Role Overview

The primary mission of the Program Support Specialist (PSS) is to provide as-needed coverage for full-time Program Success Managers or Job Success Specialists.

Program Support Specialist tasks can run the gamut across the entire end-to-end program experience. These responsibilities include providing career coaching, facilitating professional skill development workshops, leading cohort-wide and small-group programming, sourcing jobs for learners, reviewing resumes, and providing 1:1 interview prep, to name a few. Please note that hours may vary week to week in this role due to fluctuating coverage needs; it is an ideal fit for those seeking flexible remote work to make a meaningful direct impact on the lives of underserved members of our country and to help build a fast-growing nonprofit startup.

The PSS will report directly to the Manager, Communications & Operations and works primarily with the program team at Merit America.

What You'll be Doing:

As program needs vary weekly, the Program Support Specialist will shift focus based on cohort and Pod needs. The responsibilities of the Program Support Specialist will include, but are not limited to, the following

Learner Coaching:

• Meet with assigned learners to provide personalized support: understand their post-program job and career goals, stay on track in their learning program, and graduate job-ready
• Review learner assignments (resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile) and provide coaching and feedback
• Facilitate peer learning through small groups (squads) to develop and hone professional skills aligned with the field
• Monitor learners’ progress in online courses through an online portal and proactively reach out to offer support when learners are struggling
• Maintain comprehensive knowledge of available community resources and refer learners to appropriate resources

Job Search Support:

• Source, share, and promote quality entry-level jobs across IT Support, Java Development, and Data Analytics fields
• Identify and share job seeker support resources and tools including sourcing local and national events that help job seekers enhance their skills, networks, and job prospects
• Manage cross-functional requests and organize systems to keep track of job-seekers in various interview processes and stages

Program Management:

• Build a positive and supportive cohort culture through communications via Slack, e-mail, and live interactions, cultivating learners' social capital building
• Continually improve the program and learner experience by documenting insights and observations

What Makes a Successful Candidate:

We know that women and people of color are often less likely to apply to a position if they don’t match 100% of the job qualifications. Don’t let that be the reason you miss out on this opportunity! We encourage you to apply if you can demonstrate many of these skills and competencies. Below are the skills that are relevant for thriving in this role:

Must haves:

• Strong knowledge of professional skills such as resume & cover letter writing, interviewing, communicating professionally, etc., including interest and previous experience with career coaching, tutoring, education, counseling, youth development, non-profits, or other mission-driven work
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• A growth mindset
• Able to provide personalized support to meet individual learner needs
• Desire to work directly with underserved populations; outstanding ability to understand and empathize with people of diverse backgrounds
• Able to step up and run autonomously in ambiguous, quickly changing environments
• Exceptional operational and organizational skills, and the ability to manage your schedule and balance multiple demands

Nice to haves:

• Experience with Salesforce or other CRM platforms
• Proficient with Google workspace (Google sheets, docs, etc)
• Commitment to lifelong learning and ongoing personal and professional development
• Able to work collectively and independently while delivering pertinent feedback to colleagues and direct manager
• Prior experience in workforce development, edTech, or equivalent training programs
• Able to communicate effectively with peers and direct managers to improve processes and procedures.

Other Logistics:

• This position is part-time, assignment-based (PRN)
• Location: Remote
• Salary : $30/hr
• Schedule: Program Support Specialists maintain as-needed, flexible schedules to provide as-needed coverage for our coaching team that include some time during the traditional workday and possibly a few evenings to accommodate learner schedules.

Our goal is to have competitive and equitable compensation. We have a market-based compensation approach which means that we benchmark each role from reputable data sources. We compare our benchmarks against similarly sized non-profit organizations with comparable annual budgets and geographical areas. We pay the same rate for the same roles and adjust to comply with statutory mandates.