Be a part of the change!
Join a team of committed, results-oriented, and successful professionals who work to support and advance United Way of Southern Maine’s (UWSM’s) mission to improve people’s lives by mobilizing the caring power of our community.
Position Title: Business Liaison, Greater Portland Workforce Initiative
Division: Community Impact
Reports to: Senior Project Manager, Greater Portland Workforce Initiative
Date: November, 2023
Pay: $52,500
GENERAL SUMMARY:
Working closely with the Senior Project Manager, Greater Portland Workforce Initiative, the Business Liaison supports and advances United Way of Southern Maine’s (UWSM’s) mission by identifying, developing, and maintaining high-quality relationships with organizations and individuals. The Business Liaison position is a grant-funded position that will lead a pilot project supporting efforts in Southern Maine to improve employment outcomes for recent immigrants and foreign-trained professionals. The project will develop a system for employers to become better equipped and more confident in hiring, promoting, and retaining more immigrants and refugees, including appropriate placement or pathways for foreign-trained individuals to mitigate “brain waste,” i.e., employment that disregards their previous training and expertise.
The Greater Portland Workforce Initiative (GPWI) is a collective impact initiative of 21 partners in our community, including representatives from education and training providers, funders, federal, state, and local government, non-profit organizations, community/economic development organizations, and businesses. GPWI’s work is centered around systems change — working differently, together. When the expertise, programming, and influence of the partners are combined, the results are far more effective than they are individually.
GPWI supports businesses in recruiting and training potential employees and serves five target populations who face significant obstacles to steady and sustainable employment: immigrants and refugees, single heads of household, older youth not connected to school or work, individuals experiencing homelessness, and those re-entering the workforce from incarceration. GPWI aims to help job seekers eliminate barriers to entering or remaining in the workforce and help employers find the right match for their job openings.
This is a great opportunity for a results-oriented self-starter to engage with key partners within both large and small businesses to serve local employers and job seekers and engage the community in GPWI’s work. This outward-facing role requires the Business Liaison to build strong, mutually beneficial relationships and to achieve prescribed grant deliverables. The ideal candidate will have a dynamic and high-energy approach to achieving results and a strong interest in the areas of workforce development, immigrant/refugee workforce, community integration, and helping individuals and families achieve financial stability.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
- Develops and grows meaningful year-round relationships with key company leaders, company influencers, and other individuals within assigned areas of responsibility.
- Supports employers in navigating the workforce development system.
- Connects employers and job seekers with essential support to mitigate barriers impacting employees (child/elder care, transportation, etc.) through GPWI partners.
- Gathers information to understand job seekers, incumbent employees, and employer needs (root causes and immediate needs).
- Creates ongoing learning opportunities for employers (through individual team support, group training, and engagement in community-based opportunities).
- Conducts annual Employer Practices Summit in collaboration with GPWI partners.
- Works effectively with other teams at UWSM to provide appropriate support and value to partners.
- Conducts regular in-person and virtual meetings, as appropriate, with partners and prospects to expand relationships and business engagement.
- Serves as a connector for job seekers – as new pipelines emerge with employers, partners can support getting qualified candidates into the pipelines (through traditional avenues and activating a new online interface that will go live during this initiative).
- Establishes and supports an employer advisory group to ensure ongoing activities are employer informed.
- Establishes and supports an immigrant job seeker group, including a diverse mix of highly skilled internationally trained professionals, to ensure that those this initiative aims to support have a voice in the process and will inform strategy development.
- Supports the development of a tool for employers to assess “brain waste” among incumbent workers.
- Creates custom tools to support this workforce’s hiring, retention, and advancement, focusing on matching prior professional/academic experience with current career aspirations.
- Utilizes online interface for communication and data sharing among agencies and employers to alert job seekers of opportunities and to allow employers to search for applicants.
- Reviews feedback from employers, job seekers, and incumbent employees to establish baseline metrics (to measure progress) and inform/design employer supports and tools.
PREFERRED EDUCATION:
Bachelor’s degree or foreign equivalent, or equivalent in relevant work-related experience.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Expertise and experience in working directly with employers and job seekers
- Demonstrated success working independently and with a team.
- Focused experience in customer relationship building.
- Demonstrated ability to manage a portfolio of assigned relationships to achieve results.
- Superb English-language communication skills (written and verbal) with an ability to effectively relate with a diverse group of individuals or organizations. Effective listening skills are a must.
- Proven ability to successfully execute a plan utilizing strategic thinking.
- Commitment to excellence and proactive problem solver.
- Solid computer skills (familiarity with customer relationship management systems preferred).
- Significant experience and comfort in Excel is a requirement.
- High-energy, outcome-focused individual with a positive “can-do” outlook who can manage ambiguity and change.
- Significant account management skills.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY:
None
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
This job operates in a professional office environment. We currently operate in a hybrid work environment.
Valid driver’s license, verifiable auto insurance, cell phone, and personal vehicle use are required.
POSITION TYPE/EXPECTED HOURS OF WORK:
This is a full-time position. Days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. At UWSM, we are focused on creating connections within the Southern Maine community. Our current hybrid model is focused on doing just that, requiring our team members to spend 16 hours per week creating connections. Examples of creating connections include office time, external meetings/gatherings, training, volunteer engagement events, and even a cup of coffee with an internal/external partner.
TRAVEL:
Travel is primarily local during the business day, although some out-of-area and overnight travel may be expected.
OTHER DUTIES:
Please note that this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time, with or without notice.
WHY CHOOSE UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN MAINE?
Advancing the common good is about helping one person at a time and creating community change that benefits every community member. We are all connected and interdependent; we all win when a child succeeds in school, families are financially stable, and people are healthy.
We have a staff of 40 dedicated employees to help us achieve our goals and fulfill our mission: To improve people’s lives by mobilizing the caring power of our community. To support the great work of our employees, we offer a competitive salary and a robust benefits package, including health and dental insurance, a 403 (b) plan, life insurance, generous paid vacation, holiday, and sick time off.
Additionally, United Way of Southern Maine offers:
- Convenient and central Portland and Kennebunk locations with free parking
- Tuition assistance and opportunities for professional development
- Wellness resources and Employee Assistance Program Access
- Personal and floating holidays
- Paid volunteer time off
- An excellent team of top-notch professionals that share your passion for strengthening our community
United Way of Southern Maine is committed to seeking and sustaining a culturally and ethnically diverse environment and to the principles that promote inclusive practices. We are dedicated to building a diverse staff with expertise and interest in serving our communities and encouraging people of all diversity types to apply.
United Way of Southern Maine has identified a set of Core Values as our essential tenets. These define and describe whom United Way of Southern Maine will endeavor to be in internal and external situations.
At United Way of Southern Maine, we are:
- Community Centered
- Results Focused
- Intentionally Collaborative
- Committed to Excellence
- Leading with Integrity
Applications are accepted through November 30, 2023. Please submit a cover letter and resume to Human Resources at hr@uwsme.org.
