The Director of Peer Services is responsible for the oversight, management and coordination of all services, and the daily functioning of the Peer Advocacy Leadership Program. The Director of Peer Services provides administrative supervision by monitoring peer workloads and performance; providing mentoring and training to peers regarding participant contact and other participant related activities. The Director works with the SVP of Behavioral Health Services to further develop the Peer Services program within Goodwill NYNJ. The Director of Peer Services uses personal experiences of recovery in a professional capacity in order to promote hope for a life outside of the framework of mental health services, to support learning about the process of recovery, to illustrate recovery principles and pathways, and to continuously improve service design. S/he uses a person-centered, trauma-informed approach when providing services, and promotes a person-centered and trauma-informed workplace. S/he provides services and opportunities that promote continuity of care, community integration, and an environment that facilitates recovery. S/he actively participates in efforts to promote a culture of safety for all staff and all people served.

• Designs program to meet the needs of adults who have a psychiatric diagnosis in a manner that promotes and supports a recovery and resiliency model of rehabilitation, guided by established and emerging principles in the field such as those found in SAMHSA’s 10 fundamental components of recovery and the Certified Peer Specialist Code of Ethics.
• Manages the day-to-day affairs, devising strategies for improving services, and ensuring the long-term financial viability of the program.
• Promote a culture of recovery by building relationships with peers and consumers to remove obstacles and barriers to employment.

• Provide structure and oversight to staff, i.e., daily schedules, supervision, and support.
• Oversee the supervision of all program staff and is responsible for direct supervision of assigned peer staff.

• Maintains program statistics and completes monthly, quarterly and yearly reports for the Peer Advocacy Leadership program.
• · Provides individual assistance and guidance directly to consumers with psychiatric disabilities and co-occurring disorders with the goal of promoting self-sufficiency and community integration.

• Regular performance management of direct reports, including creating performance improvement plans and executing a formal annual performance reviews.
• Supervise Peer Advocates by tracking peer participation in the program, checking in with each peer regularly and managing goal expectations
• Responsible for providing staff development & training (in-house) to PAL staff bi-weekly.
• Uphold the policy and procedures of the PAL program as well as the agency’s policies and procedures

• Acts as the primary liaison between the peer advocates and Peer community organizations.

• Market program services to walk-in consumers, and outside agencies
• Complete all required agency, and funder reporting requirements in a timely manner
• Develop and maintain good relationship with funding source in order to deal with any issues, problems or concerns that may arise.
• Provides individual assistance, guidance, support and advocacy directly to walk-in consumers
• Oversee the documentation for walk-in and referred participants are complete, timely, accurate, and audit ready at all times
• Work in a cooperative manner with other Goodwill programs as well as outside providers to ensure quality referrals for peers and consumers.
• Work effectively and with open communication with the SVP of Behavioral Health Services and other BH staff who have a supervisory relationship with staff.

(Other duties and assignments as may be assigned at the sole discretion of the employer)

• Bachelors’ Degree; Master’s Degree strongly preferred
• NYS Peer Certification/Certified with the Academy of Peer Services
• Familiarity with Microsoft software and documenting in an electronic health record required
• Experience providing advocacy, counseling, supervision, leadership and/or mentoring to others
• Ability to keep a consistent schedule
• Experience with administrative duties such as computers, databases, filing, scheduling, and tracking services
• Experience in responding to consumer crisis
• Experience collaborating with other professionals in the mental health/substance use field
• Ability to embrace a recovery-oriented, consumer-centered, harm reduction approach to work with consumers
• Demonstrated interest in self-reflection and awareness of cultural issues within the community

• Must have competency in Word, Excel and Outlook
• Excellent verbal communication and written skills
• Must be able to prioritize and multi-task
• Navigate and negotiate through difficult situations
• Ability to work with peers using a problem-solving approach
• Ability to work with colleagues using a communicative and collaborative approach
• Ability to work as a team player, as well as independently
• Ability to communicate with all levels of employees
• Exercise good judgment in referring consumers to appropriate professional staff when a problem warrants clinical intervention
• Must be able to maintain healthy professional boundaries with consumers and peer advocates with psychiatric disabilities

• Requires the supervision of FT and PT Peer Staff in multiple locations
• Involves direct communication SVP/EVP

• Requires travel to multiple sites
• Must be able to travel independently on public transportation
• Responsible for maintaining confidentiality of all participants