Director of Community Services

JOB PURPOSE:

Founded in San Francisco in 1902, the LightHouse’s purpose is to promote the independence, equality and self-reliance of people who are blind or visually impaired. The Director of Community Services is responsible for the invention, growth, supervision and support of all community Wellness and Enrichment programs of the LightHouse.  This position also manages all aspects of the LightHouse store,  Adaptations, including walk-in and mail order sales; inventory management, new product identification, vendor relations, sales reporting, marketing strategies development, and supervision.

Wellness and Enrichment

A principal responsibility of this position is the expansion and innovation in developing classes, retreats, activities and programs that promote the wellness, enrichment and full social integration of the Bay Area’s blind citizens.  A central function of the position is to strategize how the Lighthouse can attract new individuals who would benefit from such programs.  As such, the Director is responsible for the development, planning, and implementation of all community service curricula for blind and visually-impaired adults, youth, and children.  This includes providing leadership and day-to-day supervision of staff, which at this time include the Adult Wellness Coordinator, Wellness/Enrichment Specialist, youth coordinator, clinical psychologist, temporary staff and volunteers.

The Director will ensure compliance with record-keeping requirements; provide monthly statistical, caseload, and service progress reports; also assist in identifying and securing sources of funding through and for program activities.  Additionally, the Director has overall responsibility to develop systems which ensure the safety of Lighthouse students and staff.

Adaptations Blindness Products Store

The Director provides direction, daily supervision and management of Adaptations sales staff, including operational planning, business generation and ensuring that the store operates with maximum hands-on accessibility to store customers.

• The Director must be knowledgeable in electronic blind adaptive technology including but not limited to: screen readers, screen magnification, video magnifiers, portable note taking devices, accessible cellphones, optical character recognition, and social networking.
• The Director will have a thorough familiarity with low-technology adaptive solutions including but not limited to: braille slates, labelling technology, tactile markings, kitchen tools and measurement devices.
• The Director will work to develop and maintain positive relationships with consumers, vendors, and community partners.
• The Director will develop methods, including a Community Advisory Committee, which will ensure that Adaptations carries products of a type which are the most relevant, up-to-date and useful for the spectrum of needs for all types of visual impairment. 

Minimum Qualifications:

• A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, which may include Therapeutic Recreation, Special Education, Rehabilitation Services or related field.
• A minimum of two years’ supervisory experience.
• A minimum of two years’ experience developing and implementing a budget of not less than $100,000 per year.
• A minimum history of five years employment, preferably in a field with connections to blindness or visual impairment .
• Professional-level facility with the Microsoft office suite; strong proficiency in Excel required.
• A minimum of two years’ professional experience in development and implementation of educational or recreational programs for people who are blind or have low vision.
• Strong organizational, interpersonal and communication skills.
• Knowledge of the role of DOR in assisting blind individuals to acquire training, tools and skills for employment or independent living.

Bonus Qualifications:

• Retail or Customer Service experience.
• Braille fluency.
• Current CPR and first aid certification.
• Bilingual ability in English and Spanish or Chinese.

ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Supervise and evaluate performance of staff, instructors, and volunteers.
• Strong management of staff time allocation in order to devote maximum contribution towards the creation and execution of new and expanded Community Services.
• Provide written narrative, statistical and budgetary reports at the Executive Director’s request.
• Coordinate development of engaging activities and programs which will help community members to grow in their blindness and gain confidence and self-respect.
• At the Executive Director’s request, regularly evaluate effectiveness, relevance and market penetration of all programs supervised by this position.
• Work collaboratively with Agency service providers and Agency projects.
• Develop procedures and a departmental culture which maximizes referrals to other Lighthouse programs, particularly rehabilitation programs. The goal is to create warm connections to further training opportunities for individuals newly entering the Lighthouse through its store, youth or recreational and educational programs.
• Identify and collaborate with other programs serving the blind and visually impaired to maximize participation and engagement for experiences which may be difficult for the Lighthouse to coordinate on its own.
• Assist with outreach, training and recruitment of consumers, volunteers and partnerships with blindness consumer organizations.
• Maintain and monitor safety during programs.
• Maintain current and confidential documentation of participant’s personal data, including, where applicable, case notations, release forms and authorizations.
• Identify community agencies which can create or increase integrated accessibility of LightHouse participants into their existing programs.
• Invent systems that ensure practical and positive product information and provide assistance to Adaptations customers.
• Design new secure methods for community members to browse, inspect and test all store products independently.
• Ensure retail staff produces prompt and efficient completion of all phone and mail orders.
• Produce or oversee the daily reconciliation and bookkeeping records for sales, coordinating directly with the Finance department.
• Plan and conduct product demonstrations, outreach and special events.
• Coordinate periodic inventory of merchandise; place orders on an as-needed basis.
• Build relationships with vendors to place bulk discounted orders and work directly with manufacturers in order to secure the very lowest prices for acquiring store inventory.
• Ensure store inventory levels are always sufficient so that walk-in customers never are faced with product outages.
• Ensure staff maintains up-to-date price lists on all inventory.
• Produce and maintain catalogue of products to be updated annually.
• Correspond with manufacturers concerning defective products.
• Chair the Adaptations Consumer Advisory Committee Research and test new products.
• Build size and depth of Community Advisory Committee to ensure Adaptations stocks the newest and most-desired inventory in our field.
• Provide sales activity reports at the Executive Director’s request.
• Other duties as assigned.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

Equal opportunity to all regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, marital status, disability, religious or political affiliation, age, or sexual orientation.

TO APPLY:

Please submit cover letter and / or résumé as Word attachments (no PDFs, please) to hr@lighthouse-sf.org, including the job title in the subject line. We will not consider videos or hyperlinks to online profiles at this time; thank you.