Join Our Team

Organization

The Welcoming Center (TWC) mission is to promote inclusive economic growth through immigrant integration. We seek to open doors of economic opportunity for immigrants of all education and skill levels and to build immigrants’ individual and collective agency to address barriers to integration and well-being. TWC does this through training programs focused on social, civic, and economic engagement which enhance skills and expand opportunities. TWC believes that immigrants broaden the productivity, profitability, and stability of this region and contribute to both Pennsylvania’s and the nation’s economic growth. Primary programs and initiatives include Workforce Development, Entrepreneurship, and Community Engagement. TWC is based in Philadelphia, PA.

TWC is partnering with Center for Family Life’s (CFL) Cooperative Development Program (CDP), a nationally-recognized leader in development of worker-owned cooperative businesses in immigrant, low-income communities to incubate a cleaning service cooperative in Philadelphia. CFL has  successfully incubated and launched five Brightly ^Ⓡ co-ops in the NY region and is now expanding to Philadelphia.

Together, TWC and CFL will focus on scaling the growth of cooperatives in the cleaning sector by developing the first social franchise in the Philadelphia (Brightly^Ⓡ) with emphasis on protecting workers, and giving cooperatives access to the digital economy through developing the online platform Up & Go.

We invite you to be part of creating a new economy that puts workers in the center of the socio-economic system.

The Position: This is a full-time grant-funded position for ONE year.  We are looking for someone who can speak, read and write in Spanish, is well organized and can connect well with people of different backgrounds.  You will join a group of bilingual, experienced and energetic business developers to help us strengthen worker cooperatives and expand our scaling initiatives.

Core Responsibilities:

Business Development

• Support the incubation of new Brightly^Ⓡ cooperative business using CFL’s cooperative development methodology
• Support groups of domestic workers to build strong governance and management systems for their businesses
• Engage organizational partners in our cooperative business development efforts
• Offer individual supports to participating workers to stay engaged in the cooperative development process; make referrals to social services when appropriate
• Help the team reflect on/improve our cooperative development guides and tools

Technical Assistance

• Provide ongoing business management technical assistance to cooperative businesses based on their stages of development & needs
• Provide coaching to worker-owners to develop their business management and social leadership skills
• Conduct research for worker cooperatives, as needed, and/or in coordination with technical partners (market research, local programs or resources, legal and tax issues, etc.); make referrals when appropriate
• Develop & facilitate workshops to support worker-owners effectively manage & govern their businesses
• Support worker-owners engage with and move through conflict that might arise in the group

Project Management

• Experience using project management tools to organize the activities of your projects
• Have good communication skills to manage the relationship of all stakeholders involved in the project
• Capacity to adapt the execution of the project as needed to accomplish project goals
• Feel comfortable keeping track of all deliverables and activities of your project
• Feel comfortable working through stages of ambiguity, and have the tools and skills to transform these stages into a more defined process.

Program Admin

• Participate in weekly team meetings
• Track data and support team’s reporting efforts
• Support training outreach efforts and other projects as needed
• Support the Entrepreneurship Program with ongoing projects as needed

Experience and Qualifications:

• Strong written and oral English and Spanish skills required.
• Strong group facilitation skills, including workshop & meeting facilitation.
• Project management skills to keep track of all activities needed, communicate with stakeholders and achieve goals.
• Understanding of adult literacy approach to teach complex business and social concepts
• Demonstrated commitment to social justice, especially with immigrant communities.
• Ability to thrive in a highly-collaborative work environment.
• Marketing experience or skills, a plus.
• Business finances experience, a plus
• A. in Business Administration, Marketing, Finance related, Public Administration, Social Work, Community Development; M.A. a plus.
• Minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience.

You may be a strong candidate, even if you don’t have all the skills and characteristics described above. If you are excited about this position, we want to read your application.

Compensation and Benefits

This is a full time / 40 hours per week position that will require schedule flexibility to accommodate for some evening hours.  We offer a competitive benefits package, including vacation, health care (medical, dental, vision), sick leave and access to a 403(B) plan. Salary: $45,000.

Application Submission

To apply, please send your resume and a cover letter to jobs@welcomingcenter.org with the subject “Cooperative Business Developer.”

We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and identities, including those of any age, race, religion, gender, ability, or sexual orientation.