Community Coaching Associate

The West Virginia Community Development Hub (The Hub) is seeking a Community Coaching Associate to advance our work to create transformation in local communities from the ground up. The ideal candidate will be a strong relationship-builder and have genuine optimism for West Virginia’s future, including the possibility of making change while working alongside residents who live in our communities today.

The Hub’s leadership is expressly interested in diversifying our team of coaches so that the team reflects and reaches residents in West Virginia with many different viewpoints and backgrounds. We strongly encourage candidates with diverse backgrounds to apply for this position. Our entire Hub team is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in our workplace and in communities, and we have support systems in place to welcome new staff members.

Who We Are

The Hub is a nonprofit organization that works directly with dozens of community-based teams located across West Virginia. Our community coaches walk alongside residents as they create and carry out a shared vision for positive changes in their area. The results may be anything from creating a community garden or putting on a festival to repurposing a vacant, historic building or building out a plan to transform a community.

With more than a decade of experience, The Hub has a unique approach to community-based coaching that includes centering residents as subject matter experts on what is best for their area; breaking down historic barriers to collaboration and unifying people from different backgrounds; and championing new, and many times historically underrepresented, community leaders.

The person in this role will receive training and mentorship to coach residents using The Hub’s unique approach. Learn more at: https://wvhub.org/history-and-approach/.

What You’ll Do

The Community Coaching Associate is part of our team of community coaches led by The Hub’s Director of Community Engagement. You will be responsible for the following:

• You will coach teams of local residents – “community teams” – including, at minimum, communicating weekly with community-based leaders, hosting virtual community coaching sessions/trainings and traveling monthly to meet in person.
• You will lead public meetings and keep community teams accountable to their goals and program expectations. You will support individual team members to strengthen their leadership abilities.
• You will manage current and build new relationships with partners who offer services to support community teams. You will regularly make connections between these partners and residents participating in community teams.
• You will collaborate with The Hub’s team of community coaches to adapt services in response to needs as well as map out new community-based coaching programs.
• You will build skills and expertise to become a lead community coach for one of our programs, working independently to coach communities and achieve program goals.

Who You Are & Keys to Success (the must-haves)

To be successful in this job, you will excel in five areas:

1. Relationship-Building: You develop strong, collaborative working relationships with a diverse group of people. You stay curious about people and are always seeking to understand more about their values and interests. You are an active listener. You genuinely care about helping people put their dreams into reality. You bring your authentic self into new spaces, and you show up for people.
2. Patient Persistence: You have a track record of getting results even when there are obstacles. You are comfortable in gray areas and are able to flex your plans to meet people where they are; you understand that progress isn’t always about checking items off of a list.
3. Inclusive Leadership: You approach leadership with a mindset of “power with” rather than “power over” and regularly include others in decision-making. You know you don’t have all of the answers, and you’re willing to actively collaborate with others to find solutions.
4. Setting and Managing Priorities: You have experience managing competing demands of your time, and are able to build your own systems to keep tasks from slipping through the cracks. You are a self-starter and are driven to complete work independently within a supportive team environment.
5. Commitment to Equity: You recognize the role of race, income, age, and other identities in addressing disparities. You recognize how your own identities show up in the work, and welcome, reflect on, and act on feedback with an eye toward continuous learning about race, ability, and other lines of difference.

If you were here right now, you would be:

• Building relationships with dozens of local leaders from across West Virginia who are invested in making a difference in their community;
• Traveling highways and back roads to beautiful parts of the state to see community-led change in-person;
• Apprenticing with our team of Hub community coaches to gain the knowledge, mindset, and connections needed to support residents in creating transformational changes in their communities; and
• Learning the network of resource providers making community and economy building happen in West Virginia, and learning about both opportunities and challenges in the field.

What Else You Should Know

The salary for this position will be negotiated with the applicant and will be based on qualifications and experience. The expected starting salary will be between $40,000 – 52,000.

This position is full-time. The location for this position is flexible, but applicants must reside in West Virginia. The Hub has offices in Charleston, WV and Buckhannon, WV, and the person in this role may be based out of either of these locations, work on a remote basis, or a combination of in-person and remote.

Willingness to travel and work flexible hours is required for this position. Extensive travel is expected for this position. Community meetings and events may happen during evenings or weekends but are scheduled in advance so that staff may coordinate their schedules accordingly. The Hub offers a flex-time policy to accommodate work completed outside a typical workday. All travel expenses are reimbursable and travel may often be done in coordination with other Hub staff.

We are actively seeking to recruit diverse candidates for this position. We want The Hub to represent the diversity found in West Virginia communities accurately. We are seeking candidates that demonstrate diversity of perspective, experience, and culture. We strongly encourage applications from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color applicants as well as any applicants who are historically underrepresented in roles like this.

We strongly encourage applications from people who have a passion for this work, even if their professional experience does not align perfectly with the expectations listed. The Hub has a generous support system that includes a mix of paid professional development opportunities as well as training and support from fellow staff members.

The Hub is an equal opportunity employer. It is the policy of The Hub to create a favorable work environment in which all employees, regardless of race, color, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, ability, or religious affiliation, can enjoy equal opportunities in their employment relationship with the organization.

How to Apply

Applications are due on/by midnight on Friday, March 15, 2024. Applications should be submitted via email to Katie Loudin at [email protected] with the subject line “Community Coaching Associate Application” and the following documents attached:

• Cover letter explaining your interest in this position and your relevant skills, expertise and experience
• Resume
• A writing sample that demonstrates your ability to develop program-related materials, or a writing sample (no more than 3 pages) that demonstrates your writing and critical thinking skills. Writing sample must be current (created within the past year).

If you have a question about qualifications or what is needed for this role, please contact Amanda Workman-Scott at [email protected] or 304-669-3050.

Hiring Process

All applicants will be notified via email if they are being considered for an interview. Expect to receive email communications from Katie Loudin at [email protected]. There will be two rounds of interviews for select applicants, and all applicants participating in the interviews will receive questions in advance. This position is expected to start by May 2024.