Center Manager

Overall Responsibility:

Overall District Livelihood Programme Management and ensuring youth personal needs assessment, life and employability skills training and are successfully placed in work or further education.

Roles & Responsibilities

• Livelihoods program management at district level
• Recruit and induct Centre livelihood staff for delivering programme at centre level and manage all aspects of their performance.
• Ensure quality programming and placements
• Quality programme reporting and documentation and partner management and timely coordination for financial reporting and documentation
• Manage Magic Bus resources (budgets and centres), staff and local partners to ensure the full offer of programme is available to youth in the centre.
• To be accountable for youth placements in the Centre
• Lead a staff team Achieve targets at each stage of intervention including mobilisation, needs assessment, skills training delivery and placement in work or education.
• Support frontline staff to complete comprehensive needs assessment 1:1 with youth to identify their strengths and limitations, training and life skills needs and overall targets for the programme.
• Formulate personal development plans for each youth that sets out their training schedule and work or education targets.
• Provide high quality career counselling and impartial Information, Advice and Guidance that empowers youth to make positive choices about potential careers.
• Oversee all centers community need assessments and mapping exercise of other stakeholders in the local areas (government / NGO/ private and corporate foundations).
• Support the Head- Livelihoods of region to implement updates to the programme designed by the Magic Bus national Youth Development Team.
• Work with the Head- Livelihoods of region to ensure staff have the right tools and training to undertake their duties effectively.
• Ensure centre level staff record interventions and activities with youth effectively and data is reported and analysed to improve the quality of work on ground with youth.
• Identify and respond to risks that could lead to youth dropping out of the programme.
• Work with employers and colleges to ensure adequate placement opportunities exist at a local level for youth completing the programme.
• Broker and maintain partnerships with other skills training providers that can add value to the programme by receiving referrals of Magic Bus youth when their offer supports trainees to reach their targets.
• Monitor the effectiveness and quality of partner interventions and training delivery.
• Manage mentoring arrangements in the centre including matching youth to mentors and supporting mentors as required.
• Work with colleagues in the Youth Development teams at centre and regional level to continuously improve the quality of Magic Bus (employment and training) and ensure our work is always safe and enjoyable.

Desired Competencies:

• Strong operational and team management skills that can be tailored to lead Magic Bus staff, training partners, employers and local colleges.
• Excellent organisational, planning and time management skills including the ability to design training schedules and operational centre timetables.
• Strong financial management skills including managing budgets and using staff and centre resources flexibly to meet need.
• Sharp focus on outcomes and how to shape interventions to achieve the maximum impact with youth on the programme.
• Build positive relationships with youth and motivate individuals to achieve defined targets of taking up work or further education.
• Able to undertake need assessments with youth that sensitively identify youths personal strengths and limitations.
• Can implement new processes and ways of working across an operational staff team. Can-do attitude and willingness to use own initiative to solve ground level problems Willingness to work evenings and weekends occasionally as required by programme.

Qualification and Experience (essential unless otherwise stated):

• Relevant Graduate or Post Graduate degree or similar professional qualification from a reputed institution.
• Experience of working with and achieving positive outcomes for disadvantaged 18-25 year olds or a portion of this age range.
• Minimum 2 years managerial experience of frontline staff delivering interventions to children/youth.
• Budget responsibility and experience of financial and resource planning at local level.
• Knowledge of youth needs with regard to progressions into work or further education.
• Direct experience of career counselling and providing Information, Advice and Guidance to youth across a range of issues.
• Experience of need assessment and/or creating personal plans and targets with youth.
• Experience of either employability skills, job placement, youth development or vocational training programmes either directly or indirectly
• Experience of reviewing progress against individuals programme targets
• Experience of engaging with wider stakeholders in disadvantaged communities including parents, schools, colleges, panchayats.
• Experience of providing guidance and support to young people on a range of development issues including career or education choices.