Workforce Development Intern

Somerville is a city that upholds progressive principles for both employees and residents alike. If you are looking for a culture that embraces innovation, empowerment, and collaborative involvement, Somerville not only embraces these talents but encourages them. Creative, hands on collaboration with passionate dedication are at the core of the City’s workplace culture.  Challenging and fast paced, Somerville also offers a generous benefits package that embodies a strong work life balance. Not only is it a “Model City”, as termed by The Boston Globe, but it is also a model employer.

Statement of Duties

The City of Somerville anticipates large scale development in advance of the Green Line light rail extension to Union Square, one of the city’s commercial centers. The SomerVision comprehensive plan published in 2012 calls for 30,000 new jobs to be generated in the city by 2030. The Union Square Neighborhood Plan published in 2017 estimates approximately 6 million square feet of commercial space and 15,000 new jobs in the Union Square neighborhood alone. A comprehensive strategic plan is needed to guide the development of a local workforce development system to prepare Somerville residents for these new jobs, many of them in fields like information technology and bio-tech.

The City of Somerville’s Economic Development Division of the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development will be working with the business community, players in the regional workforce development system, job-seekers, community-based organizations, and a consultant team to develop such a workforce development strategic plan in the fall of 2017.

The Economic Development division will be hiring a Workforce Development Intern to assist the strategic planning team with community engagement and public input in order to tailor a plan that will serve the needs of all stakeholders in Somerville.

Somerville is a unique, dynamic, and growing city with many diverse stakeholder groups. This position provides opportunities for exposure to a wide variety of municipal functions, departments, and processes as well as the chance to be a key participant in a real-world planning experience.

Essential Functions:

Work with City Staff, consultants, and Somerville community members to collect community input for the Workforce Development Strategic Plan. This includes:

• Developing at least one city-wide public event related to jobs, workforce, development, and employment.
• Conducting a Somerville “Employer of the Year” and “Employee of the Year” competition.
• Organizing and conducting outreach for community meetings, surveys, and focus groups.
• Drafting press releases.
• Assisting the consultant and city staff with compiling relevant data.
• Working with steering committee to develop further outreach and community engagement opportunities.
• Other duties as required.

Education and Experience:

Candidate must be pursuing a master’s degree in public policy, urban planning, economics, or a related discipline.

Work Environment

The work environment involves everyday discomforts typical of offices, with occasional exposure to outside elements.  Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting, but conditions are generally not unpleasant.  Employee may be required to work beyond normal business hours in response to attend evening meetings or complete work assignments.

Physical and Mental Requirements

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. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the position’s essential functions.

Physical Skills

Minimal physical demands are required to perform the work. Work effort principally involves sitting to perform work tasks, with intermittent periods of stooping, walking, and standing. There may also be some occasional lifting of objects such as office equipment or photocopy paper (up to 30 lbs.). On occasion, more physical effort is required when moving or setting up computer equipment.

Motor Skills

Duties are largely mental rather than physical, but the job may occasionally require minimal motor skills for activities such as moving objects, operating a telephone, personal computer and/or most other office equipment including word processing, filing and sorting of papers. Skills in repairing computers and related equipment may require more precise fine motor skills.

Visual Skills

Visual demands require constantly reading documents for general understanding and analytical purposes.

Send your resume and cover letter by Tuesday, August 22, 2017 to:

City Hall Personnel Office
93 Highland Avenue
Somerville MA 02143
Fax: 617-666-4426
TTY: 1-866-808-4851
Email: employment_opportunities@somervillema.gov

City of Somerville residents are especially encouraged to apply.

The City of Somerville is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability or any other protected category. Women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities free of charge, upon request.