Learning and Development Specialist - Leadership and Professional Development

Days Off: Saturday, Sunday

Shift: Office Day

Insurance Benefits: Dental, Life, Long-term Disability, Medical (no premiums/payroll deductions for employee coverage)

Other Benefits: Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), ORCA card subsidy, Paid Time Off (34 days per year), Retirement Plan

About DESC:

Recognized nationally as an innovator and leader in developing solutions to homelessness, DESC is a social services organization, supportive housing operator, and licensed behavioral health treatment provider focused on meeting the needs of people experiencing long-term homelessness and living with complex behavioral health and other medical conditions.  Approximately 3,000 people are actively receiving services from DESC at any given point in time. Our vision is a community where all people are shown compassion, treated with dignity, and everyone has a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home.

DESC operates five shelter/emergency housing programs, 19 permanent supportive housing facilities with over 1,750 units, several hundred additional scattered site apartments, and a range of behavioral health services including outpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment, residential crisis stabilization, street outreach, mobile crisis response, and treatment for opioid use disorder.

JOB DEFINITION:

The Learning & Development Specialist, Leadership and Professional Development is responsible for leadership development opportunities at DESC, building the skills and capacity of our leadership team across all levels. This position will have a focus on maintaining high quality leadership programs, building new courses where there are gaps, and building career pathing for staff to move into leadership roles. This role will also oversee the Train the Trainer program.

This position is a part of the Learning and Development team, under the Department of Organizational Equity and Inclusion, and reports to the Senior Manager of Learning and Development.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Leadership Foundations

• Manage all aspects of our keystone leadership development program, Leadership Foundations
• Maintain a regular cadence of scheduling for the Leadership Foundations series
• Keep an up-to-date spreadsheet/tracker of current cohorts, leaders who still need to enroll, and completed cohorts

Curriculum Development

• Collaborate with cross-agency stakeholders to identify skill gaps
• Create curriculum for trainings and workshops for all levels of leadership for continuous learning 
• Use online authoring tools to create asynchronous learning modules
• Bring innovative solutions founded in adult learning principles
• Identify gaps and develop learning courses to address

Training and Facilitation

• Facilitate leadership programs, partnering with co-facilitators and subject matter experts
• Own our Train the Trainer program, maintaining our primary Train the Trainer 101 and developing continued facilitation skill development opportunities
• Coordinate sessions of Train the Trainer for curriculum to support leaders' compliance knowledge and ability to teach their staff

Agency Representation

• Present a persona of professionalism and model of leadership
• Interface with leaders of every level with warmth, collaboration, and respect

Communication

• Communicate all leadership development opportunities
• Manage email communications and questions related to projects

Other Duties as Assigned

• Assist in efforts to maintain agency wide learning compliance, tracking in the LMS, and reporting as needed
• Facilitate and assist the Learning and Development Department, at the request of the Senior Manager for Learning and Development

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• 2 years of experience with related skills such as managing projects and programs, training/facilitating, and developing curriculum.
• Confident with public speaking, directing large groups and being an agency representative to staff and external partners.
• Excellent interpersonal, teamwork, and diplomacy skills. Strong collaborative partner to leadership and staff across the agency 
• Knowledge of best practices in adult education, with the ability to design and deliver engaging and effective presentations, workshops, and other learning experiences.
• Demonstrated success in managing multiple projects, with the ability to organize and coordinate work efficiently
• Strong ability to communicate and prioritize competing deadlines, varied workload, and adapt to changing priorities with short notice.
• Initiative-taking critical thinking skills with strong attention to details
• Skilled in Microsoft Office including word processing, spreadsheets and databases, and slide deck design
• An understanding of and commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. Ability to apply an equity lens to all aspects of training and development including training content (on racism, homophobia, sexism, disability, and the like), delivery methods, and in supporting a diverse team of staff trainers.
• An ability to work flexible hours as necessary, primarily early mornings on training days, occasional evenings, and, very infrequently, weekends.
• A personal vehicle is not a requirement for this position; however, using an agency-owned vehicle is a must. The successful candidate must possess and maintain a valid Washington State Driver’s License, the appropriate amount of automobile insurance, and a safe driving record.
• Candidate selected for this position must pass a criminal history background check prior to employment.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• 3 years as an L&D specialist, facilitator, or other leadership development role.
• Experience with Learning Management Systems, web-based learning platforms, and course-authoring software.
• Degree or certificate in learning and development, education, curriculum and instruction, organizational development, facilitation, nonprofit leadership, human resources development or related field, and/or work experience in one of these fields.
• Any other combination of skills and experience that give you the ability to do the job.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be performed by an employee to successfully complete the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be possible to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee will be required sit for long periods of time, stand for periods of time, communicate with other persons by talking and hearing, the ability to set up and take down tables and chairs, move training supplies in and out, and to operate computer hardware systems. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. 

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:

DESC is committed to diversity in the workplace and promotes equal employment opportunities for all staff members and applicants. The Agency will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, caste, marital status, or the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability in any employment practice, unless based  on a bona fide occupational qualification. Minorities and veterans are encouraged to apply.