Workforce Solutions Specialist

WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS SPECIALIST

About Cara Collective

Cara Collective seeks to fuel a courageous national movement to eradicate relational and financial poverty. Through our three entities Cara Cleanslate and Cara Plus we engage job seekers employers and other organizations across the country to break the cycle of poverty through the power and purpose of employment.

At present we produce 1000 jobs each year; however our results dont just end with employment. Today we take the insights gained over the past 30 years to equip other organizations and employers with practices to help build a more inclusive economy. Learn more at .

About the Cara Collective External Affairs Department

The External Affairs Department aims to advance Cara Collectives mission by amplifying our brand building strategic partnerships attracting resources and investments and driving public awareness and practice change. Through coordinated efforts across communications development and external engagement the team ensures our message resonates with stakeholders and strengthens our impact. With a commitment to storytelling relationship-building and thought leadership External Affairs connects Cara Collective to the broader community fueling growth and deepening our influence in the workforce development field.

About Cara Plus

Cara Plus is the expansion arm of Cara Collective which works with organizations around the country. Our work creates inclusive employment pathways by distilling Cara Collectives best practices and tailoring them to each organizations needs. Cara Plus does this through two distinct portfolios:

1. Workforce Development. Where we work with non-profits and workforce development programs to help them deploy sustainable pathways to self-sufficiency in their communities.
2. Inclusive Employment. Where we help employers shift their practices to improve how they recruit hire cultivate and advance untapped talent.

About the Role

The Workforce Solutions Specialist plays a critical role in strengthening the capacity of workforce practitioners and internal teams to design implement and sustain high-quality workforce programming. This position is highly collaborative and action-oriented with a primary focus on capacity-building facilitation coaching and the development of practical tools and resources that support program excellence and adaptation. Grounded in equity and community-centered practice the individual will approach this work with a growth mindset cultural humility curiosity and a commitment to strengthening systems that advance inclusive workforce outcomes.

The Workforce Solutions Specialist will lead learning experiences both in-person and virtually for workforce development practitioners and nonprofit organization leaders and staff around the nation who are looking to build a workforce development program or strengthen their existing one will provide technical assistance and gather and synthesize implementation learnings from partners and translate them into actionable recommendations with internal teams and collaborate on refining updating and strengthening our own workforce approach and practices.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate is a mission-driven workforce professional who thrives on helping community-based organizations grow stronger and more effective. They bring a thoughtful balance of structure and adaptability with the ability to translate workforce best practices into practical actionable tools that partners can easily implement as well as work directly with internal teams to integrate meaningful change.

You bring a strong track record in project management are an effective communicator and collaborative thought partner energized by facilitation coaching diagnostic and creative problem-solving alongside partners supporting scoped projects technical assistance and continuous improvement efforts. You are highly organized detailed-oriented proactive build trusting relationships with ease and are comfortable managing multiple workstreams while contributing to both team strategy and day-to-day implementation.

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience in workforce development or organizational support within community-based or affiliate network contexts
• Proven ability to facilitate and lead structured learning experiences training workshops and technical assistance for workforce practitioners and diverse stakeholders
• Ability to create new and update existing content including handbooks toolkits curricula and playbooks that are practical and aligned with equity-centered workforce strategies
• Skilled in codifying processes and translating best practices into clear replicable resources and effective strategies
• Strong project management skills including assisting with scoped initiatives managing timelines deliverables and partner coordination
• Ability to balance strategic planning with hands-on execution to successfully support pilot projects network-building efforts and systems-change initiatives

Key Responsibilities

Capacity-Building & Continuous Learning (40%)

• Facilitate workforce development training workshops and peer learning sessions for partner organizations and internal teams
• Support partners in strengthening program design service delivery and operational practices by designing content and activities that promote group learning and help attendees leave with tangible learnings they can adapt and implement at their own organizations
• Develop refine augment and amplify WFD capacity-building resources to equip partners and practitioners with tangible strategies and actions
• Document codify and curate effective workforce models and best practices that best serve partners and practitioners based on both successful interventions and insights from our best failures
• Partner with program leads to ensure alignment between codified practices and real-time operations and maintain and update a centralized knowledge resource library
• Extract tacit knowledge from staff through interviews shadowing and facilitated debrief and recommend process improvements based on documentation insights and field feedback

Scoped Projects Initiatives & Consultations (30%)

• Support the coordination and execution of scoped projects initiatives and consulting engagements including pilot workforce programs and standing up new affiliates by helping guide partners in implementing strategies and achieving defined outcomes
• Identify obstacles and delays and adjust project plans as needed to help provide targeted guidance and recommendations troubleshooting challenges and advising stakeholders on best practices to optimize project results
• Help track timelines milestones deliverables and alignment by documenting insights and communicating findings to inform decision-making and support continuous improvement

• Collect and synthesize data or results related to project outcomes prepare briefings summaries or reports for leadership or funders and document lessons learned for future project replication or improvement

• Coordinate meetings check-ins or workshops to ensure collaboration

Technical Assistance & Client Experience Success (15%)

• Provide targeted technical assistance and consultation to partners to address specific implementation needs and offer practical guidance and follow-up support tailored to partner context
• Assist partners with implementation planning and structured problem-solving and monitor implementation fidelity and flag variations gaps or operational risks

• Help lead technical assistance calls with affiliate partners to facilitate the practical adoption of Caras model to their structures and desired vision and
• Help coordinate and facilitate cross-learning efforts between Cara and our affiliates through cross-affiliate quarterly calls and annual convening

Team Strategy & Collaboration (10%)

• Participate in small team and department strategy sessions planning meetings and program activities
• Contribute ideas and insights to improve capacity-building approaches and workforce strategies
• Support cross-team collaboration to align work with organizational priorities

Data & Metrics Tracking (5%)

• Assist in preparing reports and maintaining documentation for internal and funder use

• Help collect organize and analyze key data from practitioners to fuel our learning and maintain progress towards our KPIs

Reports To

Director of National Workforce Solutions

Direct Reports

N/A

Workplace Type & Team Culture

Cara Collective has a strong team culture that values collaboration communication and camaraderie. We believe in the

power of working together in person which is why we expect our employees to be onsite at one of our Chicago-based

locations multiple days each week. For this role that means a minimum of three days in the office. This commitment to in-person collaboration fosters a sense of belonging and teamwork among our employees creating a supportive and dynamic

work environment. Regular travel within the Chicago area to meet with partners and employers is required along with

occasional out-of-town travel to conferences thought leadership opportunities or other convenings related to Inclusive

Employment work.

We consistently measure staff satisfaction through employee surveys and have found that year over year the vast majority

of staff agree that Cara Collective is a great place to work and grow. This high level of employee satisfaction reflects our

dedication to creating a positive and fulfilling workplace for all members of our team.

Starting Pay Range

We take budget and starting salary very seriously. We market our roles and are using a salary analysis tool called Payscale

and offer competitive market-based compensation to all employees.

This positions expected starting pay range is $52000 - $57000 annually.

Benefits

Cara Collective is proud to offer a comprehensive competitive benefit package with options designed to help you make the best decision for yourself your family and your lifestyle. Available benefits are based on eligibility. Our Total Rewards

package includes a variety of medical and dental plans vision coverage disability and life insurance 401(k)

• Medical Dental Vision Plans
• Basic Life Insurance
• Long Term Disability
• Personal Technology Reimbursement
• Starting with 17 Vacation Days 8 Sick Days 14 Paid Holidays

Employee Paid Benefits

• Pre-Tax Medical Flexible Spending Account
• Pre-Tax Dependent Care Account
• Pre-Tax Transit & Parking Options
• Supplemental Life and AD&D Insurance
• Short-Term Disability Insurance
• 401(k) Retirement Plan (employer match up to 4% upon hire & immediately vested)

As of this posting we annually review our benefit offerings to meet our employees needs and be competitive in the market. All listed benefits offerings at the discretion of the employer.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Cara Collective is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

Cara Collective does not discriminate on the basis of race color national origin sex gender identity religion sexual

orientation age disability parental status veteran status or any other protected status under applicable laws. We

encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply. If you are a qualified candidate with a disability please email us at

if you require reasonable accommodation to complete this application