Employment Specialist

Are you ready to help clients break the spirit of poverty through the dignity of work?
As an Employment Specialist that's just what you'll do.
 As a Employment Specialist, you will empower job seekers to build skills, overcome barriers, and secure meaningful employment. In this role, you’ll guide participants through workforce development, employment training, job placement, and ongoing support in alignment with BFET (Basic Food Employment & Training) program requirements. You’ll also collaborate with the Work$® team to recruit, screen, and enroll candidates, while helping students identify their strengths and successfully complete classroom instruction. Through personalized case management, career navigation, and job readiness coaching, you’ll prepare participants for the job market and connect them with real opportunities. This role is ideal for someone who thrives on building relationships, motivating others, and creating clear pathways to employment success. If you’re resourceful, organized, and passionate about helping people achieve their goals, this is a chance to make a lasting difference in both individual lives and the community.

This position is full time and will be hybrid (some work in-person, some work remote). The candidate must live in or near King County to be able to perform duties in the King County regions, as needed.

Career Path Services values the power of experience and perspective, and endeavors to build upon this vital strength. We are passionate about building and sustaining a working environment of belonging for all of our staff and customers. We believe every member on our team enriches our culture by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design, and deliver solutions. We are committed to attracting, recruiting, retaining and advancing an engaged team that is responsive to the needs of our diverse clients.

ABOUT THE JOB
 

The major responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to:

• Initial Engagement: Reach and invite customers to apply for services at quantities and qualities that lead to exceeding enrollment goals and produces program outcomes. Conduct employer and participant outreach and recruitment, orientation and eligibility determination, initial assessment, and service plan development.
• Service Components for Individualized Career and Training Services: Use allowed activities to build a Customer Service Plan that prepare participants for unsubsidized employment at a family supporting wage. Responsible for supervising a caseload of participants by providing comprehensive caseload management and documenting services. and managing an individual practitioner budget. Provides the following services:
• Case Management: Provide intensive support and coaching to participants who need more long-term support to succeed (i.e., job club, one-on-one coaching, follow-up, etc.) including resume preparation, application completion, interview preparations, dress code, professionalism and appearance. 
• Program Completion and Transition Strategies: Ensure appropriate timelines and lengths of participation, help the participants achieve their customer service plan to allow for an orderly exit of participants from services, and manage caseload sizes. Tasks include job placement, transition and contingency planning, and follow-up services. Follow up services include serving the program alumni with a limited service such as career and wage progression, mediating employer/employee disputes, upon request, and developing additional resources to ensure long-term attachment or reattachment.
• Performance and Continuous Improvement Strategies: Understand the program performance measures and customizes retention services to ensure a good return on investment. Utilize customer satisfaction surveys to gather customer feedback throughout participation and at program completion to evaluate the quality of services.
• Employer Services: Engage employers by building relationships and connecting them to the talent they need. Learn business needs and hiring process through initial assessment, provide labor market information. Promote job fairs and hiring events.
• Meet individual and team goals: conduct timely, accurate and complete data input for registrations and enrollments, status changes, exits/terminations and post exit MIS in the division’s operating system. Maintains client files, per contractual requirements.
• Program Development: Develop, expand, and maintain working relationships with partners, employers, and fund sources that achieve desired outcomes by identifying needs, developing solutions, establishing goals, and executing plans. Timely, consistent, and professional communication is essential to the success of the program.

CORE COMPETENCIES
We look for individuals who exhibit our organizational core competencies and who have the knowledge of, or ability to learn the key technical competencies and skills for this job.

Technical Competencies and Skills

• Ability to develop excellent customer relationships as well as assess needs, meet standards for service and evaluate customer satisfaction.
• Career Coaching including motivational interviewing.
• Exceptional communication and writing skills.
• Ability to adapt to business needs and work well under pressure.
• Ability to organize individual work tasks and outcomes and meet deadlines.
• Effective problem-solving and conflict resolution skills.

General Competencies

• Business and Economic Development Intelligence: fosters inter-agency relationships and understands the role of workforce development in economic development.
• Career Development Principles: identifies and develops the information and training plans individuals need, including assessment, career exploration, and skill development, in order to make realistic career decisions and address employer and job-seeker needs; makes appropriate referrals.
• Diversity in Workforce Development: adapts materials and services to address diverse needs of customers; creates an environment that enables all individuals to contribute to their fullest potential; and understands the special employment needs of diverse groups.
• Labor Market Information and Intelligence: accesses, analyzes, and uses local, state, and national labor market information delivery systems and databases to support employers, job seekers, and staff to develop opportunities.
• Program Implementation Principles & Strategies: applies principles of caseload management to successfully work with large numbers of people.
• Workforce Development Structure, Policies, and Programs: demonstrates knowledge of federal, state, and local workforce development programs, funding guidelines, and workforce development codes; delivers appropriate services; and understands how their own work impacts the system's goals.

Organizational Core Values

• Integrity: Stay true to our mission, purpose, and vision; act in harmony with our beliefs and values; gain trust while respecting boundaries; keep commitments, hold ourselves and others accountable. 
• Courage: Take smart risks and challenge status quo; challenge actions inconsistent with organization’s values; speak up, even when uncomfortable; perform heroic actions advocating for those the organization serves. 
• Generosity: Extend hospitality, appreciation, and have dedication to serve others; seek what is best for the organization rather than self; act humbly; treat everyone with kindness and dignity. 
• Visionary: Embrace an entrepreneurial spirit; pioneer new ideas and demonstrate curiosity; embrace failure to break boundaries and learn rapidly; be willing to do things differently; adapt and stay nimble by finding time to simplify.
• Leadership: Humbly guide and lead others to make a positive difference; contribute to the larger good; share knowledge; commit self and others to professional growth; be a life-long learner; engage in open, honest communication. 
• Excellence: Perform with integrity to ensure accurate and competent results with a positive impact; extend beyond minimum expectations; consider other points of view; think critically and problem solve by identifying root causes; show unity through teamwork.

EXPERIENCE/POSITION REQUIREMENTS

Required

• High School Diploma or GED
• Minimum one-year of experience working with workforce development, social services, job placement, job development, sales, job coaching, employment and training, or related field.
• Requires advanced level use of: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook; LinkedIn, and other business-related networking applications, as appropriate.
• Must be able to work in a culturally diverse and fast-paced environment and demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity and cultural competency.
• Daily availability of personal vehicle or alternate method of transportation sufficient to meet the daily transportation requirements of the position is a condition of employment. Copies of driver's license and auto liability insurance coverage is required for personnel file at time of hire and annually thereafter.

Preferred

• A Bachelor's Degree in:  Business Administration, Human Resources, Social Work, Communication, Workforce Development, Psychology, Sociology or relevant industry.  Appropriate work experience may be substituted for the education requirement
• Experience working in or providing resources surrounding the banking and/or healthcare industries.
• Certified Workforce Development Professional (CWDP).
• Demonstrated success working in a performance based system.
• Demonstrated success working with people from a variety of backgrounds which may include disabilities, criminal history, homeless, family violence, poverty etc.
• Experience in public speaking and presentations to a diverse community.
• Experience working in the banking industry.  

BENEFITS

In the spirit of generosity for our employees, we have developed a leading benefit package to attract employees, take care of them while working for us, and to ensure they can in turn take care of their families:

• Leading health care package, including medical with both F.S.A. and H.S.A. options, dental, and vision
• Basic Life and AD&D Insurance, Short Term Disability, and Long Term Disability Insurance
• Voluntary/supplemental group term life insurance, group AD&D insurance, hospital indemnity coverage, accident coverage, critical illness coverage, legal coverage, and identity theft coverage
• 403(b) Retirement Plan with a leading employer discretionary contribution
• Paid Vacation (accrue 12 hours/month), Sick (accrue 8 hours/month), Bereavement (1 week), Jury Duty and Military Leave
• 13 Paid Holidays, including Floating Holiday and Birthday Holiday
• Cell Phone Reimbursement Allowance and Personal Development Reimbursement Allowances
• Tuition Reimbursement program and a qualified employer for the Federal Loan Forgiveness Program

ABOUT CAREER PATH SERVICES

Career Path Services is a workforce development and employment training 501(c)3 nonprofit headquartered in Spokane, WA.  As an organization, we pride ourselves in being a part of our community and truly enriching the community we work in. We value our diverse team-based environments while recognizing the creativity and initiative of individuals. Career Path Services is committed to honoring our employees' service to our mission and values by providing continuous training and development opportunities. We have been honored to be named a top 50 Best Nonprofits to Work For by the Nonprofit Times seven years in a row, and are more than proud of our employees who make this happen. Our amazing employees make us a great place to work because of their high character and competence. 

Career Path Services is an equal opportunity employer. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to persons of disability. TTY relay 1-800-833-6388. Career Path Services receives support and funding from federal grants. Read more about federal grant funding at www.careerpathservices.org/federalfunding.  

 Empowering All People. Enhancing an Equitable Workforce. Enriching Diverse Communities.

Job: BFET Employment Specialist
Primary Location: King County, WA (hybrid)
Salary: Range for job offers for new hires: $53,000-59,000. Full Salary Range for lifetime of the position is $53,000-78,000 annually.
Recruitment Closing Date: TBD - The hiring authority reserves the right to make hiring decisions and/or close this posting at any time. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply early.