POSITION TITLE: Program Assistant (Hourly)
REQUISITION #: req6968
DEPARTMENT: Social Sustainability
LOCATION: 222 LAPORTE
BENEFIT CATEGORY: Variable Hourly View Classifications & Benefits
EMPLOYMENT TYPE: Part-Time Hourly
HOURLY RATE: $20.00 - 25.00 per hour (based on relevant experience)
SELECTION PROCESS: Application deadline is 3:00 p.m. MT on 3/27/2023.

The City of Fort Collins is a bias-conscious employer. We ask that you please avoid the use of photos when submitting a resume and/or an application for employment. You will receive an email acknowledgment when you have successfully submitted an application. Your completed application will be forwarded to the hiring manager. You will be notified if you are selected for further testing or interviews. Please keep your contact information up-to-date. The status of your application will be updated in your applicant profile. Post-offer background check required .

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they can perform every job description task. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may come from a less traditional background. The City may consider an equivalent combination of knowledge, skills, education, and experience to meet minimum qualifications. If you are interested in applying, we encourage you to think broadly about your background and skill set for the role.

The Community: The City of Fort Collins sits nestled against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains alongside the banks of the Cache La Poudre River. At 5,000 feet in elevation, residents enjoy a moderate, four-season climate, with an average of 300 days of sunshine per year. With 174,800 residents, Fort Collins is Colorado’s fourth-largest city and spans 57 square miles. With the 20 year growth projection, the City of Fort Collins is expected to reach 255,000 residents.

The first people who hunted in this region arrived approximately 11,000 years ago, and Northern Colorado remains an integral part of the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute Nations. European-American trappers and traders arrived by the early 1800s but rarely established permanent settlements. Gold and silver discoveries in the Colorado mountains in the mid-1800s and the prospect of land for farming and ranching attracted people from eastern cities and across the globe to the Colorado Territory, including what would become the town of Fort Collins; an agricultural colony that emerged from its founding days as a military fort. The expansion included the sugar beet industry's growth, which brought new residents whose descendants still live here today, including Mexican-American families from southern Colorado, New Mexico, and northern Mexico, as well as Germans from Russia. Since 1879, Fort Collins has been the home of the state’s land grant institution, Colorado State University, which currently enrolls 34,000 students. Along with the university, the city’s major high-tech and manufacturing companies and breweries attract new residents from all over the country and world. The community’s overall social diversity continues to grow.

There are abundant outdoor recreation opportunities available to the many residents who enjoy healthy lifestyles. The nearby Horsetooth Reservoir is a key attraction, as is the Cache La Poudre-North Park Scenic Byway. The Downtown district provides many venues for live music, shopping, dining, and nightlife within the city. Fort Collins is widely considered the Craft Beer Capital of Colorado. The City has a strong appreciation for arts, culture, and entertainment. Various national organizations and magazines recognize Fort Collins as one of the best places to live in the nation.

The City’s long list of acknowledgements includes:

• No. 2 Best Tasting Drinking Water in North America: American Water Works – June 2021
• No. 5 Best Remote-Ready Cities: Livability.com Jan 2021
• Top 30 Creative Small Cities: CVSuite – May 2020
• No. 18 Safest Cities in America: SafeWise – April 2020
• No. 1 Best Place to Live: Livability.com March 2020
• No. 9 Most Fitness Friendly Places: SmartAsset – Dec 2019
• No. 7 Safest Driving Cities: Allstate – June 2019
• No. 4 Best U.S. Cities to Raise a Family: MarketWatch – April 2019
• No. 9 Best Performing Cities: Milken Institute – Jan 2019
• No. 3 U.S. Cities with Highest Economic Confidence: Yahoo – Nov 2018
• No. 2 Brain Concentration Index: Bloomberg – Nov 2018
• No. 1 City in America for Cycling: PeopleForBikes-May 2018
• Outstanding Achievement in Local Government Innovation Award: Alliance for Innovation-April 2018
• The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award-Nov 2017
• 18th Best City for Career Opportunities: SmartAsset – Sep 2017
• 3rd Best College Town to Live in Forever: College Ranker – July 2017
• 25 Best Towns Ever: Where to Live Now: Outside Magazine – June 2017
• No. 1 Stable and Growing Housing Market: Realtor.com-June 2017
• 11th Happiest City in America: Yahoo! Finance - March 2017
• No. 9 Top 150 Cities for Millennials Report: Millennial Personal Finance - Feb 2017
• No. 2 Best Cities for Small Business Owners: ValuePenguin – Feb 2017

Why Work For the City of Fort Collins?

• Potential for paid personal leave and paid holidays

- Employee Assistance Program: counseling, legal, and financial assistance

- Wellness program, workout facilities

- Personal & professional learning opportunities plus potential for career mobility

- Collaborative work environment

SUMMARY
This position will provide project support for program and policy efforts conducted by the Housing Team in the Social Sustainability Department, especially focused on supporting homelessness response and housing programs. The City of Fort Collins strives to lead by example for organizational sustainability in operations, programs, and practices. The organization endeavors to inspire the people in our workforce and our community to embrace the three pillars of sustainability.

The Sustainability Program Assistant will coordinate aspects of project support, including planning, communication, evaluation, and reporting. This position works in collaboration with Social Sustainability Department staff, other City departments, external stakeholders and community groups in support of project management. The ideal candidate will be capable of managing logistics around multiple concurrent projects to achieve outstanding community experiences.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
The following duties and responsibilities are illustrative of the primary function of this position and are not intended to be all inclusive.

• Organize and manage projects that support sustainability; may include program coordination, spreadsheet management and website management.
• Coordinate and assist with homelessness response, including emergency weather activations, partner organization communications, and support for meetings and convenings.
• Collaborate with City staff to coordinate community engagement events.
• Assist with grant compliance and monitoring of funding awards to community organizations, including support with data collection and reporting on grant metrics.
• Assist with tracking affordability restrictions.
• Contribute to a thriving team environment by actively participating at team meetings, supporting team members with work tasks, and practicing open communication and timely feedback.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
This position is not responsible for the supervision of City employee(s).

City Competencies

• Demonstrated cultural competence to effectively interact, work, and develop meaningful relationships with people of diverse identities, perspectives, and cultural backgrounds.
• Strong learning orientation. Leverages all resources and is creative in ways of learning for self to continue adapting to changing issues and trends.
• A desire and ability to understand the diverse needs of internal and external customers, and to create experiences and deliver services that exceed their expectations.
• A desire and ability to utilize digital tools for organizational information, individual, and teamwork.

QUALIFICATIONS: The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills and abilities required to perform the functions of this position.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Experience and interest in social sustainability’s key areas of work, including housing, homelessness, and human services.
• Ability to approach work with an equity and triple-bottom-line (social, economic, and environmental) lens; desire to center equity in both processes and outcomes.
• Experience with public speaking, community engagement or community organizing.
• Ability to write in English clearly and articulately. Ability to read and speak Spanish is desirable.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated proficiency in empathy and listening. Desire to learn and willingness to try new things.
• Experience working directly with people from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Strong interpersonal skills. Ability to collaborate effectively.
• Strong organizational skills. Ability to track processes and results in a consistent manner.
• Proficiency in Microsoft applications, spreadsheets, and computer systems.
• Adaptable and able to work under a rapidly changing work environment.
• Self-directed, quick learner, responsible, dedicated, uses good judgment, positive attitude, and a good team-player.

EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE:

Preferred: College-level or technical school course work in social work, housing, community development, public health, or related study area with minimum of one year of job experience performing project coordination and administration or community engagement, preferably in a team environment.

Minimum: High school graduate or general education degree (GED) with 2 years of work experience and knowledge of housing and homelessness.

LANGUAGE SKILLS:
Ability to verbally communicate with multiple audiences. Ability to effectively present concepts and respond appropriately to questions. Ability to read, analyze, and interpret technical information. Ability to write reports and correspondence in a concise, clear, and impactful manner.

REASONING ABILITY:
Ability to interpret a variety of instructions supplied in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form. Ability to define and solve problems, collect data from internal and external customers, and apply this to achieve outstanding service

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS: Not applicable.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, stand, walk and talk or hear. The employee may lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. The demands on the visual sense are very high.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Virtual office environment. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
The City of Fort Collins will make reasonable accommodations for access to City services, programs and activities and will make special communication arrangements for persons with disabilities. Please call (970) 221-6535 for assistance.

Notice Regarding Medical and/or Recreational Marijuana Use:
Because the possession and use of marijuana, whether for medical use or otherwise, constitutes a federal offense and because the City is a drug free workplace, the City will not accommodate the medical use of marijuana and enforces written policy prohibiting working for the City while marijuana is in the body. The fact that state law recognizes medical marijuana as a prescribed, or otherwise permitted, medication does not alter or otherwise change this policy.

The City of Fort Collins is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants are considered for positions for which they have applied without regard to gender (regardless of gender identity or gender expression), race, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, age 40 years or older, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, pregnancy or other characteristics protected by law. For the purpose of this City policy “sexual orientation” means a person’s actual or perceived orientation toward heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality.

POST OFFER BACKGROUND CHECK REQUIRED.

Note: Some information in your application may be public information under the Colorado Open Records Act.