POSITION: Employment Immersion Trainer
REPORTS TO: Employment Immersion Manager
STATUS: Exempt
JOB PURPOSE:
LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired is looking for a professional, engaging and student-oriented Employment Immersion Trainer to join the LightHouse team as we embark on a fresh journey in our new building in the heart of downtown San Francisco. With 90 employees and an annual budget of $12.5 million, the LightHouse has the resources and imagination to help change the lives of the blind and low vision population of the greater Bay Area and beyond. One of San Francisco’s oldest and best-known philanthropies, we now have expanded into our brand-new, state-of-the-art headquarters on Market Street, where we coordinate volunteers, big tech, teachers, families, students and a caring staff together to design and build new ways to help people with visual impairments.
The primary purpose of this position is to ensure that blind and visually-impaired students are provided practical, accessible and required training and support for their job search and application process. The Employment Immersion Trainer will work closely with the EI Job Developer to ensure that timely encouragement and support is given to participants during formal class sessions and the subsequent job search phase.
The Employment Immersion Trainer will coordinate and teach standard aspects of career exploration, job search, interviewing, networking and job-carving. This position will develop and maintain a system to keep every class participant accountable for specific actions throughout their enrollment in the program.
Importantly, however, our Employment Immersion program understands that successful blind jobseekers need to learn something far more profound than résumé writing and practice interviews. We believe that many of the barriers to employment come from the blind applicant’s lack of self-confidence and often lack of self-respect. The successful trainer will know how to teach and communicate a sense of blind history, empowerment, and will work to ensure that jobseekers meet, engage and connect with blind people already doing the kinds of work the jobseeker aspires to gain. Consequently the trainer’s role will be often as a catalyst to connect mentors, to use video and literature and social media to empower jobseekers with a practical view of the employment possibilities ahead of them.
Additionally, many jobseekers may be blind but still uncomfortable with their disability. The trainer’s job will be in part to connect these students to Lighthouse services and other activities which will strengthen their understanding of the normality of blindness and their right to participate fully in the world of work.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Education or equivalent: Bachelor degree or equivalent and relevant work experience
Experience: Experience working with disabled community highly preferred. Experience with delivery of program content to diverse audiences
Other: Superior communication and interpersonal skills are essential. Must be a skilled computer user, particularly with Microsoft Suite programs including Outlook, Word and Excel.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
Able to sit at a desk and perform computer-intensive work for long periods of time; operate standard office equipment; move 20lbs independently.
ACCOUNTABILITIES:
- Collaborate with Senior Director Programs and Employment Immersion Manager to create Job Preparation components and curriculum
- Establish and foster relationships with Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) staff to influence Client referrals to program
- Meet with DOR Counselors regarding Individual Plans for Employment/Goals for students and determine appropriate training
- Conduct Vocational Assessments in collaboration with appropriate LightHouse Departments
- Conduct Workshops
- Deliver curriculum based on Job Preparation track
- Integrate curriculum into session agendas
- Recruit and arrange guest speaker participation
- Collaborate with Employment immersion Coordinator in the execution of job seeker resumes, on-line applications, etc. when indicated
- Collaborate with Employment Immersion Coordinator to ensure authorizations, workshop attendance, consolidated placements, assignment tracking and grant tracking are current
- Triad with EI Job Developer and student prior to conclusion of Job Preparation to prepare for launch into Job Development
- Plan and implement regular EI Alumni events in collaboration with EI Manager, EI Job Developer and EI Coordinator
- Ensure integrity of EI Library. Select and categorize new materials
- Compose timely Progress Reports
- Support students with Personal-Vocational-Social-Adjustment (PVSA) and Job Retention activities when requested (May be shared responsibilities with EI Manager and Job Developer depending on calendar availability)
WORKING CONDITIONS:
LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired is an equal opportunity employer to all. We strive to maintain a scent-free environment and a drug-free workplace. We also operate under a mutual “employment at will” policy.
TO APPLY:
Please submit a cover letter and résumé as Word attachments (no .PDFs please), to hr@lighthouse-sf.org, including the job title in the subject line. We will not consider videos or hyperlinks to online profiles. Due to time constraints we will only respond to complete submissions in which there is serious interest; thanks for your understanding.
