Senior Employer Engagement Manager

Job DetailsJob Location: Technology Drive - San Jose, CA 95110Position Type: Full TimeSalary Range: $100,000.00 - $110,000.00 Salary/yearJob Shift: DaySummary 

At Mission Services of Silicon Valley, our purpose is simple and powerful: to help people build skills, find meaningful work, and thrive in our community. For nearly 100 years, we’ve been a trusted partner in connecting opportunity with people’s potential. By working hand in hand with local experts, employers, and community members, we create pathways to education, employment, and lasting economic mobility. 

As a team, we are committed to: 



Empowering one another to do our best work and grow together. 





Building strong partnerships and serving as a driving force for economic opportunity in Silicon Valley. 





Modeling teamwork, integrity, and cultural intelligence in everything we do. 





Acting with mutual respect—for each other, our community, and the environment we share. 



 

The Senior Employer Engagement Manager leads Mission Service’s newly consolidated Employer Engagement Team – a cross-organizational function responsible for building and managing the employer relationships that drive job placement outcomes across all of Mission Service’s workforce programs, and delivering internal job readiness services aligned to labor market outcomes to program teams by driving a singular purpose through individualized interaction and a unified coordinated effort. This is a data-driven, high-relationship role combining the rigor of a sophisticated business development function with the mission orientation of workforce development. 

The Manager supervises a team of Employer Engagement Specialists embedded across Mission Service’s program areas, including CTE/Skilled Trades, Veterans Services, STRIVE, and NOW, who develop sector expertise aligned with their program populations and provide targeted job readiness training to participants in conjunction with program teams. The Manager sets strategy, builds systems, uses market intelligence to anticipate employer demand, and ensures that Mission Service’s employer relationships compound over time into a durable institutional asset. 

This role is central to Mission Service's ability to meet its performance commitments, including nearly 1,000 job placements annually, and to the organization’s broader goal of becoming the region’s most effective and trusted workforce development partner. 

 

Key Responsibilities: 

Market Intelligence & Strategy 



Use labor market intelligence tools – like Lightcast, publicly available sector data fed through AI, industry reports, and California workforce policy documents – to identify employer demand trends, forecast hiring volume, and align Mission Service program offerings with market need. 





Develop and execute a multi-sector employer engagement strategy targeting clean energy, skilled trades, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, and digital/tech-enabled industries. 





Maintain a current, evidence-based understanding of employer hiring needs, credential requirements, and wage trajectories in Santa Clara County’s key growth sectors. 





Advise the Senior Director of Workforce and Partnerships and the Mission Services senior leadership team on labor market trends with implications for program design, curriculum, and scale. 



Employer Relationship Development & Management 



Build and manage a portfolio of 100+ active employer relationships across Mission Services’ priority sectors, with a goal of securing placement commitments sufficient to meet 80% placement rates for program graduates. 





Develop and implement a structured employer outreach process – from initial prospecting through relationship cultivation, placement agreements, and long-term retention – using defined activity standards and systematic follow-up. Including developing a formalized employer partner agreement process with target sign-ons in each priority sector. 





Represent Mission Services compellingly to employers, articulating the value of our graduate talent pipeline and the quality of our training programs. 





Convene one or more semi-annual Employer Advisory Council to solicit industry feedback on training program alignment, emerging credential needs, and talent demand signals. 





Lead or support Industry Panels and Career Connection Day events for cohorts and equivalent placement events across other programs. 



CRM Systems & Data Infrastructure 



Design, configure, and manage an employer CRM in monday.com, capturing all employer outreach activity, relationship history, placement outcomes, employer feedback, and sector intelligence across all program areas. 





In partnership with other Mission Services departments, design and implement a pathway and assessment processes and tools within the CRM