Company description The Organization: Root’s mission is to provide youth, ages 16 to 26, with a pathway to employment and financial independence. Through developing life and work readiness skills, youth leave Root prepared for success in the workplace. 

Root’s long-term vision is to maximize youth opportunity through meaningful, skill-oriented employment; accompanying support services and coaching; and progress toward a living wage. Since 2017, Root has worked to expand employment and economic opportunities for young adults with barriers to success in Essex County, Massachusetts.  Through an emphasis on food service training and targeted life-skills development, Root has built a Culinary Training Program, award-winning youth employment enterprises (Root Café, Catering by Root, and the HarborPoint event space), and most recently a new initiative to help address area food insecurity through youth-driven Community Catering. Youth trainees and alumni employees receive culinary instruction, life and professional skills development, financial literacy, and, as needed, support in completing high school and continuing education.  To date, Root has graduated over 150 youth, generated more than $500,000 in organizational earned income, and prepared over 50,000 meals for those in-need.  Through its enterprises, Root has created more than 25 transitional employment opportunities for young adults and continues to expand.  

 

Root’s organizational core values include: 

• Youth-First is our “North Star.” As an organization and as a team, Root leads with the interests of youth in our programs and our enterprises.  In order to prioritize young people, we create opportunities for youth to influence and improve our programs and their experience. 
• Hands-on Skill Development Differentiates Our Graduates & Empowers Them. We believe hands-on skill development is the most effective approach to job training.  Providing youth with practical tools through our enterprises empowers them in the face of systemic marginalization. 
• Team Transcends Individual and Collaboration Leverages our Individual Efforts. By working together and with our partners, we believe we serve youth and Root’s mission most effectively. 
• Diversity and Inclusion Strengthen Us.  We acknowledge, respect, and embrace the differences within one another and the communities we serve. 
• Big Success is a Series of Small Wins. We meet youth where they are and celebrate their individual victories as steps on their path to success. 

 

To learn more about Root, please visit: www.rootns.org.

Job description Root’s Manager - Culinary Training Program will serve in a vital role on the Root program team, delivering workforce readiness lessons and other services to trainees and working closely with the entire Root program team. Reporting to the Director of Programs and working in close contact with all Root departments and all program team members, this position will ensure that Root graduates engage as fully as possible in Root’s 14-week training program and leave Root with confidence in - and an understanding of - the value of their skills, exposure to soft skills workshops and financial literacy workshops, and a network of support from Root. This position will need to be performed on-site at Root in downtown Salem; some evening hours are required

 

Areas of Responsibility

Workforce Readiness Workshops

• In conjunction with the Director of Programs and other program team staff, plan for and implement key parts of Root’s core Training Program, building relationships with trainees and serving as a trusted point of contact 
• Lead and provide workforce readiness training and preparation, through direct instruction, communication skills workshops, soft skills development, field trips, guest speakers, formative assessments, and advising
• Work closely with the program team on various events and  experiential learning opportunities
• Take the lead on communicating with supportive adults in trainees’ lives

Externship Program and Employer Partnerships

• Work with Director to build a network of employer partners to serve as host sites during Root’s “externship” period (final weeks of the program) that are philosophically aligned with Root’s mission to support young adults experiencing barriers to employment with a competitive wage, supportive employment, and ongoing training and development

• Coordinate Root’s externship program during Month 3 of the 14-week program

• Communicate regularly throughout the year with current and potential externship partners, including cold-calls and visits, on-site tours, and other engagement opportunities developed in conjunction with the Director of Programs and other Root departments
• Guide youth in carrying out their externship search and interview process, ensuring they understand their responsibilities and are equipped with the necessary tools to succeed in the real-world learning environment; and, after externships are completed, engage with both trainees and partners directly to solicit post-externship feedback from trainees and employers.

Direct Youth Advising

• Work with the program team to develop “assessments” of knowledge delivered during culinary and workforce readiness workshops and share the responsibility for administering, assessing and analyzing data gathered on program participants
• In collaboration with the Director of Programs and other program team staff, ensure each trainee is assigned an advisor from the program team and receives five (5) advising sessions throughout the program
• Continue to build out and refine the advising session scripts and data collection points, incorporating discussion, feedback from and to trainees, goal-setting, skills assessment, job-coaching, and relationship-building into each advising session
• Serve as an advisor for up to 8 youth during each 14-week program, ensuring all data is faithfully collected and tracked so that relevant reports built for program improvement can be pulled and analyzed readily. As needed, and in certain cases or special circumstances, continue advising relationships beyond the 14-week program.

Program Team Administration and Ongoing Program Improvement

• Attend and contribute positively to weekly program team meetings to collaboratively ensure the quality of the Culinary Training Program, discuss individual students’ progress against shared metrics and goals, and to facilitate feedback for trainees during advising sessions

• In collaboration with the program team, reflect on and refine the 14-week Culinary Training Program, updating and improving the curriculum as needed by reflecting on program data, student self-assessments and formative assessments, and by soliciting and examining stakeholders’ (especially trainees and alumni, externship partners, and employer) feedback.

• Support the Director of Programs and the program team in certain recruitment and engagement activities, including, but not limited to, trainee interviews and selection processes, site visits, on-site tours and engagement activities, and other recruitment activities as needed.

• Update the program database (Apricot) during and post-Root Culinary Training Program, including advising notes, assessment data, retention and attendance data, and trainee’ identified next steps, and, in conjunction with the Director of Programs, create and pull reports to enable the team to utilize the data to improve program design and execution, retention, and outcomes.

Experience and Qualifications

• 3-5 years of experience in education, social services, or youth development
• Experience in education is strongly preferred but not required, but an interest in teaching and direct instruction is a must
• Strong commitment to youth leadership and empowerment; and ability to work sensitively, positively, and effectively with young people 
• Team player, flexible, with creative problem solving skills, empathy, and an understanding of trauma-informed approaches and care
• Excellent communications and presentation skills (both written and verbal)
• Cultural competency and an understanding of systematic marginalization and the challenges facing the youth population we serve
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office programs and Google Suite and a willingness to further develop those skills 
• Experience in the restaurant industry or food service helpful, but not required
• Driver’s license preferred, but not required

Compensation this position is : salaried, 50k-75k Application instructions DeadlineDecember 31, 2022