A best-in-class city that attracts best-in-class talent, Philadelphia is an incredible place to build a career. From our thriving arts scene and rich history to our culture of passion and grit, there are countless reasons to love living and working here. With a workforce of over 30,000 people, and more than 1,000 different job categories, the City of Philadelphia offers boundless opportunities to make an impact. 

As an employer, the City of Philadelphia values inclusion, integrity, innovation, empowerment, and hard work above all else. We offer a vibrant work environment, comprehensive health care and benefits, and the experience you need to grow and excel. If you’re interested in working with a passionate team of people who care about the future of Philadelphia, start here.

What We Offer:

  Impact - The work you do here matters to millions. 

  Growth - Philadelphia is growing, why not grow with it? 

  Diversity & Inclusion - Find a career in a place where everyone belongs.

  Opportunities in Tech - Don’t wait for the future, shape it.

  Benefits - We care about your well being.

Agency Description

The Managing Director manages and oversees the operations of the City.  Working with five Cabinet-level Deputies, operational oversight is divided into specific departmental clusters: Health and Human Services, Community and Culture, Community Services, Public Safety and Criminal Justice, and Transportation and Infrastructure.  The Community Services cluster oversees several outward-facing programs that provide services directly to the public. These offices and programs focus on enhancing quality of life and improving how citizens engage with their communities and their city government.

The Office of Immigrant Affairs (OIA) promotes and strengthens the well-being of Philadelphia’s immigrant communities. We do this by recommending and developing policies and programs, which in turn provide opportunity and access to services. We help facilitate the successful inclusion of immigrants into the civic, economic, and cultural life of the city. We also highlight the essential role that immigrants have played and continue to play in our city.

The Office of Immigrant Affairs seeks a mission-driven, detail-oriented individual with exceptional communication and project management skills to join the department as a full-time Language Access Program Manager. The position will report to the Executive Director and is responsible for directing and carrying out all activities related to the Language Access Program including day-to-day operations, training, and monitoring.  This position also works closely with the Managing Director’s Office (MDO) Accounting staff. This program provides professional interpretation and translation in over 180 languages throughout city departments including, Health, Police, Licensing and Inspections, and Revenue, among others. We strive to not only bridge languages, but also cultures, in order to ensure that immigrant communities and Limited English Proficient (LEP) residents can communicate effectively with local government and are able to easily access city services and resources. In reaching this goal, staff of the program is engaged in contract management, training development, program implementation and evaluation.

In addition to the above responsibilities, the Program Manager will assist the Director in the implementation of other initiatives, such as the naturalization campaign, community dialogues, cultural programming and policy initiatives, among others.

Key Goals of the Position

• Maintain and grow all relationships associated with Language Access within and outside of government
• Continue to improve and professionalize the Language Access Program, including operations, processes, evaluation, visibility, contractor pool and pipeline, etc.
• Ensure LEP and immigrant communities have access to city services and resources, including, but not limited to Language Access
• Foster relationships between the office and community and institutional stakeholders

Essential Functions

Help in the Implementation of a City-Wide Language access policy

• Support City offices, boards, departments, and commissions in revising and implementing language access plans
• Provide consulting to City departments on language service delivery methods to maximize efficiency and ease of use.
• Create tools for City departments to use in service delivery tailored around the needs of the department.
• Ongoing engagement of language access coordinators to improve skills and knowledge that will expand language access within their department. 

Track, analyze and record City-wide language access service utilization trends

• Maintain data collection records for use in improving services, deploying staff and other resources, and setting policy. This includes tracking and reporting on quarterly performance measures under the program-based budgeting.
• Provide monthly breakdowns of usage and analyze trends that are shared with executive leadership.
• Lead annual reporting mechanisms for citywide departmental reporting to further analyze department language access efforts.

Manage Language Access contracts

• Assist in oversight of the MDO Language Access Program budget.  This includes developing, monitoring, and submitting monthly financial reports (accounts receivable and accounts payable).
• Central review and approval of all MDO invoices submitted by language access vendors for payment processing.
• Lead RFP process
• Supervise interns

Liaise between City agencies and Language Access vendors

• Submit requests for document translation and on-site interpretation on behalf of designated City agencies.
• Point of contact for billing inquiries and coordination of a variety of staff training. 
• Utilize ACIS, the city vendor payment system and FAMIS to provide vendors with information regarding payment and follow up with departments on budgeting and invoices/payments.

Provide programmatic and technical support to departments

• Keep departments apprised of any changes in the City’s language access program, federal requirements, monitor departmental needs, and provide departments with technical assistance.
• Coordinate the development, implementation and updating of language access plans for over 22 departments, agencies, boards and commissions, including the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD), Licenses & Inspections and Public Health.
• Conduct training, orientations and presentations about the program.
• Help departments improve communications and outreach to immigrant and LEP residents.
• Manage, install and provide technical support for all language service devices across the City. This includes dual-handset phones and in-person interpretation equipment. Keep inventory of all language access equipment.

Liaise between City agencies and language access stakeholders

• Develop and maintain relationships with relevant stakeholder groups and service providers. This includes relevant immigrant commissions and other government entities such as the School District of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania’s Governor offices.
• Assist in planning language accessible events for the City.
• Represent the City at regional and national language access convening/conferences.

Continuous Quality Improvement

• Conduct research on and assessment of best practices in language access provision, such as the Language Access Card and Translation Station.
• Identify weaknesses in the program and develop improvement plans
• Evaluate program and vendors

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field
• Previous administrative experience with contracts and vendor management
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience working within immigrant and refugee communities
• Preference for previous supervisory experience

Competencies, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong time management skills
• Ability to meet deadlines with keen attention to details and follow through
• Excellent word processing and database skills, including knowledge of spreadsheets
• Experience with navigating technology such as online databases and related software programs
• Excellent interpersonal skills, maintaining tact and diplomacy in all situations
• Excellent presentation skills, including the use of MS PowerPoint
• Self-motivated and a self-starter, friendly and professional
• Excellent written and oral communication
• Solution focused and Action-oriented
• Able to manage projects including preparation of reports and analysis
• Willingness to learn, work hard, and teach others
• Ability to create and oversee the implementation of achievable action plans
• Ability to work both independently and as a team.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office (word, excel, PowerPoint, Teams), Google Suite (docs, sheets, slides) and virtual meeting platforms such as Zoom.
• Familiarity with digital communications such as social media, mailchimp, wordpress and best practices for incorporating language access in digital communications.
• Must be bilingual in any of the following, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, or French; both written and verbal proficiency

Salary Range: $50,000-60,000

Please submit a cover letter and resume with your application. Applications without all required documents will not be considered.

Did you know?

• We are a Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program qualified employer
• Employees are eligible for a 25% tuition discount program (and sometimes spouses and dependents as well) in partnership with area colleges and universities
• We offer comprehensive health coverage for employees and their eligible dependents
• Our wellness program offers eligibility into the discounted medical plan
• Employees receive paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays
• Generous retirement savings options are available 

Successful candidate must be a city of Philadelphia resident within six months of hire

The City of Philadelphia is an Equal Opportunity employer and does not permit discrimination based on race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, source of income, familial status, genetic information or domestic or sexual violence victim status. If you believe you were discriminated against, call the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations at 215-686-4670 or send an email to [email protected]. For more information, go to: Human Relations Website: http://www.phila.gov/humanrelations/Pages/default.aspx

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