Jobs at The Last Mile

Reentry Director

Reports to: Executive Director
Work Location: TLM Office, Downtown San Francisco
Hours: Monday – Friday, 9am-5pm F/T

The Last Mile (TLM) is the first prison program to provide in-prison software engineering training. We believe that having a job is the key to successful reentry and breaking the cycle of incarceration. Through in-prison software engineering training and continued mentorship post-release, The Last Mile bridges the gap between incarceration and freedom.

TLM is launching a Reentry Pipeline Apprenticeship Program, in partnership with a local top tier tech company. This new Reentry Pipeline is a post-release one-year apprenticeship program that will train become automated QA engineers. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has funded the initial pilot, and the Reentry Director is charged with turning the pilot into a sustainable program where companies pay for high-trained engineers.

The purpose of the Reentry Pipeline Apprentice program is to help formerly incarcerated people find employment in the tech sector, thereby decreasing their chances of recidivism, increasing stability in their communities, and promoting racial equity in the tech sector. At 55 percent, California’s recidivism rate is one of the highest in the country. Tech can be at the forefront of changing perceptions of how capable re-entering individuals can be in the workplace. Through innovation and providing access, it can transcend systemic hurdles and break down barriers to reentry. By enabling more formerly incarcerated people to enter tech, we can help the sector become a more racially diverse, equitable community that is welcoming to formerly incarcerated individuals.

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Position Description:
The Reentry Director is the CEO of the first ever Reentry Pipeline Apprenticeship program for The Last Mile. They will have overall strategic and operational responsibility for this pipeline’s staff, program, expansion and execution of its mission. They will also be responsible for creating a business case, producing marketing materials, and building a consortium of companies willing to hire re-entering individuals.

Ideal candidates understand that businesses are demanding more highly-skilled talent to compete in the tech industry, and that TLM students are craving the opportunity and have the potential to launch a high-skilled career. The Reentry Director will build partnerships with top-tier employers and support students’ transition into a professional career. The Reentry Director will also be tasked with developing TLM’s recruitment strategy model, ensuring that the Reentry pipeline can continue past the first pilot year.

This position’s compensation is on par with private sector roles. This position will be a fixed term one-year contract, with the possibility for extended contract dependent on funding and project outcomes.

Duties and responsibilities:

Leadership and Management:

• Ensure ongoing programmatic excellence, rigorous program evaluation, and consistent quality of finance and administration, fundraising, communications, and systems; recommend timelines and resources needed to achieve the strategic goals
• Lead, coach, develop, and retain the reentry programs high-performance team and apprentices.
• Organize the reentry apprenticeship program to ensure that all partners (professional, hiring, leadership development) are aware of their roles and responsibilities, ensuring success for program participants
• Manage Technical Learning Manager and Engineering Manager
• Manage partner relationships with wide variety of sectors including pro-bono consultants, media, hiring sites, funders, and higher education partners

Fundraising and Communications:

• Ensure that the Reentry Pipeline operates within its approved budget, grant timeline and expectations
• Develop collateral about the program to share with HR departments and press, supervise marketing and messaging of program
• Manage communication with funders as outlined in funding agreements specific for reentry pipeline program
• Fundraise additional capital if needed
• Attend and/or speak at conferences/working groups representing this initiative

Planning and New Business:

• Cultivate the relationship with existing hiring partner and pipeline for additional partners to support program growth and sustainability.
• Develop framework for business sustainability and corporate pipeline recruitment fee
• Secure placements for graduates of The Last Mile with participating tech companies
• Work with curriculum managers to ensure development/expansion of reentry program
• Monitor returning citizens to gather feedback, build community, maintain impact index, etc

Requirements:

• Highly innovative and transformational leader
• Advanced degree, ideally an MBA, with at least 5+ years of senior management experience; track record of effectively leading and regionally and/or nationally scaling a performance- and outcomes-based organization and staff; ability to point to specific examples of having developed and operationalized strategies that have taken an organization to the next stage of growth
• Experience developing high level relationships with tech industry recruiting, diversity, and HR
• Excellence in organizational management with the ability to coach staff, manage, and develop high-performance teams, set and achieve strategic objectives, and manage a budget
• Strong marketing, public relations, and fundraising experience with the ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders and cultures
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; a persuasive and passionate communicator with excellent interpersonal and multidisciplinary project skills
• Action-oriented, entrepreneurial, adaptable, and innovative approach to business planning
• Ability to work effectively in collaboration with diverse groups of people
• Passion, idealism, integrity, positive attitude, mission-driven, and self-directed

Please send cover letter and resume to jobs@thelastmile.org

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