Strive Program Manager

Summary

At Mission Services of Silicon Valley, our purpose is simple and powerful: to help people build skills, find meaningful work, and thrive in our community. For nearly 100 years, we’ve been a trusted partner in connecting opportunity with people’s potential. By working hand in hand with local experts, employers, and community members, we create pathways to education, employment, and lasting economic mobility.

As a team, we are committed to:

• Empowering one another to do our best work and grow together.
• Building strong partnerships and serving as a driving force for economic opportunity in Silicon Valley.
• Modeling teamwork, integrity, and cultural intelligence in everything we do.
• Acting with mutual respect—for each other, our community, and the environment we share.

The Strive Program Manager leads the team which implements the San Jose Bridge grant. The grant provides a path to living wage employment for people living in Emergency Interim Housing in San Jose. Most participants enter paid work immediately after enrollment through litter abatement and public restroom attendant crews operated under agreement with the City of San Jose, then move into training, subsidized employment, and permanent placement with local employers while receiving case management and supportive services.

The Program Manager supervises a team of up to eight. The role is accountable for enrollment and service targets, field operations and crew safety, the completeness of participant records, the timeliness and accuracy of all reporting to the City of San Jose, and program performance against contract outcome measures. The work moves between the office, City and partner meetings, and field sites where crews are working.

Key Responsibilities

People Leadership and Team Development

• Supervise a team including Case Managers, Employment Specialists, and Drivers, across professional case management and field operations roles.
• In collaboration with the Director of Social Impact Programs, hire, onboard, train, coach, and evaluate all Strive program staff.
• Hold regular one on one supervision with each direct report, set clear performance expectations, and document coaching and development at the time it occurs.
• Build staffing schedules and crew assignments that maintain coverage across field sites, case management appointments, and transportation needs.
• Address performance and conduct issues promptly and in partnership with Human Resources.

Partnership and Stakeholder Collaboration

• Serve as the primary day to day point of contact for the City of San Jose Housing Department, including the assigned Development Officer, and for Beautify SJ and other City departments on work plans, site selection, and program changes.
• Coordinate with the Continuum of Care, Emergency Interim Housing site operators, and county and community partners on participant referral, housing linkage, and supportive services.
• Recruit, onboard, and maintain relationships with Employment Subsidy Partners and other employers, including negotiating placement opportunities and living wage career pathways.
• Represent Strive at community meetings, provider convenings, and City site visits, and present program results to external audiences.
• Collaborate with local workforce development boards to expand job opportunities for participants.

Program Delivery and Operations

• Direct outreach, enrollment, paid work experience, case management, job development, and placement activities for participants served under the City agreement.
• Oversee litter abatement and public restroom attendant crews, including site selection from City approved lists, crew size and shift design, safety assessment protocols, personal protective equipment, uniforms and identification, and job related training.
• Maintain worksite documentation for all contracted activities, including activity checklists, bag counts, cleanliness scores, and before and after photographs, and confirm records are retained in the designated archive.
• Manage program transportation, including driver assignments, vehicle scheduling, and safe transport of crews to and from field sites.
• Administer the wage subsidy program, including participant eligibility, subsidy allocation, collection of certified timecards and proof of payment from employer partners, and monitoring of the 90 day retention follow up.
• Ensure individual service and employment plans meet program standards and are documented accurately and on time in HMIS and CaseWorthy.
• Meet with participants to resolve grievances and respond to incidents in the field.

Programmatic Knowledge and Practice

• Apply and coach staff in trauma informed, strengths based, and harm reduction approaches appropriate to participants managing substance use disorders, mental health conditions, and histories of homelessness.
• Maintain current working knowledge of workforce development practice, including career pathways, sector strategies, supportive service design, and barrier removal.
• Keep the team current on funder guidance, HMIS data standards, and changes in local homelessness and workforce systems.
• Develop and update service delivery procedures, program manuals, and staff training consistent with contract and compliance requirements.

Reporting, Documentation and Data Integrity

• Own the Strive reporting calendar. Prepare and submit quarterly performance reports to the City by contractual deadlines and maintain a tracking system that flags upcoming due dates in advance.
• Reconcile HMIS and CaseWorthy participant data to reported figures before each submission, resolve duplicate and erroneous entries, and route reports through a second reviewer prior to filing.
• Conduct scheduled case file reviews to confirm that signed intake forms, eligibility documentation, and evidence of delivered services are complete and retained.
• Partner with the Grants and Compliance team on quality control reviews, and correct documentation gaps identified through those reviews.
• Prepare and sign the quarterly narrative report to the City, including before and after photographs, aggregated bag counts, poundage, collection dates, and description of program performance.

Analysis and Decision Making

• Monitor performance against all contract outcome measures, including enrollment, employment placement, living wage attainment, job retention, and participant well being, and identify the causes behind results that are off target.
• Build and maintain analytical reports from HMIS, CaseWorthy, and City data sources, and resolve discrepancies between systems.
• Use performance data to make timely decisions about staffing, crew deployment, service design, and participant flow, and recommend program changes to the Director of Social Impact Programs.
• Report variances against quarterly targets to the Director of Social Impact Programs and to the City, with a corrective plan where targets are missed.

Contract Management and Budgeting

• Manage program delivery against the terms of the City of San Jose agreement and any amendments, and flag scope, deliverable, or timeline risks early.
• Prepare and monitor the program budget in partnership with the Director of Social Impact Programs and the Finance team, review monthly financial reports, and address variances.
• Ensure allowable costs, accurate time and effort documentation, and proper support for participant wage and subsidy expenditures.
• Support contract amendments, renewals, and funder monitoring reviews, including assembling supporting documentation and responding to findings.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Responsibilities may be added, deleted or changed at any time at the discretion of management, formally or informally either orally or in writing.