Senior Director

Buffalo Futures, a new community-wide initiative dedicated to providing Buffalo young professionals with training and support services leading to high demand career opportunities, is seeking a Senior Director. Established in 2022 by the Buffalo Youth Employment Coalition (out of the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo’s Racial Equity Roundtable) and The Service Collaborative, Buffalo Futures offers a digital platform to help aspiring young professionals identify, explore, and pursue local, high-demand career pathways and a physical program headquarters. The Senior Director of Buffalo Futures will coordinate, plan, execute, assess and provide oversight of the physical Buffalo Futures Career Hub and the custom mobile-first technology platform (www.BuffaloFutures.com). Oversight of the physical location of Buffalo Futures, a centrally located Hub located at the SUNY Erie downtown campus, will include coordinating efforts between Youth Engagement Coalition Steering Committee, partner organizations and The Service Collaborative to refine a system-wide referral process across a youth-serving organization. At the Hub, young professionals (16-24 year olds) will be welcomed, connected to a Success Coach, and invited to participate in an intake and coaching process to identify an appropriate next step based on their individualized success goals using the Buffalo Futures technology platform.

Responsibilities include:

• Oversee the establishment and opening of the first of its kind youth/workforce development Buffalo Futures HUB, a physical location for young professionals to seek workforce assessment and support.
• Establish outreach practices in various Buffalo communities for youth engagement work and recruitment.
• Coordinate and lead community partners (YEC partners and others) to offer career service and workforce development workshops, offered at HUB and in the community.
• Collaborate with youth-service organizations to ensure needs are being addressed through Buffalo Futures HUB.
• Develop relationships with partners, funders, local organizations and other key stakeholders.
• Oversee the Buffalo Futures digital platform and provide oversight to ensure the platform and its content stays current and accurate.
• Coordinate with the YEC and Steering committee to ensure that information on Buffalo Futures Digital platform is accurate and up-to-date.
• Oversee the Buffalo Futures digital platform and provide oversight to ensure the platform and its content stays current and accurate.
• Oversee social media.
• Ability to manage relationships with multiple community partners, including young professionals.
• Ensure continuous program quality and performance measurement.
• Ensure collection, input and submission of data in all databases in a timely manner.
• Regularly assess Buffalo Future’s HUB impact, tying it to outcomes of YEC Strategic Plan
• Direct management responsibility of two (2) Success Coaches, full-time staff positions.

The ideal candidate must have a thorough knowledge of a variety of barriers faced by young professionals aged 16-24, knowledge of best practices in recruitment, outreach and retention, experience with youth development and advising, knowledge of public workforce systems and training dollars, and the ability to communicate with young professionals from diverse backgrounds. Required competencies include: leadership orientation, collaboration, oral/written communication skills, analytical thinking, decision making skills, organization, planning and performance focus. The Senior Director will be a team player and share the organization’s mission to expand access to identified high demand family-sustaining job opportunities to the entire Buffalo community.

A Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience, a minimum of five years of youth development / workforce development experience, and demonstrated experience in community partner collaboration are all required. Also required are advanced Microsoft Office Suite skills. Salary range is $75,000. – $85,000. annually Qualified candidates may send a cover letter and resume to MaryEllen Carlo, Director of Search Services at Career Partners International Niagara Buffalo | Niagara at mecarlo@cpibn.com.