Employer Partnership Manager

Employer Partnerships Manager (EPM)

The Employer Partnerships Manager will work closely with the Director of Program Operations to scale and enhance the work-based learning programs by ensuring that we can provide quality employment opportunities for the growing number of interns and apprentices. The Employer Partnerships Manager will help grow, diversify, and sustain employer engagement by actively recruiting and developing partnerships with private sector, public sector, and nonprofit employers to cultivate youth-centered career pathways for the Birmingham Promise Work-Based Learning Program. The EPM will be charged with continuously engaging existing large & mid-sized corporations, as well as small businesses that drive economic activity and growth in the Birmingham Metropolitan area.

To execute on the objectives and responsibilities of this role, the EPM must possess excellent interpersonal and communication skills and a demonstrated capacity to liaise with diverse groups of stakeholders to recruit and retain employers. We are looking for an individual with a commitment to ensuring that the young talent that exists in Birmingham is connected to opportunity and the will to remove all the barriers preventing that connection.

POSITION DETAILS

The core responsibilities of the position are outlined below:

Develop new and retain current employer partnerships: The EPM will be responsible for actively recruiting new employer partners and retaining existing partners. This position is responsible for representing the Birmingham Promise Work-Based Learning Programs to a variety of external stakeholders including, but not limited to private & non-profit sector businesses, human resource/talent leaders, business alliances, and professional organizations by ensuring the program is responsive to the needs and feedback of each of these entities and developing strategies for growing employee engagement and communications. This position will work to identify additional local employers who are in at least one of the four sectors of focus: (1) business and finance, (2) information technology, (3) healthcare and life sciences, or (4) energy and engineering.

Specific responsibilities will include:

● Assess new business prospects and evaluate for multiple opportunities within Birmingham Promise. When opportunities align with development and fundraising, connecting prospects with Development Director, and when opportunities align with apprenticeship, connecting the prospect with the Apprenticeship Program Manager.

● Identify new business prospects, present Work-Based Learning Programs, negotiate agreement terms, secure signed agreements, and maintain corporate partner relationships throughout the term with the goal of renewing the agreements. The position will understand customer relations and provide insight to achieve goals and maximize employment pathways.

● Develop new and maintain current employer relationships; work actively to promote recruitment of employer partners for career and experiential learning opportunities through direct contact with prospective employers. Develop business retention strategies to retain employers as partners for the program.

● Develop a variety of strategies to engage companies: individual visits, leveraging other partners, digital surveys, hosting employer roundtables. Create and employ processes for employer outreach and sustaining employer relationships including but not limited to, cold calling, professional association membership, direct mail, referrals, and cross-industry marketing to increase employer interest and participation.

● Facilitate and attend virtual and in-person networking events to engage potential clients to educate them about Birmingham Promise Work-Based Learning. Engage in employer outreach through presentations, meetings, associations, industry organizations and collaboration with stakeholders in the promotion of the retention and program expansion.

● Monitor the quality of employer engagement, including the collection and analysis of survey data and assessment of and follow-up with informal feedback. Make recommendations as to how the work-based learning program can maintain and improve quality employer engagement. Manage processes for tracking and reporting employment statistics, including employer, industry, employer location, level of position within the organization, and other relevant statistical information.

Manage business relations and provide employer support: This position is responsible for retaining and expanding the pool of employer partners that host work-based learning students. This will include providing robust support to the 80+ employers who have already partnered with Birmingham Promise The position will establish and maintain contacts with business organizations and associations throughout Birmingham Metropolitan area and elsewhere as appropriate.

Specific responsibilities will include:

● Develop and coordinate employer onboarding processes, such as employer interviews, orientation sessions, mentoring/supervisor training, and coordinating employer-specific onboarding requirements (background checks, drug tests, etc.)

● Establish and maintain excellent collaborative working relationships with local businesses & hiring managers. Provide an excellent standard of care in serving as the initial point of contact for participating employer partners that have questions or concerns related to the program and- where appropriate- referring employers to the correct resource (e.g., payroll coordinator, high school counselor, parent)

● Launch Employer Communities of Practice and facilitate guided discussion for employers to learn from the experiences of one another.

● Regular employer engagement reporting to the Director of Program Operations. Facilitate regular business relation meetings, quarterly partners meetings, and internal meetings as required.

Knowledge and Skills Required:

● Exceptional project and program management skills

● Experience with or knowledge of economic mobility initiatives highly preferred

● Ability to support ongoing strategic planning efforts

● Knowledge of and ability to conduct program evaluation and monitoring

● Knowledge of work-based learning, internships, apprenticeships, or other forms of youth engagement highly preferred

● Knowledge of Birmingham City Schools or similar demographic school districts preferred

● Deep experience practicing stakeholder engagement

● Ability to understand and monitor local labor market data and employment trends

● Ability to support and/or lead continuous program evaluation utilizing quantitative and qualitative data points

● Experience with and strong understanding of Salesforce for data management and analysis.

Requisite Abilities:

You are a good fit for this position if you:

● Enjoy creative problem solving

● Enjoy collaborating with a diverse set of stakeholders who represent different segments of our community and economy

● Are a self-starter

● Are a proactive thinker

● Enjoy high autonomy requiring minimal supervision

● Exhibit the spirit of cooperation & teamwork

● Have excellent communication skills (written and oral)

● Enjoy working in fast-paced, mission-driven, team and people-centric culture

● Excel when given a variety of sources of information

● Thrive when navigating ambiguity or complexity towards an overarching goal or mission

● Thrive when given the opportunity to create and imagine

● Have an embedded curiosity to understand and implement best-practices from other cities

● Love engaging with people of a variety of backgrounds

Required Experience:

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Marketing, Education or related field
• 2-4 years of experience in project management, with a focus on employer engagement and business retention
• Successful experience in a field related to economic development, employer relations, retention/expansion, management consulting, business development, youth workforce development, data analysis and external stakeholder engagement.
• Experience with creating and understanding youth focused economic opportunity work, project management, data management and metric monitoring.

Salary Range: $55,000-$70,000

EEO Statement:

Birmingham Promise provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Birmingham Promise complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training. Birmingham Promise expressly prohibits any form of workplace harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status.