What are the responsibilities and job description for the Digital Navigator position at City and County of Denver?
About Our Job
The Denver Public Library (DPL) is a growing urban library system that serves the City & County of Denver. DPL sees more than 4 million visitors every year across its 27 locations, serves Denver’s most vulnerable communities through outreach and mobile services, hosts thousands of programs a year and manages a collection of more than 1.4 million physical and digital materials. We believe a strong library is vital for a strong community. DPL is committed to serving the evolving needs of Denverites through inspired programming, diverse collections, culturally-representative spaces and equitable policies & procedures.
About Our Department
The mission of the Digital Inclusion Department (DI) is to leverage the resources of DPL and community partners to connect everyone in Denver with the technology access and training they need to thrive. DI oversees and coordinates a variety of technology education opportunities and our system of six ideaLAB makerspaces and helps inform policies and procedures related to DPL’s public computers and circulating technology collection.
About This Position
DPL is hiring a full-time Digital Navigator to join five existing Digital Navigators in the Digital Inclusion Department, performing one-on-one technology help at multiple branches across the DPL system and at trusted community partner sites. The Digital Navigators' work is part of the Denver Public Library’s efforts to bridge substantial gaps in access to internet, devices, and tech training for Denver communities like immigrants and refugees, people experiencing homelessness, older adults, and low-income households.
As a Digital Navigator , you'll work to establish relationships of trust with community members referred to you by both DPL staff and community partners. You will meet with people one-on-one, and work together to determine the clients’ personal connectivity needs and goals, such as affordable home internet, devices, and / or building basic technology skills. You'll present options and create a plan with each client, and then work with that individual toward the accomplishment of their plan.
Some of that work may look like advising community members about free or affordable home internet service options and assisting them to apply. Sometimes you'll advise people about sources of affordable devices and support their efforts to acquire them. Most of your time will be spent providing one-on-one digital literacy support through in person, phone, and online interaction, as well as referring people to sources of additional digital literacy skill training. Because so much of our life is spent online, you'll also be helping support people in filling out online forms and applications, and working with our Community Resources team to help refer people who need other types of resources like housing or benefits.
You'll check in with clients to verify that they are connected to needed resources, and administer surveys and conduct evaluation to determine success. Through it all, you'll track each client’s progress and types of requests, keep accurate and timely records, and report outcomes as required.
Your schedule will be determined by the needs of the department, which currently includes Tuesday-Saturday daytime hours and occasional evening hours. This is an onsite position that works out of a variety of locations throughout the City of Denver. Digital Navigators generally work out of a different location each day of the week, and work the same schedule each week.
About You
We are looking for someone passionate about teaching and empowering their community, who has experience building relationships with a diverse range of people, and who is willing to learn new tools and technology. This position will require travel to and working out of multiple locations, working closely with staff across the DPL system as well as our community partners. Our target populations often live unstable lives and can share hard stories : you are able to balance empathy and boundaries, respect customer privacy, and are willing to develop your own practice of self-care. Applicants who are bilingual are strongly preferred.
Our ideal candidate has :
- Two years of public customer service experience.
- Conversational fluency in a language other than English, especially Spanish, Vietnamese, Amharic, Chinese, Arabic, or Russian.
- Two years of technology support or training experience.
- Experience working with people experiencing homelessness, low-income populations, immigrants, refugees, or justice-involved people.
- Skill in teaching people new skills and problem-solving with others.
- Excellent telephone and online communication skills, including the ability to establish trust with clients of varied educational and cultural backgrounds.
- A positive attitude, excellent interpersonal skills, cultural humility and a sense of humor in working with diverse customers, coworkers, and community.
- Ability to travel to various locations throughout the City of Denver regularly.
- Ability to work independently.
- Ability to understand and clearly communicate basic technological concepts related to internet services, computer and device characteristics, and common online services and applications.
- Ability to creatively solve problems, and negotiate and handle stressful situations in a positive manner.
- Ability to embrace the challenge of learning new tools, software and technology.
- Ability to provide excellent customer service and to demonstrate innovation and flexibility.
- Ability to establish appropriate boundaries with clients with care and empathy, and interest in developing skills to help manage secondary trauma and burnout.
- Ability to enter customer and session data accurately and in a timely manner.
We value colleagues from all communities and identities. If you’re excited about this position, we encourage you to apply even if your professional experience does not align perfectly with the listed “ideal candidate” expectations
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS :
Education requirement : Graduation from high school or the possession of a GED, HiSET or TASC Certificate.
Experience Requirement : Three (3) years of clerical or technical operational support.
Education / Experience Equivalency : Additional appropriate education may be substituted for two years of the minimum experience requirement. which doesn't allow for substitution for 1 of the 3 years.
License / Certifications : By position, requires a valid Driver’s License at the time of application.
By position, requires certification in CPR / First Aid at the time of application or within six months of probation.
Licenses and certifications must be kept current as a conditio n of employment.
About Everything Else
Job Profile
LA2383 Operations Assistant
To view the full job profile including position specifications, physical demands, and probationary period, click .
Position Type
Limited (Fixed Term)
Library Hiring Range
20.76 - $25.95
Starting Pay
20.76- $25.95
Agency
Denver Public Library
Assessment Requirement
For information about right to work, click for English or for Spanish.
Salary : $21 - $26
