About Our Job

The Denver Public Library (DPL) is a growing urban library system that serves the residents of the City & County of Denver. DPL sees more than 4 million visitors every year across its 27 locations, serves Denver’s most vulnerable communities through outreach and mobile services, hosts thousands of programs a year and manages a collection of more than 1.4 million physical and digital materials. We believe a strong library is vital for a strong community. DPL is committed to serving the evolving needs of Denverites through inspired programming, diverse collections, culturally-representative spaces, and equitable policies & procedures.

For more information, go to denverlibrary.org. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

As DPL’s Youth Strategy Program Manager, your job will be to support the planning, coordination, and evaluation of in-library youth services and programs throughout the DPL system. DPL’s current youth services include a wide variety of offerings for early learners, kids, teens, and families; you will lead the team to further solidify and enhance these services. Your primary work location will be the Central Library, however, you will also spend time at other DPL locations and some of your work may be done remotely. You will work closely with the Youth Services Manager, Youth Strategy service leads, and other DPL staff throughout the system to ensure that DPL’s youth services offerings meet the needs of customers and staff and are focused on supporting positive experiences for youth and families.

About Our Department
DPL’s Youth Services department includes two teams: Youth Outreach and Youth Strategy. The Youth Outreach team offers direct services to youth, families, and educators outside of library locations, while the Youth Strategy team focuses on developing frameworks and guidance for services in library locations. The entire Youth Services department collaborates with staff across DPL to offer welcoming spaces, engaging learning opportunities, and diverse resources for Denver’s youth and families.

About You
Our ideal candidate has supervisory experience in a public library, experience supporting colleagues who work with youth and families, and a desire to provide innovative and responsive services to youth and families.

Our ideal candidate has: 
 Supervisory experience in a public library.
 Enthusiasm for youth services and learning new things.
 Great communication skills.
 Experience coordinating programs and services across multiple locations for diverse audiences.
 Knowledge of youth development and best practices for working with youth.
 Knowledge of educational pedagogy.
 Skill in managing projects and experience in managing multiple projects at once.
 Skill in providing strong, dedicated and compassionate leadership.
 Ability to apply an inclusive and trauma-informed lens to supervision, services, and programs.
 Skill in making data-informed decisions.
 Skill in communicating, collaborating, and establishing effective working relationships with employees and colleagues.
 Ability to facilitate, lead, coach, mentor and encourage accountability with staff who do and do not report to you. 
 Ability to solve problems creatively, negotiate, and handle stressful situations in a positive manner.
 Ability to model positive attitude, excellent interpersonal skills, cultural sensitivity, and a sense of humor in working with customers, coworkers, and the community.
 Ability to train and lead others in new processes.
 Ability to demonstrate innovation and flexibility.
 Ability to travel to various locations within the City of Denver regularly.
 3 or more years of experience overseeing programs and services to youth and/or families.

The Youth Strategy Program Manager’s work will vary day-to-day. Typical tasks include visiting DPL locations, check-ins with staff, supporting the development of learning opportunities, writing department updates to share with the organization, and meeting with both internal and external partners. Please note that this position works mostly with DPL staff to enhance programs and services to youth and families, rather than with youth and families directly.

Specific Duties Include:
 Supervise a team of Program Administrators.
 Oversee the planning, coordination, and evaluation of in-branch youth services and programs and analyze trends.
 Assess the impact and effectiveness of the library’s youth services and programs and continuously refine and improve them.
 Lead development and implementation of staff training on youth development and p