Opportunities

ABOUT HEAR YOUR SONG Incorporated in 2020, Hear Your Song, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that empowers children and teens with serious illnesses and complex health needs to make their voices heard through collaborative songwriting. Hear Your Song provides power and choice—and a microphone—to young people with a wide range of diagnoses, both physical and mental health conditions, that so often deprive them of both power and choice in their day-to-day lives. At Hear Your Song, we believe that every young person deserves the chance to define themselves on their own terms.

In kid-driven, trauma-informed songwriting sessions, Hear Your Song volunteers work with youth participants to guide them through the process of writing their own songs about anything they want, from loving pasta to living with epilepsy. Youth songwriters write all their own lyrics and generate ideas for musical style, instrumentation, and tempo. Volunteer composers and musicians then use those ideas to set the words to music and record the song exactly as the songwriter imagined it to be heard, celebrated and shared. Some youth songwriters just write their lyrics and others choose to sing on the recording themselves and to compose and produce their own music — the journey is up to them!

Hear Your Song partners with pediatric hospitals, camps, schools, and other nonprofit programs that serve kids experiencing serious illnesses and complex health needs. Hear Your Song’s volunteers collaborate with kids through campus-based chapters and at the organization’s national level.

Please visit www.hearyoursong.org for more information.

POSITION: Hear Your Song seeks a full-time Programs Manager to start July 2023.

The Programs Manager will work alongside the Executive Director and Music Director to develop, implement, and oversee all of Hear Your Song’s songwriting programs for youth with serious illnesses and complex health needs, with a focus on building long-lasting relationships with participating youth, families, organizational partners, and volunteers. At Hear Your Song, we are all artists who believe in the powerful impact of music and songwriting and who are passionate about giving youth more opportunities to make their voices heard. We are seeking a Programs Manager who recognizes, and resonates with, our organizational values of creativity, collaboration, empowerment, inclusion, flexibility, and joy.

While our NYC-based core team is small, we are eager to bring aboard a creative, compassionate arts professional with enormous potential for growth and increased leadership as the organization develops.

RESPONSIBILITIES & OPPORTUNITIES

PARTNERSHIPS
Extend, deepen, and coordinate existing songwriting program partnerships with camp programs, children’s hospitals, school programs, and other nonprofits
Represent the organization in conversations with families, communities members, volunteers, media, prospective funders, and more
Research, develop, and implement new in-person partnerships across the NYC area and virtual partnerships globally
SONGWRITING PROGRAMMING
Act as Hear Your Song’s lead songwriting session facilitator, modeling session facilitation and mentoring volunteers
Build and strengthen relationships with youth, families, and organizational partners across our programming
Design and facilitate onboarding trainings for all Hear Your Song volunteers
AMPLIFICATION
Create new performance events, songwriting curricula, and other programming throughout the school year and summer
Participate in Hear Your Song’s amplification efforts, including The Hear Your Song Podcast, as we bring kids’ songs and stories to wider audiences
ORGANIZATION-WIDE
Maintain database of Hear Your Song’s youth participants, families, partnerships, volunteers, songs, and songwriting session, in partnership with music team
Supervise programs-focused interns, when appropriate

QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience
Experience working with youth, especially in arts programming
Excellent organizational skills
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Significant musical background and experience
Demonstrable commitment to creating and sustaining inclusive spaces
Interest in taking on a role with increasing leadership potential
Flexibility and responsiveness in a creative, collaborative environment
Experience using G-Suite
Sense of whimsy and wonder
Ability to work a flexible schedule, occasional early evenings and weekends

PREFERRED BUT NOT REQUIRED

Advanced guitar or piano skills
Experience working with youth with health needs and/or disabilities
Interest and experience in health-related settings
Familiarity with trauma-informed approaches

START DATE: July 15th, 2023

SALARY: $50,000-$55,000

SCHEDULE: During the school year, Hear Your Song currently follows a flexible Sunday—Thursday work week to best accommodate youth participants’ schedules. Occasional weekday evening and Saturday programming are possible.

IN-PERSON POSITION (with some remote flexibility): While the office at 48 Wall Street is accessible to staff 24/7 and full-time staff spends most days in the office, some work can occasionally be completed remotely.

TRAVEL: There will also be occasional travel to summer camp programs and to conferences. All travel, accommodations, and meal costs during those programs are covered.

APPLICATION INFORMATION

Please submit:

A résumé
A cover letter OR short video, in which you

Explain your relevant experience and share why you are interested in the position and the organization, AND

Choose a song from Hear Your Song’s YouTube channel and share why that song particularly resonates with you

Please upload all materials to Indeed OR send materials with the subject line “Programs Manager” to Executive Director and Co-Founder Dan Rubins at jobs@hearyoursong.org. Applications will be accepted through Friday, June 2nd, and interviews will be offered on a rolling basis.

We are always striving to build a staff and Board community that reflects the identities and experiences of the youth who participate in our programming. We especially encourage applications from individuals who have experienced chronic and/or pediatric illness. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, or veteran status.