JOB SUMMARY: 

The Workforce Readiness Navigator supports the St. Pete Works Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) collaborative by helping residents of the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) prepare for, access, and retain employment in in-demand occupations offering livable to mid-high wages.

Working in coordination with St. Petersburg College (SPC), workforce partners, employers, training providers, and community organizations, the Workforce Readiness Navigator delivers participant-centered career readiness, career navigation, job placement, outreach, employer engagement, and supportive-service coordination. The position maintains accurate participant and employer records, documents measurable outcomes, and performs all work in accordance with CareerSource Tampa Bay, SPC, and St. Pete Works EDGE requirements.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: 

(The following duty statements are illustrative of the essential functions of the job and do not include non-essential or marginal duties that may be required. CareerSource Tampa Bay reserves the right to modify or change the duties or essential functions of this job at any time).

Participant Outreach and Enrollment

• Conduct targeted outreach to residents of the South St. Petersburg CRA through community events, partner referrals, presentations, digital communications, promotional materials, and direct engagement.
• Respond to prospective participant inquiries and explain EDGE eligibility, services, expectations, and available career pathways.
• Support participant intake, enrollment, orientation, assessment, and referral processes.
• Maintain documentation of outreach activities, including event flyers, promotional materials, attendance records, referrals, and follow-up actions.
• Help reduce barriers to participation through accessible, culturally responsive, and community-centered engagement.

Career Navigation and Readiness

• Conduct individualized career coaching and career-readiness interventions based on each participant's interests, skills, experience, barriers, and employment goals.
• Assist participants with developing and completing Career Blueprints that identify career goals, training options, action steps, supportive-service needs, and employment milestones.
• Facilitate or coordinate career-readiness activities addressing resume development, interviewing, workplace communication, digital literacy, professional conduct, job-search strategies, financial readiness, and employee retention.
• Connect participants to approved short-term certificate programs and other training aligned with in-demand occupations.
• Track participant progress through career readiness, workforce training, credential attainment, work-based learning, placement, and retention.
• Maintain regular participant contact and provide follow-up coaching designed to support persistence and career advancement.

Job Placement and Retention

• Match qualified participants with employment opportunities aligned with their Career Blueprints, credentials, skills, experience, and wage goals.
• Provide job-search assistance, application support, interview preparation, referrals, and employer introductions.
• Coordinate with employers and workforce partners to identify job openings, hiring requirements, career pathways, and advancement opportunities.
• Document applications, interviews, job offers, placement dates, employers, job titles, wages, hours, benefits, and retention milestones.
• Follow up with participants and employers after placement to identify challenges and coordinate retention support.
• Emphasize placement in good jobs offering sustainable wages, advancement potential, stability, and supportive working conditions.

Employer and Partner Engagement

• Develop and maintain productive relationships with employers, community partners, training providers, industry representatives, and workforce-development organizations.
• Recruit employers to participate in job fairs, hiring events, discussion panels, capstone presentations, and other EDGE activities.
• Engage employers regarding talent needs, occupational requirements, preferred credentials, workplace expectations, and hiring opportunities.
• Serve in a partner-building and advisory capacity and coordinate subject matter experts as guest presenters for panels, workshops, and community events.
• Enter employer contacts, engagement activities, opportunities, referrals, and outcomes into HubSpot or another SPC-designated system.
• Support collaborative planning that strengthens the connection between training activities and local labor-market demand.

Supportive and Wraparound Services

• Assess participant barriers that may affect enrollment, training completion, job placement, or retention.
• Coordinate access to approved supportive and wraparound services, including transportation, childcare, technology, work-related supplies, emergency assistance, and referrals to community resources.
• Document services provided, referral status, participant needs, and relevant follow-up.
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality and handle participant information in accordance with applicable policies and requirements.

Events and Program Activities

• Help plan, promote, coordinate, and document employer-engagement events, job fairs, capstone presentations, launch events, workshops, panels, and community outreach activities.
• Recruit and prepare participants for hiring events and employer interactions.
• Recruit employers, presenters, partners, and community stakeholders for program events.
• Collect attendance records, employer participation information, participant outcomes, event materials, and other required supporting documentation.
• Evaluate event results and recommend improvements based on participant, partner, and employer feedback.

Data Collection, Documentation, and Reporting

• Maintain accurate, complete, timely, and verifiable records for all assigned participants, employers, outreach activities, services, and outcomes.
• Enter and update required information in HubSpot or other SPC-designated systems within established deadlines.
• Maintain participant records that may include enrollment, attendance, eligibility documentation, assessments, case notes, Career Blueprints, career-readiness training, workforce training, credentials, supportive services, referrals, placements, wages, and retention outcomes.
• Maintain employer records that may include contacts, engagement history, job opportunities, event participation, candidate referrals, placements, and follow-up.
• Prepare reports and supporting documentation for invoices, performance reviews, monitoring, audits, and program evaluation.
• Attach required evidence to reported activities, including promotional materials, event flyers, attendance records, case notes, HubSpot reports, credential documentation, and employment verification.

Monitoring, Compliance, and Quality Assurance

• Perform all duties in alignment with St. Pete Works EDGE goals, approved activities, participant outcomes, reporting standards, and performance expectations.
• Maintain participant and program files in a manner that supports monitoring, programmatic review, financial review, and audit readiness.
• Cooperate fully with file reviews, monitoring activities, compliance reviews, audits, and documentation requests conducted by SPC, the City, or other authorized entities.
• Follow all applicable organizational policies, grant requirements, data-security procedures, and records-retention standards.

Communication and Collaboration

• Maintain regular communication with the designated SPC Project Director regarding progress, barriers, participant concerns, operational updates, and performance outcomes.
• Participate in required meetings, trainings, reporting meetings, collaborative planning sessions, and program-coordination activities.
• Communicate emerging risks or performance concerns in a timely manner and contribute to practical corrective-action strategies.
• Work collaboratively with EDGE partners to prevent duplication of services and promote coordinated participant support.

Performance Measures

The Workforce Readiness Navigator contributes to the following contract goals: Community Discovery and Access; Career Navigation and Blue Printing; Work Integrated Training; Wraparound Services; Launch and Celebration; and Career Advancement.

Other Duties

Additional Duties as May Be Assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Minimum Education & Training: 

• Bachelor’s Degree and no experience required.
• Associate degree plus two years of customer service, case management, or related workforce experience.
• High School Diploma plus four years of customer service, case management, or related workforce experience.
• Florida Workforce Professional Certification Tier I required.
• Proficient in Microsoft suite (Outlook, Word etc.).

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: 

• Stooping. Bending body downward and forward by bending spine at the waist. This factor is important if it occurs to a considerable degree and requires full motion of the lower extremities and back muscles.
• Reaching. Extending hand(s) and arm(s) in any direction.
• Standing. Particularly for sustained periods of time.
• Walking. Moving about on foot to accomplish tasks, particularly for long distances or moving from one work site to another.
• Lifting. Raising objects from a lower to a higher position or moving objects horizontally from position-to-position. This factor is important if it occurs to a considerable degree and requires substantial use of upper extremities and back muscles.
• Talking. Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word. Those activities in which they must convey detailed instructions to other or important spoken workers accurately, loudly, or quickly.
• Hearing. Perceiving the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction. Ability to receive detailed information through oral communication, and to make the discriminations in sound.
• Sedentary work. Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally and all other sedentary criteria are met.
• The worker is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; visual inspection involving small defects, small parts, and/or operation of machines (including inspection); using measurement devices; and/or assembly or fabrication parts at distances close to the eyes.
• The worker is subject to both environmental conditions. Activities occur inside and outside.