Business Engagement Specialist - In School

The Business Engagement Specialist, In-School Youth (ISY) plays a key role in connecting local businesses with career exploration opportunities for middle and high school students across Anne Arundel County. This position supports the Anne Arundel Student Career Excellence (AASCE) initiative by coordinating business participation in school-based events, including career fairs, industry days, mock interviews, classroom presentations and other related events. 

This individual will build and nurture relationships with businesses, chambers, industry associations, and community partners to expand awareness of career pathways and enhance students’ exposure to real-world careers. The Business Engagement Specialist, In-School Youth (ISY) must be outgoing, organized, and comfortable engaging businesses at all levels while managing multiple events and outreach efforts simultaneously. The ideal candidate brings strong organizational skills, attention to detail, ability to build strong business partnerships and knowledge of talent recruitment and industry alignment.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

  Business Engagement & Outreach

• Conduct outreach to local and regional businesses to participate in career exploration events at middle and high schools.
• Cultivate and maintain strategic partnerships with businesses, industry groups and community organizations to support student career programming.
• Identify new business partners within the target business sectors and create opportunities for them to engage with students through presentations, hands-on demonstrations, panels, tours and other experiential learning activities.
• Build relationships with employers and industry sectors.
• Position AAWDC as the preferred partner for businesses seeking talent pipeline solutions and youth workforce engagement opportunities.
• Collaborate with internal teams and external stakeholders to co-design workforce solutions tailored to business needs and that support college and career readiness pathways.
• Deliver business presentations to highlight partnership opportunities, share outcomes and promote AAWDC initiatives that strengthen business engagement in youth workforce development.

Event Coordination & Support

• Coordinate business participation in career exploration events, ensuring businesses are well-informed, prepared and supported.
• Collaborate with the AASCE Team, school staff and community partners to plan logistics and ensure smooth execution.
• Work closely with Career Coaches In-School Youth to align business engagement with student career pathways.
• Provide on-site support during school-based events, serving as the primary point of contact for attending businesses.
• Support Career Coaches with the planning and logistics for training, workshops and events (in-person and virtual).

Communication & Partner Support

• Manage communication with businesses, including invitations, follow-up, event guidance and ongoing relationship management.
• Gather business feedback to improve future events and deepen engagement.
• Maintain accurate data on business participation, student impact and event outcomes for reporting purposes.
   

Administrative & Internal Coordination

• Maintain accurate and timely records of business engagement, and partnership outcomes using AAWDC’s data management systems.
• Manages a master calendar that tracks all AASCE events, ensuring accurate scheduling, coordination and communication with Career Coaches, businesses, and internal team members.
• Work collaboratively with internal teams to align outreach strategies with organizational goals.
• Support the Communications team’s efforts related to business engagement with student programming.
• Monitor project timelines and deliverables to ensure timely completion.
• Monitor and analyze business Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Additional Duties

• Participate in community outreach to promote AAWDC initiatives.
• Assist in researching local industry needs, career trends and opportunities for expanding business involvement.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities: No

Qualifications

Education and Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, workforce development, nonprofit management or a related field preferred.

• Minimum of three (3) years of experience in business development required.

• Experience working with schools, youth programming, non-profits or workforce development preferred.

AAWDC Equivalency Formula: 30 undergraduate degree credits (semester hours) or 18 graduate degree credits may substitute for one year of experience. Additional related experience may substitute for required education on the same basis. For jobs where equivalence is permitted up to two years of non-related college coursework may be applied towards the total minimum education/experience required for the respective job. 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to work effectively in a positive team environment and a willingness to be  coached.
• Excellent communication skills, including clear and accurate writing and persuasive oral communication.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills. 
• Successful candidates must demonstrate a proven track record of accountability in the overall role, showcasing the ability to take ownership of tasks, meet deadlines, and consistently deliver results while effectively managing resources and ensuring adherence to organizational goals.
• Exceptional organizational skills and strong attention to detail, ensuring precise coordination, documentation and follow-through in a fast-paced environment.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint.
• Experience with Salesforce preferred. 
• Strong public speaking and facilitation skills.
• Ability to plan and coordinate events on a small and large scale.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively.

Competencies and Attributes:

• Work Quality: Demonstrates a strong commitment to producing high-quality deliverables. Pays close attention to detail and accuracy, meets deadlines, seeks opportunities to improve work processes and proactively addresses issues that could affect quality.
• Problem Solving: Actively looks for opportunities to develop solutions. Breaks down problems into manageable components, simplifies complex issues, and identifies and understands root causes.
• Adaptability: Adjusts effectively to changing work needs, priorities, or environments. Maintains an open, flexible and solution-oriented mindset when circumstances shift.
• Initiative: Takes action without waiting to be prompted. Proactively addresses needs or challenges and goes above and beyond standard responsibilities to drive results.
• Job Knowledge: Understands job duties and responsibilities thoroughly. Possesses and maintains the necessary technical skills and knowledge to meet performance expectations.
• Communication & Collaboration: Communicates clearly and effectively in various formats—including writing, speaking, reading, and active listening. Works collaboratively within and across teams, keeps others informed and contributes to shared goals.

Work Environment and Physical Requirements

• Flexible work environment with potential hybrid in-office/remote scheduling based on organizational needs.
• Agile to work in a fast-paced work environment and essential skills to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
• This position follows a 35-hour work week.
• Position may require evening and weekend hours. 
• Position may require local, regional and nationwide travel.
• This position requires movement within the office to access files, office machinery, supplies, etc.

This position description does not imply that the stated requirements are the only expectations for the position. Other duties may be assigned depending on departmental and organizational needs. AAWDC has the right to revise this position description at any time. AAWDC is an “at will” employer, and as such, neither this position description nor your signature constitutes any form of a contractual agreement between you and AAWDC.

Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation is an Equal Opportunity Employer that does not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth and pregnancy-related conditions), gender identity or expression (including transgender status), sexual orientation, marital status, military service and veteran status, physical or mental disability, genetic information, gender identity genetic information or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws and ordinances.