skills, and competencies needed to implement quality practices in programs that serve young people, and the tools to implement continuous quality improvement processes in their corner of the ecosystems that support youth. The Learning & Development Specialist will be responsible for maintenance and revision of our learning assets for managers, site leaders, and coaches. The Specialist will also, in coordination with a team of staff, be responsible for independently forging productive coaching relationships, developing and delivering training workshops, and providing technical assistance to a set of Michigan 21st Century grantees to support their successful engagement with the Youth Program Quality Improvement process.

Training Delivery to Promote Positive Youth Development & Management Practices: Deliver training and technical assistance in support of the Forum for Youth Investment’s Weikart Center’s continuous quality improvement, including workshops on program self-assessment, data-based goal setting, and instructional and management practices.

Coaching & Technical Assistance to Support Youth Program Quality Improvement: Develop strong working relationships with leadership teams to surface organizational strengths and weaknesses, develop performance and improvement goals, and scaffold behaviors necessary for successful action. Coaching may include support for leaders in multiple types of roles, ranging from system leaders, site leaders, and program staff.

Field Collaboration and Thought Partnership: Coordinate project plans, contracts, deliverables, and communication with youth serving systems and organizations, and other stakeholders to support the development of sustainable continuous quality improvement systems and to maximize the impact of the consulting/coaching relationship, customize quality improvement plans for the local contexts, and assure the fit of training and technical assistance services.

Maintenance of Existing and Development of New Learning Assets: Create and maintain training content and learning assets for delivery to internal and external stakeholders, including but not limited to professional learning communities, formal and informal training workshops, conference presentations, and resource documents.

Contributes to unit and organization-wide priorities and special projects as appropriate, assuming responsibility for other projects and new assignments related to the scope of this role.

This is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, skills, efforts, or requirements or working conditions associated with the job. While intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise the job or to require different tasks. This description does not constitute a contract of employment and The Forum may exercise its employment-at-will rights at any time .

Qualifications

Five or more years of experience leading youth programs, facilitating trainings, coaching, and/or supporting continuous improvement efforts. A degree in youth development, social work, education, or related fields is required.

Preference for candidates who are endorsed as trainers of Weikart Center workshops (e.g. graduates of Youth Work Methods TOT and Youth Work Management TOT); and who have experience as external program quality assessors.

In addition, the successful candidate will have:

• A strong track record of delivering training and technical assistance to youth workers, OST program managers, teachers, and/or related human service audiences in virtual and/or in-person settings
• Direct experience with out-of-school-time (OST) professionals, particularly 21st CCLC programs
• Knowledge of the Weikart Center’s Youth Program Quality Assessment, Youth Program
• Quality Intervention, social and emotional learning resources, and/or low-stakes quality improvement policies and systems.
• Strong knowledge of adult learning theory and program assessment strategies
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office 365
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to effectively present complex information to diverse audiences
• Strong project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and meet deadlines
• Collaborative mindset with the ability to balance working independently within a team-based environment

Working Location

The Learning & Development Specialist is a remote position that must be based in Michigan and is part of a fully remote team. Occasional travel is expected for in-person team meetings and client or field meetings (estimated 20% time).