Manager, Youth Fitness

Position Title: Manager, Youth Fitness              

Location: Washington, D.C. (Hybrid, 2 days a week in the office)                       

Department: Health    

Reports to: Senior Manager, Fitness & Healthy Lifestyles       

FLSA Status: Exempt

Salary Range for US Based Staff: $55,463 - $65,250

Organization Summary:

Founded in 1968 , Special Olympics is a global movement to end discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities. We foster acceptance of all people through the power of sport and programming in education, health, and leadership. With nearly four million athletes and Unified Sports® partners and one million coaches and volunteers in more than 170 countries, Special Olympics delivers more than 30 Olympic-type sports and nearly 50,000 games and competitions every year. Learn more at SpecialOlympics.org.

Position Summary:

The Manager, Youth Fitness will support the integration and implementation of Special Olympics’ health and fitness strategies to increase youth fitness participation in a variety of settings, including communities, schools, and sports, to support healthy behavior change among youth with and without intellectual disabilities (ID). The role will collaborate with the Unified Champion Schools (North America), Early Childhood and Families, and Global Youth Engagement teams.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Provide training to Special Olympics Programs to support schools and educators of youth with and without intellectual disabilities (ID) to increase participation in school-based fitness across K-12 and universities;
• Develop evidenced-based inclusive fitness resources for teachers, school staff and youth leaders to easily and seamlessly implement fitness programming;
• Drive new and existing strategies to integrate fitness and health education programming (including nutrition, hydration, physical activity, and more) into school, community, and sports settings focused on increasing youth fitness participation;
• Provide technical assistance to support Special Olympics state and country Programs with increasing the number of schools and community programs offering structured fitness programming for youth with and without ID;
• Serve as the technical expert for fitness and health programming for youth populations, including maintaining expertise on health outcomes for youth with and without ID, existing and emerging Special Olympics fitness models, fitness in schools implementation strategies, and more.
• Manage and leverage youth physical activity and health partnerships to increase and improve the quality of fitness opportunities in schools for people with and without ID;
• Identify and partner with external experts and organizations to develop new fitness protocols, including adaptations as needed, for programming for youth with ID.
  
  

Required Qualifications: 

• Master’s degree in Exercise Science, Public Health, Nutrition Science, Sport Leadership, Health Promotion, Kinesiology, Adaptive Physical Activity or relevant discipline with 1-3 years of applicable work experience and/or 4-year degree in relevant field, with 2-4 years of similar work experience.
• Knowledge of fitness, nutrition and health promotion, motivation and adherence to healthy behaviors, including an understanding of the health needs and challenges in global or low resourced communities.
• Demonstrated success implementing projects with youth in community fitness, school, health, disability, or sport settings, developing collaborations with key leaders such as staff, educators, and/or coaches/coach developers
• Strong project management, organization, and budget skills
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English, including ability to communicate effectively with a culturally and professionally diverse range of stakeholders.

Desired Qualifications: 

• Previous experience or desire to work with individuals with ID.
• Experience leading grassroots fitness, health, or educational education programming with youth.
• Previous knowledge or experience with Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools programming.
• Fitness/physical activity certification (e.g. ACSM, NASM, ACE, NSCA, CAPE).
• CHES (Certified Health Education Specialist) Certification.
• Additional language skills.

*For USA based staff: Special Olympics offers full-time employees a generous and comprehensive benefits package, which includes: medical, dental, vision, HSA, FSA, life insurance, disability, retirement, legal resources, and PTO. 

Special Olympics provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. 

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training. 

**Special Olympics is an E-Verify Employer** 

Salary : $55,463 - $65,250