Financial Education Specialist

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is at work in over 40 countries and 24 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities.

The IRC’s Center for Financial Opportunity (CFO) helps newly arrived refugees and other low-income individuals reach self-sufficiency by finding entry-level employment and progress to living wage jobs, learn basic financial management skills and build assets, and start small businesses.

Job Overview:

The Financial Education Specialist will support the IRC’s Financial Education Programs through the coordination of Communities in Action, and other Financial Capability programming activities to clients, leading financial education trainings and workshops, conducting individual assessments to measure financial capability, case management, debt navigation and credit repair mentoring, and providing stabilization support services to help low-income East County residents to achieve and maintain economic self-sufficiency. The Financial Education Specialist will also play an active role in providing access to consumer loans to IRC clients through IRC’s Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).

Major Responsibilities:

- Screen, assess, and enroll interested participants for program eligibility and participation; - Through IRC’s Communities in Action program, conduct individual case management and provide necessary support services or internal referrals to employment, career development, transportation, micro-enterprise of external programs as appropriate; - Ensure that information required for program eligibility and reporting purposes is collected and that accurate records are maintained, including case files and client data entry across multiple databases. Ensure vital steps are taken to acquire relevant data in a timely fashion; follow-up with all clients at a minimum of every 90 days and record all contacts with case notes; - Attend regularly scheduled meetings with other IRC staff, volunteers, and program partners as part of the review, evaluation and program maintenance process; - Provide individualized financial counseling sessions (including both initial and follow-up sessions) and achieve client outcomes. Make appropriate referrals and integrate other wraparound supports (i.e. benefits, tax preparation) into counseling to achieve greater results; - Support the implementation of financial literacy workshops ensuring that all training requirements are met for participants in budgeting, cash management, savings, and credit building in budgeting, banking and credit and administer pre- and post-assessments; - Increase participant knowledge of financial services and credit offerings; - Collaborate with other IRC departments to ensure effective integration of financial education and coaching; - Assist program participants with effectively accessing mainstream financial services, including opening bank accounts, establishing savings, and building credit; - Support debt navigation coaching sessions with an emphasis and the creation of a debt navigation plan, debt prioritization, debt supports, and debt consolidation; - Support IRC clients in accessing capital from IRC’s CDFI through the facilitation and submission of auto, education and training, work support, or credit building applications; - Accurately track participant attendance, data, follow-up services, and outcomes in ETO and Salesforce; - Successfully complete and pass CNM Certified Financial coach, participate in initial trainings and ongoing professional development trainings; - Follow all programmatic, contractual, donor requirements and IRC standards of practice; - Participate and attend community of practice (COP) calls for financial coaches; - Participate in financial capability wide events and initiatives; - Other related duties as assigned;

Position Reports to: Senior Financial Literacy Specialist

Position directly supervises: Volunteers and Interns

Job Requirements:

Education: Undergraduate degree in a related field strongly preferred; or mix of equivalent years of related work experience and education;

Work Experience:

- 1+ years’ experience in the non-profit sector strongly preferred; - 1+ years proven experience with client counseling, case management, or coaching required; - Previous multi-cultural experience and demonstrated ability to communicate well with people of multifaceted backgrounds required; - Prior experience working with refugee and low-income populations preferred;

- High level of familiarity with U.S. credit and banking system and experience with personal budgeting, banking and credit counseling required;

Demonstrated Skills & Competencies:

- Ability to work independently, be a self-starter and maintain responsibility for multiple tasks;

- Excellent organizational skills; - Strong written and verbal communication skills, including ability to make presentations and provide one-one-one coaching in English and other relevant language(s); - Proficiency in English and an additional language relevant to current refugee or immigrant populations required (Arabic, Dari/Pashto, Swahili or Haitian Creole preferred);

Working Environment:

- Hybrid. At home with reliable internet; Standard, professional office environment a minimum of two days per week; - Regular travel to off-site locations is required; - Offices hours are scheduled as Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5pm; some evening and weekend events required; - Access to a reliable vehicle to travel regularly throughout the service delivery area;

Compensation: Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirement.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement****: In accordance with IRC’s duty to provide and maintain a workplace that is free of known hazards and our commitment to safeguard the health of our employees, clients, and communities, IRC requires new hires to furnish proof of vaccination against COVID-19 in order to be considered for any in-office or hybrid positions. All IRC US offices require full vaccination to attend any in-office functions (e.g., meetings, trainings).

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusivity****: IRC is committed to building a diverse organization and a climate of inclusivity. We strongly encourage applications from candidates who can demonstrate that they can contribute to this goal.

Equal Opportunity Employer****: We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

US Benefits: We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-30 vacation days depending on role and tenure, 8 weeks parental leave, multiple options for medical insurance starting at $135 per month, dental starting at $7 per month, and vision starting at $6 per month, a 403(b) retirement savings plans with immediately vested matching, 100% employer paid disability & life insurance, and an employee assistance program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.

#LI-GR1