Postsecondary Transition and Career Advisor

Position Summary

KIPP Public School’s KIPP Forward team is looking for a full time (1.0 FTE) Postsecondary Transition and Career Advisor to work closely with KIPP NorCal students and alumni to prepare them for college, career and beyond. The KIPP Forward department supports high school students and alumni of KIPP Public Schools Northern California to and through postsecondary pathways, including college, vocational programs, and/or career. The Postsecondary Transition and Career Advisor provides support and counseling to KIPPsters graduating from high school (focusing on the transition to postsecondary pathways) and continuing this support through their postsecondary pathway (focusing on persistence, completion, and career readiness). This role will require the candidate to be on site at least 3 days per week, typically to a KIPP local high school (SF/Peninsula), local college campus, or in the Regional Support Office in Oakland. A two-year commitment is strongly preferred to work with the same cohort of students for two years in a row. The Postsecondary Transition and Career Advisor will report to the Associate Director of Postsecondary and Career Success. The ideal candidate for this position will have a deep passion for social justice and educational equity for all children, and has a background in college advising, project management skills, strong follow through and attention to detail, as well as outstanding written and verbal communication skills. They must have a demonstrated interest in serving low-income students and are dedicated to doing whatever it takes to support our students to and through college.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience & Education: Passion for KIPP’s mission and values Bachelor’s degree (required) 1+ years experience of advising and/or in a counseling for college access Experience working with educationally underserved students and families from historically marginalized communities that have been systematically underserved Experience working with first generation, low income and/or underrepresented students in College Access and College Persistence highly preferred Competencies Required: Lead Self Seeks feedback; reflects on strengths and growth areas Explores own identity, privilege, and positionality Builds job-specific skills; owns and learns from mistakes Lead People Leads with integrity; follows through on commitments; contributes to team purpose; brings joy Adapts to change and shifts in the work Receives feedback openly; acts as an accountable team member Collaborates within and across teams; shares information that helps others Lead Results Manages workload; backward plans; meets deadlines Solves routine problems; escalates appropriately with proposed solutions Delivers quality work on time; distinguishes effort from results Keeps manager informed proactively; asks for help when needed Knowledge/skills required: Positivity, optimism and a solutions-oriented mindset Practice healthy communication and embrace productive conflict to form trusting relationships, to collaborate, offer feedback and guidance, and to motivate and inspire others. Unquestioned integrity and commitment to KIPP Public Schools’ mission and values Ability to exercise excellent judgment in decision-making; facilitate various size working groups, work collaboratively, and; gather and analyze data, compile information, and prepare reports Extreme flexibility, strong work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit to accommodate joining a growing and constantly improving team Self-starter, comfortable in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment An achievement orientation: self-directed and results-oriented, demonstrating initiative and follow-through and ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Ability to self-direct and prioritize among competing goals and to initiate process improvements Goal-oriented, with strong initiative and creative problem-solving skills Excellent interpersonal skills: ability to work with a wide-range of people including teachers, counselors, parents, students, and administration teams Outstanding written and oral communication skills Strong working knowledge in all Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Google Suite Preference for a conversational Spanish speaker given the student populations this advisor will support Essential Functions and Responsibilities Caseload Management (40%) Manage a caseload of approximately 110 1st year alumni starting second semester of senior year in high school to support the transition from high school to their postsecondary pathway Provide 1:1 advising, guidance, and coaching services focused on transition to postsecondary programs, postsecondary enrollment, college persistence, the transfer process, college completion, and career readiness Track enrollment and persistence steps of alumni to ensure persistence in their selected postsecondary pathways (i.e. financial aid applications, course enrollment, etc.) Analyze and reflect on student data to develop strategies to best outreach and support caseload Provide alumni with consistent information on college scholarships, internships, and organizations focused on college persistence and completion Leverage KIPP Galaxy, ADB, and Advisor/Team trackers to track alumni data and analyze student data [contact information, financial aid, internships, etc.] using the Alumni Services database Strong Transition Programming (30%) Collaborate with the Match Team such as Director of College Counseling, Senior Counselors and the Postsecondary Match & Career Managers and other KIPP Forward teammates to plan for and execute Strong Transition for 12th grade students attending KIPP San Francisco College Preparatory and KIPP Esperanza High School in East Palo Alto Manage the Tier 3 caseload of current seniors that focuses on guidance preparation to prevent summer melt Track matriculation steps of current seniors in collaboration with the Match Team to ensure students enroll in the fall to their selected postsecondary pathway Support with college essay submissions, financial aid nights, college and CTE tours, and other tasks as needed Alumni Events & Programming (20%) Join a committee that leads an Alumni Project to support in the planning and executing of that project Actively participate in college and career partnership working groups Develop and maintain contacts at local colleges and universities in order to provide outstanding alumni support and potential alumni clustering Provide KIPP Forward with feedback regarding academic rigor, school culture, and counseling services of the various colleges alumni attend Cross-Team Collaboration and Operations Support (10%) Serve as a member of the Postsecondary Success team, modeling stellar performance and healthy communication Attend and participate in all KIPP Forward team meetings, including Postsecondary Team Meetings, Professional Development, Regional Support Office team meetings Respond to emails, calls, and texts from staff and students within 48 hours during work week Other duties as assigned Physical, Mental and Environmental Demands Physical: Ability to navigate office and school campuses, and hold meetings in different spaces. Traditionally, much of the day involves sitting. Ability to access and utilize technology. Occasional lifting/carrying of equipment 1-20 lbs. Physical agility to move self in various positions in order to execute duties effectively, which may include kneeling, walking, pushing/pulling, squatting, twisting, turning, bending, stooping and reaching overhead Mental: Stress of deadlines and normal work standards, ability to analyze problems and generate alternatives, work with interruptions, concentrate for long periods of time, read, calculate, perform routine math problems, memorize and recall objects and people.