POSITION:       Employer Relations Specialist

REPORTS TO:   Director, Employment Services

The LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, headquartered in downtown San Francisco, is looking for a full-time Employer Relations Specialist to fill a valued role in our growing organization.

Role Overview: This role is devoted to substantially increase the hiring of LightHouse’s blind and visually impaired jobseekers. This person will augment the historic rate of hiring by systematic relationship-building and employer outreach. The position’s success will be measured by the number and quality of employment outcomes obtained through vigorous outreach to key decision-makers in the California Competitive job market.

Qualifications:

• A passion to represent the blind and visually impaired community in a positive and competent manner
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in business development or social services
• Strong knowledge of Human Resources and Recruitment processes
• High customer service and relationship orientation and strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Proven ability to build lasting relationships with candidates and hiring managers
• Energetic, self-motivated, self-starter
• Experience working independently or with a team
• Have exceptional planning and organization skills, ability to manage multiple assignments simultaneously
• Ability to manage confidential information per LightHouse policies
• Intermediate computer software skills
• Bachelor’s degree preferred
• Experience working in the disabled community a plus

Job Responsibilities:

Employer Relations:

Introduce LightHouse Employment Services Program to corporations by systematically contacting Human Resources departments, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion staff, Executive level and hiring managers and educate them on the benefit of hiring, promoting and retaining blind and visually impaired individuals.

• Create a comprehensive list and pipeline of targeted employer key hiring contacts based on future job market hiring trends and job market influencers
• Set up a contact management system to ensure that such key influencers are regularly touched in person, electronically and by LightHouse communications
• Identify and regularly meet with high-level hiring managers and C-suite executives with the power to make agreements and form relationships
• Liaise with Human Resource professionals to expand their awareness and knowledge of the blind and visually impaired community and track subsequent hires
• Promote LightHouse Services as expert Consulting resource, emphasizing the development of Job Retention Plans for employers.
• Present to high-level corporate Diversity and Inclusion trainings and guide discussions to practical increases in hiring of blind job candidates in numbers
• Promote LightHouse consulting services to support the formation of in-house training and programs to increase corporate awareness and knowledge of how blind people can perform diverse jobs
• Introduce LightHouse Job Retention services to employers to support the retention of existing employees experiencing performance issues due to changing vision
• At the direction of supervisor, attend selected corporate or community service provider conferences representing LightHouse Employment Programs
• Other duties relevant to department goals as assigned

Recruitment/Student Placement:

Substantially increase the number of LightHouse job seeker placements in the competitive job market.

• Collaborate with Employment Specialist to identify selected students to market to targeted employers
• Develop a database of key decision makers in targeted employers Human Resource staff and meet with them, developing a direct conduit for candidate referral/consideration
• Identify existing and new job opportunities within targeted companies compatible with student job seekers goals to augment Employment Specialists’ efforts
• Work with employers to source a broad range of job opportunities including full, part time and contract positions, internships and apprenticeships
• Promote “job carving” and “on the Job Training” opportunities with Human Resources staff and Hiring Managers
• Collaborate with Youth Employment Services department to identify short term work experience opportunities
• Participate in occasional Virtual Training Program presentations at the direction of supervisor while not interfering with the principal employer-facing nature of this position
• Implement new LightHouse Open House Job Fairs
• Support employer-facing campaigns by collaborating with Communications Department
• Identify key decision-makers in targeted employers Human Resource staff to serve as direct conduit for candidate referral/consideration
• Other duties relevant to department goals as assigned

Who We Are:

LightHouse has an audacious mission – to transform the lives of the 40,000 blind people in the greater Bay Area and beyond. We do this through tech design, disability advocacy, consultation, classes and community formation in San Francisco, our four satellite offices and Enchanted Hills Camp in Napa. We are a fun, fascinating, widely diverse, warm and friendly community. We work in downtown San Francisco in a 40,000 square foot state-of-the-art workspace renowned for its universal design, steps from Civic Center BART. LightHouse is working for nothing less than to change the future for blind people and the wider community.

Within a five-minute walk are the world headquarters for Twitter, Uber, Dolby, Zendesk and many other tech giants. Within three blocks are all of the principal building for Northern California’s federal, state and local government. Also in our neighborhood are many theaters, San Francisco Symphony and Opera, the Asian Art Museum and dozens of other key cultural anchors of the entire Bay Area.

The successful candidate will join a unique organization in which blind and sighted professionals work together at every level. Our governing Board of Directors, management and staff are all composed of roughly equal numbers of blind and sighted people, a parity unprecedented in our field.

Founded in 1902, LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired provides skills, resources and community for the advancement of all individuals who are blind or have low vision. Our innovative programs have been featured in 60 Minutes, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal and beyond. The blind community comes to LightHouse to learn how to travel independently with a white cane, to rejoin the workforce, use accessible technology, and meet a community of mentors and peers. From unique tactile maps, to an unparalleled camp for blind campers, to a world prize for blind ambition, LightHouse offers programs unavailable elsewhere

Learn About Us:

LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired
1155 Market Street, 10th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94103
www.lighthouse-sf.org

Employee Benefits:

The LightHouse offers a rich package of benefits, including medical, vision and dental insurance. Employees are eligible for an employer-matched 401(k) plan and subsidized health club membership, among many other perks.

Compensation:

Depending On Experience; industry competitive.

How to Apply:

Please submit a cover letter and résumé in word processing document attachments (no PDFs please) and employment application (downloads in a Word document) to hr@lighthouse-sf.org, including the job title in the subject line. including the job title in the subject line. To fill out the application, please enable editing in the document.