LaunchNW Mission: We galvanize entire communities to ensure that every child finds belonging and travels their best journey from birth to career attainment. Vision: A robust economy with vibrant and sustainable communities where every individual thrives. Office
Culture Statement: At LaunchNW, we invest in our staff and create an empowering and innovative work environment. We are passionate about serving our communities. We trust and treat each other with honesty and respect. We support, inspire and encourage each other. We are accountable to ourselves and each other. We respect our colleagues by being present and having direct and open communication. We are intentional in our interactions. We have a deep commitment to equity internally and throughout our region. We celebrate our successes.
About LaunchNW: LaunchNW is a 509(a)(3) nonprofit supporting organization to Innovia Foundation, challenging our community to come together to ensure every child has the opportunity and support to access their post-high school education or career of choice and meet their full potential. With a promise scholarship as an incentive, LaunchNW is working with community partners to collaboratively engage and provide wraparound supports for students and families. We are uniting businesses, educational entities, nonprofits, government and communities behind this vision and expectation. A disruption to business as usual, LaunchNW is a transformational investment in the future of our region.
Visit www.LaunchNW.org for more information.
Position Summary:
The Job Developer/Placement Specialist plays a critical role in connecting LaunchNW YouthBuild participants to employment, Registered Apprenticeships, postsecondary education, and long-term career pathways. This position leads employer engagement, placement planning, job development, apprenticeship and postsecondary transition support, and outcome verification activities aligned with YouthBuild grant requirements.
The Job Developer/Placement Specialist serves as the primary liaison between participants and employers, apprenticeship sponsors, workforce organizations, and educational institutions. Through strategic partnerships, career readiness programming, individualized coaching, and direct placement support, this position helps ensure participants successfully transition from training into employment, apprenticeship, or post-secondary education opportunities.
The Job Developer/Placement Specialist collaborates closely with YouthBuild staff, community partners, educational institutions, workforce agencies, and employers to create pathways that support participant success and economic mobility.
Responsibilities:
Employer & Workforce Partnership Development
- Lead employer engagement and placement activities for YouthBuild participants.
- Develop and maintain partnerships with employers, businesses, workforce development organizations, Registered Apprenticeship (RA) sponsors, labor unions, and industry intermediaries.
- Establish and maintain formal partnerships, MOUs, and direct-entry opportunities for participants.
- Introduce and promote the YouthBuild program within the local workforce development and employer community.
- Collaborate with local American Job Centers and workforce agencies to identify labor market trends and employment opportunities.
- Research and monitor local and regional labor market information to support participant placement and program planning.
- Develop and execute systematic job development strategies using customer relationship management practices in Salesforce.
- Maintain regular communication with employers to identify hiring needs and placement opportunities.
Postsecondary & Career Pathway Development
- Build partnerships with colleges, community colleges, trade schools, apprenticeship programs, and training providers.
- Identify scholarship opportunities and support participant transitions into postsecondary education.
- Assist participants with postsecondary planning, enrollment preparation, and career pathway development.
- Coordinate college visits, trade school tours, apprenticeship information sessions, and educational outreach activities.
- Support participants in understanding education and training options aligned with their career goals.
Participant Career Readiness & Job Placement
- Create and deliver employment skills and job readiness curriculum.
- Facilitate workshops on resume writing, job searching, interviewing skills, workplace communication, and career planning.
- Assess participant technical skills, career readiness, interests, and strengths.
- Provide individualized career coaching and employment planning support.
- Prepare participants for employment interviews and apprenticeship selection processes.
- Support participants in completing apprenticeship applications and meeting entry requirements.
- Assist participants in securing employment, apprenticeship placements, post-secondary enrollment, and training opportunities.
- Verify employment, apprenticeship, educational enrollment, credential attainment, and placement outcomes.
Career Exploration & Industry Exposure
- Coordinate job fairs, employer presentations, informational interviews, job shadows, worksite tours, and career exploration events.
- Arrange guest speakers, alumni panels, and industry engagement opportunities.
- Support participants in exploring career pathways through assessments and hands-on experiences.
- Connect participants with professionals working in high-demand industries.
- Coordinate construction site visits and exposure to apprenticeship and workforce opportunities.
Program Collaboration & Participant Success
- Collaborate with Case Managers, instructors, and program staff to align participant goals with career and educational opportunities.
- Support participants in developing workplace readiness and professional skills.
- Work with YouthBuild staff to ensure training activities align with employer and apprenticeship expectations.
- Participate in participant success planning and case conferencing meetings.
- Support retention and successful transitions into employment, education, and apprenticeships.
Follow-Up & Outcomes Tracking
- Conduct follow-up services with graduates for up to 12 months after program exit.
- Support job retention, career advancement, apprenticeship persistence, and post-secondary success.
- Assist graduates who experience employment or educational challenges through re-engagement and referral support.
- Maintain accurate outcome data in Salesforce, including employment, apprenticeship, enrollment, credential, and retention outcomes.
- Contribute to timely and accurate federal grant reporting and performance outcome tracking.
- Ensure compliance with YouthBuild, Department of Labor, and funding requirements.
Qualifications:
- Experience in workforce development, job placement, employer engagement, career counseling, apprenticeship programs, human resources, or related fields.
- Experience building partnerships with employers, workforce agencies, educational institutions, or community organizations.
- Knowledge of workforce development systems, Registered Apprenticeships, and career pathway programming preferred.
- Experience supporting opportunity youth or individuals facing barriers to employment and education preferred.
- Proficiency in Salesforce or similar customer relationship management and data tracking systems.
- Excellent communication, organizational, and relationship-building skills.
Skills/Abilities:
- Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with employers, apprenticeship sponsors, educational institutions, workforce agencies, and community partners.
- Strong understanding of workforce development, labor market trends, career pathways, apprenticeship opportunities, and employment placement practices.
- Experience applying trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and strengths-based approaches when supporting Opportunity Youth.
- Ability to engage, motivate, coach, and support Opportunity Youth in achieving education, training, and employment goals.
- Experience facilitating workshops, job readiness training, presentations, hiring events, employer engagement activities, and career exploration opportunities.
- Strong collaboration skills with employers, schools, workforce partners, and community organizations to support successful participant outcomes.
- Strong attention to detail in documentation, data entry, reporting, and compliance requirements.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams, and SharePoint), Salesforce, and other technology platforms used to track participant progress and employment outcomes.
- Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, with a strong customer service orientation.
- Strong organizational and time management skills, with the ability to prioritize multiple responsibilities, meet deadlines, and manage a dynamic workload across office, community, and job site settings.
- Resourceful, self-directed, and results-oriented, with the ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a team.
- Ability to identify challenges, develop practical solutions, and continuously improve processes and participant outcomes.
- Ability to exercise sound judgment and maintain confidentiality when handling sensitive and proprietary information.
- Demonstrated ability to build respectful, collaborative relationships with individuals from diverse backgrounds, perspectives, cultures, and sectors.
- Ability to travel throughout the service area to meet with participants, employers, training providers, and community partners, and to attend meetings, job sites, and events.
- Ability to work occasional early mornings, evenings, and weekends to support program activities and employer or community events.
Physical Abilities:
Primary functions require sufficient physical ability and mobility to:
- Ability to move throughout office, classroom, community, and occasional construction worksite environments to engage with participants, partners, and staff.
- Ability to sit, stand, walk, bend, kneel, and navigate uneven terrain as needed while supporting participant activities and work-based learning experiences; ability to lift and carry items weighting up to 20 points.
- Ability to safely access and participate in activities at construction sites while following all required safety procedures and wearing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when applicable.
- Ability to operate office equipment requiring repetitive hand movement and find coordination, including use of a computer keyboard and other technology systems.
- Ability to utilize verbal and written communication to exchange information effectively with participants, families, staff, partners, and community stakeholders.
- Ability to clearly see 20+ feet, with or without corrective lenses, and differentiate between colors.
- Ability to travel throughout the service area as needed to support program needs.
Mental & Other Skills/Abilities:
- Adaptability: ability to adapt to changes, delays or unexpected events in the work environment; ability to manage competing demands and prioritize tasks; ability to change approach or method to best fit the situation.
- Interpersonal Skills: ability to maintain satisfactory relationships with others, excellent customer service skills and a good overall understanding of appropriate human relations.
- Teamwork: balance team and individual responsibilities; give and welcome feedback; contribute to building a positive team spirit; put success of team above own interest; support everyone’s efforts to succeed.
- Judgment: ability to make prudent and timely decisions; ability to exhibit sound and accurate judgment; ability to explain reasoning for decisions.
- Language Ability: ability to read and write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals; ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from management, staff, clients, community partners, and the general public.
- Mathematical Ability: ability to work with mathematical concepts, such as probability and statistical inference; ability to apply accounting principles.
- Problem Solving Ability: ability to identify and/or prevent problems before they occur; ability to formulate alternative solutions to problems, when necessary; ability to transfer learning from past experiences to new experiences of similar nature.
- Analytical: synthesize complex or diverse information; collect and research data; use intuition and experience to complement data; design workflows and procedures.
- Quality Management: ability to complete duties, on time and with precision; ability to edit the accuracy and thoroughness of one’s work, as well as the work of others; ability to constructively apply feedback to improve performance; ability to generate ideas to improve and promote quality in work.
- Reasoning Ability: ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral or diagram form; ability to work through problems involving multiple variables.
- Dependability: take responsibility for own actions; keep commitments; commit to long hours of work, when necessary, to reach goals; complete tasks on time or notify appropriate person with an alternate plan.
- Trainability: willing to be trained by Salesforce to manage the workflow of LaunchNW and willing to troubleshoot problems that arise. In addition, willing to share knowledge of the system, once trained.
Work Environment:
The employee is exposed to typical office, classroom, and construction worksite environments, including varying weather conditions, construction-related noise, dust, and uneven terrain. The employee is expected to follow all safety policies and wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) while participating in construction and work-based learning activities.
Why Join Us:
- Be part of a mission-driven team, increasing access to education and career pathways
- Work directly with opportunity youth to create lasting impact in their communities
- Collaborate with strong regional partners across education, workforce, and nonprofit sectors
To apply, please submit a cover letter and resume to Briget Duncan, LaunchNW YouthBuild Director via email at [email protected] or via mail at 818 W. Riverside Ave., Ste. 650 Spokane, WA 99201
Pay: $55,016.00 per year
Benefits:
- 403(b) matching
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
