Senior Manager, Certified Welcoming (2)

Job Description

Job Description

About Welcoming America

Welcoming America is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that leads a movement of inclusive communities becoming more prosperous by ensuring everyone belongs. We believe that all people, including immigrants, are valued contributors and vital to the success of our communities and shared future.

About Certified Welcoming

Certified Welcoming is a formal designation for local governments that have created policies and programs reflecting their values and commitment to immigrant inclusion and met the high bar set by the Welcoming Standard. This innovative program assesses city and county governments on their efforts to include and welcome immigrants in all areas of civic, social, and economic life in their communities. Learn more at certifiedwelcoming.org.

Description

The Certified Welcoming, Senior Manager manages the day to day operations of Welcoming America’s flagship program, Certified Welcoming. This position also serves as the primary point of contact for Certified Welcoming participants from intake to recertification. As part of its strategic plan, Welcoming America aims to certify 50 places by 2026. This position will support the organization in meeting this milestone through closely working with localities seeking certification, ensuring they are supported throughout the certification process and able to successfully obtain Certified Welcoming status. This role also oversees a team of external auditors, ensuring consistent practices and quality assurance throughout their work.

Primary Responsibilities

Certified Welcoming Participant Support and Cohort Management

This position will act as the primary contact for participants in the Certified Welcoming program including intake, onboarding, inquiries, and coaching on the Certified Welcoming process and on meeting the criteria in the Welcoming Standard. This position will be responsible for developing, launching, and managing the annual Certified Welcoming Cohort Program which will support Certified Welcoming participants through their audit. Specific responsibilities include :

Acting as the main point of contact for current Certified Welcoming participants, including answering questions, following up on outstanding items, and troubleshooting participant challenges when needed.

Working with local governments and Certified Welcoming staff and consultants to coordinate audits.

Defining and launching the new Certified Welcoming cohort program including setting application timelines, developing application materials, working closely with the communications team to market the program.

Reviewing cohort applications, and conducting intake and onboarding (both individual and group) into the Certified Welcoming program.

Supporting Certified Welcoming participants in completing their self-assessment, including providing technical assistance on the Certified Welcoming platform.

Developing and delivering content to support participants in achieving Certified Welcoming status, including training on Certified Welcoming and the Welcoming Standard.

Hosting office hours for Certified Welcoming participants to answer questions and provide a space for peer learning.

Providing coaching and technical assistance to support local governments in achieving certification by answering questions about criteria in the Welcoming Standard and providing examples of compliance.

Building and maintaining strong relationships with participating local governments and partners, and creating spaces for Certified Welcoming participants to develop relationships with others in the process.

In collaboration with other Certified Welcoming staff and Welcoming Network staff, providing certification results with clear action steps for achieving the star designation sought.

In collaboration with the communications team, providing support for certification announcements.

Maintaining timelines on recertification and working with participants to prepare for recertification.

Manage Peer Auditors and Auditor Consultants

Welcoming America is in the process of launching a peer auditor program, which was piloted in the fall and winter of 2024 / 25. This position will be responsible for finalizing the peer auditor program, including promoting and marketing it, as well as evaluating, monitoring, and adjusting its strategies. In addition to managing peer auditors, the senior manager will be responsible for screening and managing independent consultants who serve as auditors. Specific responsibilities include :

Onboarding and managing peer auditors and auditor consultants.

Implementing, maintaining, and updating as needed, training programs and materials to ensure auditors consistently apply the Welcoming Standard and assessment practices.

Regularly assess and manage risk that is brought to the Certified Welcoming program through external auditors.

As needed, managing the process for addressing formal complaints and / or audit appeals.

Conduct Certified Welcoming Audits and Write Reports

All Certified Welcoming team members at Welcoming America manage a portfolio of audits. In some cases, they will serve as the lead auditor, responsible for conducting the final analysis and writing the report. In other cases, they will act as a supporting auditor, assisting the lead auditor as needed. Specific responsibilities include :

Reviewing all information provided by the local government and Certified Welcoming coordinator prior to the audit including the desktop review and analysis, related links and materials, and self assessment. In partnership with the Certified Welcoming coordinator identify key questions that need to be explored during audit interviews and priority stakeholders that need to participate in the audit.

Leading virtual and in-person interviews during the audit including taking in depth notes. During the audit interviews continually assess where enough evidence has been provided for Welcoming Standard criteria to be considered met, and where additional information is needed, in order to focus questions throughout the audit.

Conducting a final analysis of the locality’s compliance with the Welcoming Standard, and sharing this analysis with the local government both through a detailed written certification report and through one or more conversations with the local government.

Participating in appeals and complaint processes related to the assessment, as needed.

Sharing highlights from individual audits and themes across audits with the organization to inform organizational and programmatic strategy.

Support Continuous Improvement of the Certification System

Welcoming America is a learning oriented organization with the expectation that programs will continuously be evaluated and improved. A key priority and responsibility of this position will be monitoring the certification system – including the third party auditor program and cohort program – identifying weaknesses and inefficiencies, and recommending and implementing improvements. Monitoring is expected to include collecting stakeholder feedback – including other Welcoming America staff and Certified Welcoming program participants.

Special Projects

The Senior Manager will also support other programmatic, operational, communications, and development projects, as needed. This includes serving as an external spokesperson and representative for the organization as needed, for site visits, conferences, and / or other events. Welcoming America is a collaborative environment where we all work together to support each other and the organization on special projects and day to day activities.

Qualifications & Attributes

5 years experience in program management, community development, or local government.

Strong understanding of the challenges faced by local governments, particularly within complex political environments, and the ability to navigate and collaborate effectively in these spaces

Strong organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects and priorities simultaneously.

Flexible and adaptive mindset, with the ability to adjust to changing priorities, work in dynamic environments, and embrace new challenges and opportunities.

Strong sense of ownership over tasks, including taking initiative to start projects and seeing them through to completion.

Excited to build relationships with program participants and see their success as the ultimate win.

Candidates need to be able to thoughtfully navigate issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging and bring a deep commitment to advancing these values. Because of the diversity of our membership and program participants, candidates will also need to be able to thoughtfully navigate different work and communications styles and be comfortable with working with people with different political views.

25% travel, but at times may be as frequent as two weeks in a month.