Postsecondary Pathways Counselor - Futures Ignite

Role: Postsecondary Pathways Counselor 
Category: Full-time, exempt
Reports to: Post-secondary Pathways Manager
Start Date: Immediate
Salary Range: $55-$60K, with generous benefit package, PTO schedule and wellness perks 
To Apply: Send a cover letter and resume to bright@futuresignite.org

About Futures Ignite: 
Founded in 2012 by the Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School (WHEELS), Futures Ignite (FI) has over 10 years of experience investing in New York City’s high school students' futures. FI’s mission is to amplify youth and community power by inspiring, guiding and advocating for youth to determine their college, career and leadership futures.  FI provides leadership development, postsecondary advisement, and career exposure for students and alumni from the Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School (WHEELS). Our work with 1500 WHEELS students and alumni has achieved impressive results, which you can learn more about here. 

About the Role: 
Futures Ignite is seeking an enthusiastic, diligent, and equity-minded professional.  The ideal candidate for this position has excellent communication skills, strong attention to detail, and a high degree of flexibility in serving the varied and diverse needs of the individual students. The Postsecondary Pathways Counselor is an integral part of our Postsecondary Pathways (PSP) team and will work closely with both the Postsecondary Pathways Manager and Senior Director of Programs. The person in this role will work closely with students to develop academics plans, advocate for individual students with college administrations, and college and career access programs to ensure that students within their caseload have the tools, resources and support they need to identify, apply and get into a best-fit college or career pathways. The PSP Counselor shall possess a high degree of sensitivity, warmth and empathy while maintaining consistency with program expectations to encourage academic, social and personal growth.

Roles/Responsibilities: 

College/Pro-Pathway Counseling (50%)

• Implement and iterate on Futures Ignite program focused on career & college access programming at Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School, including goal setting, ad hoc program development, and data collection and reporting.
• Manage a caseload of approximately 50 seniors, to support them in researching and finalizing personalized college lists, reviewing personal essays, developing individualized postsecondary plans, and completing the postsecondary application processes. 
• Provide individualized counseling and assistance meetings per student, focused on college application and selection, financial aid, and other areas to ensure each student graduates with a best-fit postsecondary plan. This may include postsecondary planning related to technical program, certificate or internship programs based on student needs 
• Coordinate matriculation preparation resources for graduating seniors in collaboration with the WHEELS Academy counseling team.
• Provide 5-6 individualized counseling and assistance meetings per student, focused on college application and selection, financial aid, and other areas to ensure each student graduates with a best-fit post-secondary plan.
• Facilitate opportunity program matching, pre-college programs recruitment, and major scholarship applications for students in grades 9 through 12, including Questbridge and Posse.
• Maintain student records and accurate data that supports monthly reporting on program progress to goals. Collaborate with WHEELS PSP Manager around implementation and impact reporting.

Futures Ignite Program Implementation & Coordination (20%)

• Facilitate college preparation workshops and group counseling sessions for juniors and  seniors–with a focus on postsecondary planning and elevating youth leadership opportunities.
• Support partnership development with colleges and universities, including coordination  of admissions representative visits and information sessions at WHEELS.  
• Lead planning for annual events geared towards supporting post-secondary planning and success, such as: application days, financial aid nights, targeted group counseling, college trip coordination, College March, Decision Day, Bridge Day, and Summer Institute.
• Collaborate closely with the Postsecondary Planning Team, teachers, and school leaders to build accessible opportunities for students to build a cohesive and robust college access and support team, promoting the college going culture throughout the school. Including sharing resources and communication with students and parents.
• Deepen our team expertise in professional-pathways, including finding credible certificate and trade programs, service years, and gap year options

Program Administration (15%)

• Serve as a key liaison for Team 12 and WHEELS Academy admin, counselors, teachers, students and families. especially in coordinating 11th and 12th grade postsecondary planning efforts on behalf of students.
• Support in student collection and management on Naviance, Enroll, and other data systems tracking student records, supporting regular updates to the team
• Organize college trips (both day and overnight), technical institute visits or drop-ins for all high school students and serve as a chaperone, as needed

Experiential Learning Events & Exploratory Opportunities (10%)

• Support planning and execution of experiential learning events, including a Career Day,  exploratory trips to postsecondary/career institutions, and other opportunities to expose students to diverse careers, including outreach to volunteers, logistical coordination with school partners, and preparing students.
• Support coordination of ongoing Power Hours, featuring professionals from a range of industries throughout the school year,  panels in collaboration with the Development Team and teachers.

Futures Ignite Student Hub Support (5%)

• Uphold Futures Ignite Supercharged Student Hub norms and standards, including student engagement/youth development principles.

• Uphold Futures Ignite core values, staff competencies, and cultural norms surrounding student engagement and collaborative stakeholder relationships with school partners. 
• Support site operations, including: monthly newsletter support, compliance with safety protocols, troubleshooting student issues, being an on-site point of contact for school stakeholders, visitors, general office cleanliness and administration.

Skills/Qualifications: 

• Spanish language fluency preferred
• Subject matter expertise, with interest and emerging understanding and experience in  the college access space
• Proven ability to track and analyze data, both quantitative and qualitative, to measure  program effectiveness on a daily/weekly basis to drive continuous improvement 
• Passionate about supporting first generation students from underserved communities in graduating with postsecondary plans for education and career opportunities
• Analytical skills, critical thinking and problem solving 
• Excellent written and oral communication skills 
• Ability to manage and be flexible with multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment
• Committed to anti-racist practices, equity-driven mindset, and culturally responsive in theory, action and principle
• Demonstrated community leader, with connections in the postsecondary  education and education ecosystem highly preferred 

Experience and Education: 

• Bachelor’s degree required and master’s degree preferred, ideally in education, youth  development or counseling
• A minimum of 4 years of relevant professional experience. 2-3 years of experience providing counseling services is highly preferred 
• Experience working in a high school setting, or in a youth-development setting with adolescent students
• Experience with data management and analysis 
• Experience with project management 

Futures Ignite is an equal opportunity employer and actively encourages applications  from people of all backgrounds.

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