Customized Employment Specialist

**Customized Employment Specialist** ==================================== **Surrey, BC | WorkBC Centre Cloverdale (MOSAIC)** Open Door Group (ODG), a non-profit organization serving communities across British Columbia and Alberta, is looking for a **Customized Employment Specialist** to join our team! This is an opportunity to support people who may face significant barriers to employment by helping them discover their strengths, explore meaningful work opportunities and build connections with employers in their community. If you enjoy working directly with people, building relationships with employers and finding creative ways to make employment more accessible, we'd love to hear from you. **Wage:** $33.49 to $35.31 per hour (Grid 34, Health Sciences Association Community Bargaining Agreement) **Status:** Full-Time, Permanent **Schedule:** 36 hours per week **Location:** Based at our partner MOSAIC's WorkBC Centre Cloverdale in Surrey, BC. Community-based work with clients, employers and community partners is also an important part of the role. **Your Role** ------------- As a Customized Employment Specialist with Open Door Group, you'll provide Customized Employment services to clients through our partnership with MOSAIC, based at their WorkBC Centre Cloverdale location. The Customized Employment Specialist supports individuals who may not be well served by traditional employment approaches to discover, access and maintain meaningful employment that fits their strengths, interests, abilities and individual circumstances. This isn't a traditional, desk-based employment counselling role. Much of your work will happen in the community. You'll spend time getting to know job seekers through conversation, activities and observation; exploring employment possibilities alongside them; building relationships with employers; visiting workplaces; and providing hands-on support before and after someone starts a job. Customized Employment is an individualized and flexible approach that personalizes the relationship between job seekers and employers to benefit both parties. Through the Discovery process, you'll work with clients to understand their strengths, interests, abilities, employment needs and ideal conditions for success. This can include interviewing and observing clients and gathering information from families, care providers and other members of their support network. Using what you learn through Discovery, you'll explore possibilities in the community and build relationships with employers. Rather than simply matching someone to an existing job posting, you'll learn about workplaces, understand employers' needs and identify opportunities to carve or create positions that work for both the job seeker and employer. Depending on the individual's needs, you may also explore supported employment or self-employment opportunities. Your day may include meeting a client in the community as part of the Discovery process, visiting a workplac