Financial Empowerment Center Program Manager, City of Philadelphia

Posted by on January 07, 2013

Job Description:  Financial Empowerment Center Program Manager
City of Philadelphia

Philadelphia’s Financial Empowerment Center Initiative (Initiative) is a new effort being launched by the City of Philadelphia in partnership with Clarifi, previously known as Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Delaware Valley.  The Initiative aims to improve the financial stability of Philadelphia’s households by providing high-quality, one-on-one financial education and counseling to low-income residents.

The program will support low-income individuals and families, focused particularly on areas with high concentrations of poverty, low educational attainment, new immigrants, new entrants to the workforce, and the working poor.  In addition to providing support with banking services to establish checking and savings accounts or transition to more affordable accounts, the program will provide support in establishing or improving credit as well as decreasing debt.  The Centers will also work with housing counselors, job placement organizations, legal aid, and many other social service organizations to help use these financial empowerment services as a key tool in the effort to build a pathway out of poverty for families in need in Philadelphia.

The initiative will operate two hub centers open five days a week, and four part-time satellite offices located in high need areas throughout the city.  Clarifi staff will provide the counseling, and day-to-day management of the Centers.  The City of Philadelphia is responsible for the overall management of the project, the delivery of outcomes and evaluation of the program, the management of consultants, and communication to the funder.

The Program Manager position will initially report to the Deputy Policy Director within the Mayor’s Office.

Responsibilities
Duties shall include, but are not limited to:
•    Manage the operations of the Initiative including programmatic design, implementation, partnership building, evaluation, reporting to funders, and serving as the main point of contact for Center providers, city leadership and funders.
•    Oversee Initiative’s implementation of client management and database system; ensure that data collected within the client management and database system is complete and accurate;
•    Work with Center providers to problem-solve operational issues, including programmatic integration with host sites and referral relationships with City agencies;
•    Develop the content, timeline and work plans for programs and initiatives that wrap-around the Centers.
•    Ensure that all Initiative employees, including Clarifi staff and referral partners are properly trained on the Financial Empowerment Center model;
•    Ensure that Centers are compliant with program protocols, outcomes and other requirements; Manage evaluation consultants;
•    Work with Center providers, referral partners and City agencies to design and implement data sharing partnerships, and to track and evaluate comparison groups;
•    Coordinate site visits and other evaluator efforts with funders;
•    Support the marketing, outreach and strategic referrals of clients to the Centers; Coordinate City’s efforts to raise the visibility of financial empowerment;
•    Collect, aggregate, and prepare programming reports for funders;
•    Participate in regular calls and semi-annual reviews with funders;
•    Lead the development and implementation of a sustainability plan;
•    Other duties as assigned.

Qualification Requirements
•    A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and two years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties described above;
•    Masters degree and two years’ experience in managing the operations of projects preferred;
•    Must be able to commit to the position for the duration of the initial 3-year launch period.

Essential Skills
•    Dynamic, committed individual with strong interpersonal skills and a passion for supporting people with low incomes as they build greater financial stability;
•    Experience in financial education, asset building, or community development preferred;
•    Strong skills in: strategic planning, program development, negotiations, and written communications;
•    Strategic thinking: thoughtful, thorough, and detailed follow through;
•    Experience in systems development and tracking preferred;
•    Experience in managing the design and implementation of large-scale project and/or systemic initiatives, as well as launching pilot programs, and experience in performance management and evaluation;
•    Comfortable with taking initiative; effective collaborative worker; able to retain focus while multi-tasking;
•    Ability to function effectively within protocols and challenges of operating within a high-profile city program;
•    Attention to detail and production of quality work, along with ability to work quickly and under pressure;
•    Must be able to employ flexibility and creativity in the face of ambiguity and challenge; take ownership and drive activities to completion; convene and motivate teams and diverse organizations;
•    Experience with large datasets and data management preferred.

Salary commensurate with experience.  Excellent benefits package.  Employees must become residents of the City within 6 months of hire.

Interested applicants can send a cover letter and resume in one Word document to Mary Horstmann at mary.horstmann@phila.gov by January 31, 2013.