YouthLine Crisis Line Team Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Posting Title:  YouthLine Crisis Line Team Manager 

Position Title:  YouthLine Help, Support, and Crisis Line Team Manager

Status: Full-Time/Exempt

Reports To: Director for YouthLine Oregon

Salary Range: $81,000 - $89,000 depending on experience and licensure, plus a $1,664 stipend for working in the office 4 days per week. Please see below for information about the benefits package. 
Location:  Portland, OR. This position requires a hybrid schedule which includes working in-person at the Lines for Life headquarters generally 4 days per week.
Schedule: 5 days per week, including one weekend day, from 2:30-11 pm Pacific Time. Sunday-Thursday or Tuesday-Saturday

About the Organization: Lines for Life is a regional non-profit that is dedicated to preventing substance abuse and suicide. We offer help and hope to individuals and communities, and promote mental health for all. Our work addresses a spectrum of needs that include intervention, prevention, and advocacy. We educate, train, and advocate to prevent issues of substance abuse, mental illness, and thoughts of suicide from reaching crisis levels. But when a crisis arises or support is needed, we are available 24/7/365 to intervene with personalized help.

About YouthLine:  YouthLine is a free peer-to-peer help, support, and crisis line for youth ages 10-24. For over 20 years, the YouthLine has helped support the mental wellness of young people, prevent youth suicide, and change culture around mental wellbeing by through teen-to-teen mental health support. Teen and young adult volunteers and interns receive extensive training to serve as peer counselors for other youth and are supervised by educated clinicians with extensive crisis experience. The peer experience is critical: youth best understand the experience of their peers because they are living the same experience, uniquely situating them to provide meaningful, impactful support for youth in crisis.

Position Summary: YouthLine is seeking experienced people managers with strong clinical backgrounds to lead our Portland Help, Support, and Crisis Line teams. This position is primarily focused on employee management, team leadership, performance accountability, and daily operations, while also requiring sound clinical judgment and crisis intervention expertise. The Crisis Line Team Manager is responsible for building and maintaining strong team dynamics and overseeing all aspects of YouthLine Help, Support and Crisis Line operations and personnel needs within their assigned team. This position is part of YouthLine Leadership and will work collaboratively across departments.

YouthLine Help, Support, and Crisis Line Team Manager Responsibilities:

• Leadership
  • Demonstrate the culture of Lines for Life by modeling behavior that supports the goals and philosophies of Lines for Life.
  • Lead, motivate, and support a large team within a time-sensitive and demanding environment.
  • Act as liaison to represent the experience and needs of frontline staff on the YouthLine help, support, and crisis line and bring recommendations to stakeholders to improve current systems.
  • Coordinate with other Team Manager(s) and the Youth Development team to ensure consistent practices, equitable productivity, and quality expectations across shifts and call centers/satellites.
  • Manage and/or serve as key stakeholder for assigned projects regarding operational changes and new workflows for YouthLine.
  • Act in a professional manner and maintain appropriate boundaries with staff, volunteers, interns, and contacts.
• Personnel Management
  • Provide direct supervision to clinical YouthLine Supervisors and Team Leads, including regular one-on-one coaching and supervision, work assignment and prioritization, performance feedback and recognition, annual evaluations, timesheet review where applicable, and professional development.
  • Support YouthLine crisis staff with onboarding, continuing education, and professional development.
  • Ensure that clinical YouthLine Supervisors and Team Leads meet program standards for crisis intervention, youth development, and productivity through a trauma-informed lens.
  • Oversee comprehensive performance management for Portland Clinical Team staff, including establishing and communicating performance expectations, meeting workload expectations, and coordinating with HR on performance management, such as drafting warnings and performance improvement plans when needed.
  • Facilitate implementation and adherence to all policies and procedures, including acting as an ambassador of change when new practices are adopted. 

• Help, Support, and Crisis Line Management and Operations
  • Manage all aspects of help, support, and crisis line shifts, including: Assigning responsibility for daily data tracking spreadsheet, checking and assigning emails and follow-ups, creating shift team chat, facilitating shadow shifts, scheduling lunch breaks, and deploying back-up support as needed to manage volunteer and intern supervision and call volume, including occasionally filling in for the clinical YouthLine Supervisor as needed.
  • Support YouthLine crisis staff with contact management via coaching for delegating contacts, monitoring texts and chats, and listening to calls, including room division of volunteers to each adult supervisor.
  • Serve as subject matter expert and be available for questions, consult, or decision-making, particularly for high acuity contacts, taking over contacts from volunteers, and EMS/CPS calls.
  • Uphold policies/protocols to ensure YouthLine remains available for incoming crisis calls without compromising service levels.
  • Provide additional support to YouthLine space during opening, closing, and shift transitions.
  • Guide the transition of call reports in progress to/from other sites and the completion of call reports during or after shift.
  • Help YouthLine crisis staff troubleshoot equipment and technical difficulties, including software and hardware malfunctions with headsets and computers.
  • Share and model expectations for adult/youth conversations, space considerations, and adherence to community agreements/rules. 
  • Collaborate with Youth Development team to manage internal volunteer schedule through Better Impact. 
  • Collaborate with the Portland Clinical Team and clinical staff across YouthLine to address daily operational issues and events.
  • Schedule and co-facilitate weekly clinical supervision meetings for all sites.
  • Report to work, meetings, training, and job-related activities prepared and as scheduled.
• Youth Development
  • Ensure all Youth Development procedures, practices, and policies are followed, including check ins/outs, individual debriefs, and community building.
  • Coach YouthLine crisis staff with volunteer interactions, such as volunteer welcomes, computer log ins, regular clinical coaching, feedback, recognition, and performance concerns for both clinical and nonclinical skills. 
• Perform other duties as assigned.

YouthLine Help, Support, and Crisis Line Team Manager Required Qualifications:

• Graduate degree in psychology; social work; or a behavioral science field.
• Minimum of 2 years of direct employee management experience, including responsibility for performance evaluations, coaching, addressing performance concerns, and maintaining accountability for individual and team expectations.
• Crisis intervention experience.
• Demonstrated experience upholding policies/protocols.
• Demonstrated experience managing employees in a formal supervisory capacity, beyond providing clinical consultation, training, or oversight of interns and volunteers.
• Skill in identifying and appropriately responding to the warning signs for potential suicide, including suicidal ideation, plans, means, and lethality.
• Able to provide sound clinical judgment.
• Able to stay calm when handling stressful situations and skilled in problem-solving.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Knowledge of the fundamental principles and methods of psychology, as well as the relationship of substance abuse to depression, suicide, and violence.
• Proficiency in web-based computer environments and multi-line phone systems.

YouthLine Help, Support, and Crisis Line Team Manager Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in a call center environment
• LCSW or LPC licensure preferred

Physical Requirements:  This position requires high energy, patience, and controlling one’s emotions, as well as the ability to think analytically.

YouthLine Help, Support, and Crisis Line Team Manager Work Schedule: This position will typically work 2:30-11pm Pacific Time five days per week, 40 hours total. This position requires the ability to occasionally adjust work hours in order to collaborate with colleagues, support direct reports, attend meetings, or address other emerging organizational needs.

Compensation: $81,000 - $89,000 depending on experience and licensure, plus a $1,664 stipend for working in the office 4 days per week. Lines for Life offers a great benefits package valued at over $14,750 per year, which includes $11,400 in premium coverage for employee health, vision and dental coverage, full coverage of short and long-term disability and life insurance premiums; a competitive paid time off package; a matching 401K plan equivalent to 3% of the annual salary during the first 2 years of employment after passing the match eligibility date; as well as a flexible spending plan; an employee assistance program; a free Fitbit; public service loan forgiveness (PSLF) employment certification; and eligibility to participate in an extracurricular professional development program after 6 months of employment.

This job description is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of duties and responsibilities but constitutes a general definition of the position's scope and function in the company. 

EEO: Lines for Life strives to create a diverse, inclusive environment to better represent the communities that we serve. We are an equal opportunity employer. Lines for Life shall not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin. However, it shall not be a violation of this clause for Lines for Life to extend a publicly announced preference in employment to Indians living on or near an Indian reservation, in connection with employment opportunities on or near an Indian reservation, as permitted by 41 CFR 60-1.5.

All Lines for Life employees must be approved to work by the Oregon Department of Human Services’ Background Check Unit. Background checks are completed after a conditional offer of employment has been extended.