Match Support Specialist

Big Brothers Big Sisters is recognized as the industry standard for youth mentoring. Since incorporating locally in 1993, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas has matched thousands of children with safe, caring mentors throughout Washington and Benton Counties. Our organization is designed to partner with parents, guardians, volunteers, and community partners to ignite the potential of all youth who walk through our doors.

Job Summary:
The Match Support Specialist is responsible for providing quality, customized, professional support and case management to ensure child safety, positive impacts for youth, constructive and satisfying relationships between children and volunteer mentors, and a strong sense of customer satisfaction.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Provide quality, customized, professional support and case management to volunteers, youth, and families on a frequency according to BBBS Standards of Practice, at a minimum.
• Schedule in-person, telephone and/or electronic contacts to determine that the elements of child safety, match relationship development, positive youth development and volunteer satisfaction are fulfilled, and that potential problems and barriers are identified and addressed as early as possible. Promptly notify supervisor regarding concerns which may negatively impact the match.
• Assess and provide for individual training needs, information, and support needs for each match participant to assure a positive youth development experience for the child, and successful and satisfying experience for the volunteer.
• Ensure high-level proficiency in applying child safety and risk management knowledge, policies and procedures throughout all aspects of job function.
• Develop strategic interventions to identify and strengthen match relationships that require extra support to continue to grow.
• Develop, market, and present match activities that offer volunteers and children a variety of opportunities for group interaction and agency affiliation.
• Implement and promote match activities to support ongoing volunteer involvement through individualized recognition, annual events, and reengagement strategies.
• Establish, monitor and meet goals for match length and customer satisfaction. Effectively utilize survey data to assess match impact on youth development.
• Share potential partnerships and/or relationships as discovered through volunteers’ and parents’ employers and affiliations with development and/or marketing staff
• Establish connections and develop professional relationships with other organizations to provide a high quality of service to families and volunteers.

Education & Related Work Experience:
At minimum, applicants should have a Associates Degree with 4 years of relevant work experience in social services or related field. Bachelors Degree in social work, human services or related field is preferred.

Applicants will ideally have experience working with both child and adult populations and have a history of good customer service. Must have car, valid driver’s license, and meet state required automobile insurance minimums.

Required Skills and Knowledge:

• Proficiency in Google Suite and Microsoft Office.
• Must have excellent time management skills.
• Must have proven successful interpersonal relationship skills to maintain effective and satisfactory working relationships with staff, vendors, clients, community partners, visitors, and others.
• Ability to follow oral and written instructions with ability to read, interpret, and present information efficiently and effectively.
• Must be able to accurately audit records and ensure compliance with written or oral guidelines.
• Maintain confidentiality of clients with tact, respect, and discretion.
• Ability to effectively collaborate with other volunteer match staff.
• Ability to use time effectively.
• Ability to focus on details.
• Ability to collect meaningful data and draw solid conclusions.

Preferred Skills and Knowledge:

Bilingual and/or knowledge of the various communities within Northwest Arkansas, experience working with teenagers and young adults, and/or experience working with volunteers.

Travel Requirements:
Regular local travel within Benton and Washington County. Local mileage reimbursed at federal rate.

Core Competencies & High Performance Indicators:

• Resilience & Flexibility - able to interpret situations and information objectively when stressed; remain calm and professional in potentially difficult or emotionally charged interpersonal interactions; maintain high productivity in stressful situations; maintain high performance in the face of setbacks or changing circumstances; view failures objectively and rebound quickly; work to clarify situations where information or objectives are ambiguous.
• Communication - Able to practice active and attentive listening skills to verify understanding; adapt communication content and delivery to individual needs; proactively inform others about developments relevant to the team; openly and diplomatically express opinion, even when different from that of others; translate what is heard, observed or assessed into documentation that is accurate, concise, and clearly communicates key information to others with a need to know.
• Decisiveness & Judgment - Able to demonstrate good and ethical judgment in routine, day-to-day decisions; independently make decisions and take action, even in non-routine situations; consider impact of various options when making decisions; use good judgment in deciding whether to make a decision or escalate it to a supervisor for additional consultation; use an awareness of formal and informal decision-making channels to achieve desired results.
• Results-Driven - Able to demonstrate high personal work standards, balancing quality and quantity with a sense of urgency about results; do everything possible to meet goals and deadlines; persist in the face of repeated challenges; accept responsibility for improving the quality, efficiency and outcomes of own work.
• Customer Focus - Able to build strong working relationships with internal and external customers; identify unexpressed customer needs and potential services to meet those needs; independently anticipate and personalize communication/approach to fit different perspectives, backgrounds or styles of individuals; prioritize work in alignment with the needs of the customer; use customer knowledge and feedback to improve own work results.
• Problem Solving & Analysis - Able to gather appropriate data and diagnose a situation before taking action; separate causes from symptoms; apply lessons learned from others who encountered similar problems or challenges; anticipate problems and develop contingency plans to deal with them; develop and evaluate alternative courses of action.
• Strategic Alignment - Able to align own work objectives with the organization's strategic plan or objectives; take organizational priorities into consideration when making choices and trade-offs in own work; act with an understanding of how the community affects the business and how own actions and decisions affect other jobs or outcomes; maintain perspective between the overall picture and tactical details.
• Valuing Diversity - Able to seek out and work effectively with others who have diverse perspectives, talents, backgrounds, and/or styles; contribute to a team climate in which differences are valued and supported; challenge any stereotyping or offensive comments; seek and respond to feedback from others about his/her own behavior that might be perceived as biased.

Equal Employment Opportunity
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals without regard to race, creed, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, veteran status, or non-disqualifying physical or mental handicap or disability.

Americans with Disabilities Act
Applicants as well as employees who are or become disabled must be able to perform the essential duties & responsibilities either unaided or with reasonable accommodation. The organization shall determine reasonable accommodation on a case-by-case basis in accordance with applicable law.

Job Responsibilities
The above statements reflect the general duties, responsibilities and competencies considered necessary to perform the essential duties & responsibilities of the job and should not be considered as a detailed description of all the work requirements of the position. Specific job duties may change with or without prior notice based on the needs of the organization.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: From $40,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Flexible schedule
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday
• Weekends as needed

License/Certification:

• Driver's License (Required)

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Fayetteville, AR 72703

Salary : $40,000