Assistant Director, Career Exploration & Readiness Continuum

Assistant Director, Career Exploration \& Readiness Continuum The Door \| Career and Education Services Salary: $75,000 \- $85,000 Reports To: Director, Youth Exploration \& Career Navigation Hub Hours: Monday through Friday, 35 hours per week, occasional evening and weekend hours as needed. Opportunity for remote work as needed and approved About The Door The Door has served as one of New York City's most trusted places for teens and young adults for more than 50 years. The Door's mission is to empower young people to reach their potential by providing comprehensive youth development services in a diverse and caring environment. A nationally recognized model for holistic youth support, The Door reaches up to 10,000 young people annually through a wide range of free, co\-located services. Youth ages 12 to 24 can access health care and health education, mental health counseling and crisis intervention, legal services, career and education programming, housing supports, services for runaway and homeless youth, arts and recreational programming, and nutritious daily meals, all under one roof. The majority of youth served are navigating systemic barriers, including disconnection from school or work, housing instability, and involvement in foster care or the justice system. Within this model, The Door operates a robust Career and Education Services Department (CareerED), including general work\-readiness training and 14 sector\-based workforce programs aligned with high\-demand industries such as construction, green jobs, healthcare, information technology, retail, culinary arts, theater production, and commercial driving. These programs combine technical training, industry\-recognized credentials, paid internships, and job placement support, in partnership with institutions such as CUNY and leading employers. About the Youth Exploration \& Career Navigation Hub In Fall 2026, The Door will launch NYC's first Youth Exploration \& Career Navigation Hub (the Hub). The Hub addresses a longstanding citywide gap: while NYC has invested heavily in education, workforce, and youth services, the broader system remains fragmented, difficult to navigate, and not designed around how young people actually explore options, make decisions, and move forward over time. Over 106,000 young people ages 16 to 24 are disconnected from school and work in NYC, and there is currently no place where a young person can walk in and receive personalized exploration, navigation, and warm connections to best\-fit opportunities citywide. The Hub is a welcoming, youth\-centered space where young people walk in, get paired with a dedicated Citywide Career Navigator, explore their interests and goals through trust\-based coaching, and receive warm referrals to best\-fit education, training, and employment opportunities across NYC. Onsite, the Hub also offers a Career Exploration \& Readiness Continuum: four immediate\-entry, stackable pathways (immersive Virtual Reality career exploration with Transfr, a 9\-session Career Readiness Certificate Program, the 6\-week Transfr Trek cohort, and the 7\-week Mesa Alumni Lab cohort) that allow young people to build skills, confidence, and clarity at their own pace. A defining feature of the Hub is its commitment to ongoing support and returnability: young people are never exited from the program, never rejected, and always welcomed back without stigma when a pathway does not work out. The Hub operates on a "No Eject, No Reject" philosophy. The Hub is youth\-informed and co\-designed. Its model was shaped by a comprehensive research and design process that included 8 youth focus groups engaging approximately 75 young adults across diverse NYC populations (foster care\-involved youth, runaway and homeless youth, young people in GED programs, CTE seniors, and Eagle Academy alumni), nearly 50 interviews with cross\-sector leaders, assessment of 9 national Youth Engagement Centers, and a literature review of 50\+ reports. Youth voice is not a one\-time planning input; it is a core accountability mechanism. The Hub will operate a paid Youth Advisory Council that plays an active, ongoing role in shaping the Hub's design, implementation, and continuous improvement, including naming programs, co\-designing curricula, participating in staff hiring panels, and providing ongoing feedback on participant experience. The Hub is explicitly external\-facing and citywide. Unlike traditional onsite programs, the Hub's mission is to connect young people to best\-fit opportunities anywhere in NYC, not just inside The Door. This requires strong cross\-sector partnership building with workforce providers, community\-based organizations, intermediaries, school networks, postsecondary institutions, public agencies, and employers across the city. The Hub is also closely aligned with the Pathway Gap Collaborative, a 75\+ organization cross\-sector effort building shared infrastructure and tools to strengthen youth pathway navigation citywide, and the broader emerging collective impact effort to improve youth economic mobility across NYC. Every Hub team member is expected to actively build, sustain, and grow citywide partnerships in support of the young people they serve. Position Overview The Assistant Director will oversee the Hub's Career Exploration \& Readiness Continuum, ensuring young people have immediate opportunities to engage, explore career pathways, build skills, earn stipends, and develop confidence while preparing for employment, postsecondary education, and training opportunities. The Continuum includes four stackable pathways: Virtual Reality Career Exploration (in partnership with Transfr); the Career Readiness Certificate Program (9\-session workshop series); Transfr Trek (6\-week cohort\-based career exploration); and the Mesa Alumni Lab (7\-week cohort\-based career exploration, in partnership with Mesa Charter School). The Assistant Director will lead implementation and instruction of exploration and readiness programming, facilitate the Transfr Trek and Mesa Alumni Lab cohorts, supervise Peer Advocates and other facilitators, coordinate external partners, and continuously refine programming based on youth feedback, labor market trends, and participant outcomes. The Assistant Director will be trained by both the Transfr and Mesa teams in their respective models and will own those critical partnerships on behalf of the Hub. This role combines program leadership, curriculum oversight, youth engagement, workshop facilitation, partnership development, and innovation. Why This Role Matters The Career Exploration \& Readiness Continuum is the Hub's signature on\-ramp, the place where young people first experience what it feels like to be supported, listened to, and connected to real opportunities. The Assistant Director's leadership will determine whether the Continuum becomes a citywide and national model for youth\-centered career exploration and readiness, and whether young people who walk through the door feel met, prepared, and confident as they take their next step. Primary Responsibilities Program Leadership Oversee all Career Exploration \& Readiness Continuum programming. Manage implementation of Transfr VR career exploration, the Career Readiness Certificate Program, Transfr Trek cohorts, the Mesa Alumni Lab, workshops, and related activities. Facilitate Transfr Trek (6\-week cohort\-based career exploration) and Mesa Alumni Lab (7\-week cohort) sessions. Manage participant flow across the Continuum's four pathways, including same\-day intake for drop\-in Transfr VR sessions and cohort enrollment for Transfr Trek and Mesa Alumni Lab. Ensure high\-quality, youth\-centered participant experiences across all pathways. Develop annual program goals and outcomes. Curriculum \& Continuous Improvement Refine and strengthen curriculum and workshop content in close partnership with the Hub's Youth Advisory Council, integrating youth feedback into ongoing program design. Ensure programming remains responsive to labor market trends and emerging career pathways. Utilize participant data and youth feedback to improve services. Coordinate with Transfr and Mesa Charter School to ensure model fidelity and receive ongoing technical assistance, with the goal of building full internal capacity by Year 2\. Track participant progress, completion rates, and outcomes across all Continuum pathways. Youth Engagement Create engaging, youth\-centered learning environments. Ensure participants have opportunities to explore careers, develop skills, build social capital, and earn stipends. Manage participant recruitment, retention, and progression. Engage the Youth Advisory Council in ongoing curriculum design, program evaluation, and continuous improvement; participate in YAC\-led staff hiring panels. Coordinate distribution of program incentives and completion stipends. Staff Supervision Supervise Peer Advocates and other workshop facilitators. Provide coaching and professional development. Ensure staff are equipped to deliver high\-quality programming. Partnership Development Own and steward partnerships with Transfr and Mesa Charter School. Build and sustain additional partnerships that extend the Continuum's reach, including with employers (in coordination with the Citywide Employment \& Partnership Manager), postsecondary institutions, training providers, and community\-based organizations. Coordinate closely with Citywide Senior Career Navigators to ensure participants transition from Continuum experiences into best\-fit next steps (training, education, employment, or further exploration). Support development of experiential learning opportunities, guest speakers, industry visits, and career exposure activities. Represent the Hub in relevant external meetings and partnerships. Coordination \& Cross\-Departmental Work Coordinate with The Door's broader Career and Education Services Department, social workers, and wraparound supports. Demonstrate an understanding of and practice the principles of positive youth development and trauma\-informed care. Handle any appropriate responsibilities and functions assigned by supervisor. Additional Leadership Competencies Strategic Leadership Able to translate vision into action. Balances innovation with implementation. Makes thoughtful decisions in complex and evolving environments. Inspires others around a shared purpose. Partnership \& Coalition Building Builds strong relationships across sectors and stakeholder groups. Navigates differing perspectives and competing priorities effectively. Represents the organization with professionalism and credibility. Understands the value of collective action and shared ownership. Coaching \& Team Development Invests in the growth and development of others. Creates a culture of accountability, learning, and collaboration. Provides clear expectations, constructive feedback, and support. Leads with humility, empathy, and integrity. Qualifications Required Bachelor's degree required. Minimum 5 years of experience in youth development, workforce development, education, career readiness, or related field. Experience facilitating workshops, groups, or educational programming with young adults. Experience supervising staff or peer leaders. Demonstrated ability to build and sustain partnerships with external organizations; partnership building is a core requirement of the role. Preferred Master's degree in social work, education, counseling, or related field. Curriculum development experience. Knowledge of NYC career pathways, labor market trends, and the workforce and postsecondary ecosystem. Experience working with opportunity youth or young people facing systemic barriers (foster care involvement, court involvement, housing instability). Experience with experiential and project\-based learning; comfort with technology including virtual reality. Commitment to trauma\-informed, culturally responsive, and youth\-centered practice. Commitment to authentic youth voice as a driver of program design. Bilingual (English/Spanish/French) skills preferred to support diverse populations The Door is an Equal Opportunity Employer The Door is committed to building a diverse workforce and strongly encourages individuals with lived experience and those reflective of the communities we serve to apply.