Digital Program Manager, Accessibility

Title: Digital Program Manager, Accessibility

Reports To: Associate Director, User Experience Design

Location: US Based Home Office

Status: Full Time; Exempt

Start Date: January 2023

Facing History and Ourselves is a global education non-profit organization that challenges teachers and students to use lessons of history to stand up to bigotry and hate. 

Facing History and Ourselves is seeking a Manager, Accessibility to join our growing Digital team. The Manager, Accessibility is responsible for helping Facing History and Ourselves build our accessibility practice from the ground up focusing on  digital production, website development, customer service, and design. 

In this role, the Manager, Accessibility will partner with cross-functional teams across Technology, Program, Marketing, Development, and the Office of Equity and Inclusion to deliver a positive impact to the audiences we serve and support. As the first Digital Program Manager, Accessibility, this position will be hands-on and you will have the opportunity to transform how we build digital products at Facing History by driving programs directly. You will help ensure that Accessibility is not only a requirement for building products at Facing History and Ourselves but a mindset. The Manager, Accessibility will create structure and processes, transform culture, and provide training in the spirit of making Facing History’s digital products and platforms work for everyone, anywhere, and with any assistive technology. 

Who We Are: We are a passionate, results-driven, and growing team that partners closely with colleagues across the organization. Our team provides strategy, project management, production, and support for all of the organization’s digital platforms. 

We are relentlessly committed to ensuring our users encounter digital experiences that are relevant, personalized, and impactful. We are flexible in our roles and have a team player approach. We serve the entire organization and work on projects ranging from marketing landing pages to custom fundraising solutions to innovative products for educators.

Our team is responsible for the stability and availability of all of our digital platforms, to ensure the best digital experiences. We govern all processes and procedures which deliver change to those platforms, with a view to minimizing incidents and operational risk while operating efficiently and responsively.

Our work is cross-functional in order to serve critical mission-driven needs. Our team prides itself in deeply understanding and caring about our users and our mission. We commit to both when we build and maintain technology solutions. Our digital properties exist across a range of platforms, including Drupal 9, Salesforce, Hubspot, and Canvas to support our user-facing digital product and experiences, including resources, community, and professional learning events.  

Who You Are: You are a creative problem solver with a passion for Accessibility. You have a history of leading complex programs to successful completion. With excellent relationship, communication, and operational skills, a successful candidate will be seen as the central operating system for the team, a strong partner to cross-functional colleagues, and a demonstrated commitment to products that deliver a great user experience. Additionally, you know how to make smart business decisions and have a strong understanding of the product development process.

What You’ll Do

A successful candidate will proactively identify and lead programs to help establish Accessibility as not only a requirement for building products at Facing History and Ourselves, but also a mindset.

• Build an Accessibility program to work with production, website development, customer service, experience design and program to identify, prioritize, and deliver high-impact initiatives across our digital platforms.
• Identify, engage, and plan for internal collaboration with external specialists or resources that can scale with product development.
• Create clear, trackable goals that you will regularly report to leadership and use to motivate change throughout the organization.
• Collaborate with other Accessibility partners across the organization in goal setting, reporting, and execution. 
• Drive internal process improvements across teams, remove roadblocks, and deliver on high-impact projects with a focus on inclusion, efficiency, performance, and quality.
• Develop an educational/training program and deploy guidelines/resources for production, website development, customer service, and design teams to encourage independent contribution to program goals.
• Promote empathy and buy-in across the organization for Accessibility, and situate it within a framework of inclusive design and support for differentiated teaching and learning.
• Work directly with production, website development, customer service, and design teams to problem-solve and address core accessibility issues.
• Partner with our production, website development, customer service, and design teams to develop systems that are not only compliant but impactful and inclusive for the educators we serve and support.
• Build Accessibility subject matter expertise and stay up-to-date on assistive technology, native platform accessibility, and other technological developments.
• Develop and maintain Facing History accessibility guidelines and practices to help us adhere to standards—such as WCAG 2.0 & 2.1 and the CVAA.

Essential Skills, Qualities, and Competencies:

Facing History understands that restrictive job requirements may exclude historically marginalized groups from applying to jobs for which they are qualified. We take an equitable and holistic screening approach. If you feel you have demonstrated experience and expertise relevant to perform this role, please don’t hesitate to apply!

• Creative problem solver with a passion for Accessibility. 
• Have a history of building and leading complex programs
• Excellent relationship, communication, and operational skills; this person will be seen as the central operating system for the team, and a strong partner to cross-functional colleagues 
• Experience synthesizing complex business requirements and making smart business decisions 
• Deep understanding of the product development process and implementing inclusive design practices
• BA/BS or equivalent preferred; Demonstrated product or program management experience, preferably with at least a minimum of 2 years experience working in technology, education, and nonprofits.
• Experience with CMS, LMS, and CRM platforms (i.e., Drupal 9, Canvas, Salesforce) along with HTML, transcript management, and inclusive design practices. 
• Strong communication and facilitation skills, and an ability to communicate clearly and effectively to achieve desired outcomes 
• Successful track record of leading complex programs, driving efficiencies without sacrificing quality or creativity, and implementing sustainable and scalable solutions
• Shown ability to architect high-quality programs, mobilize and lead teams with flexibility and ease, and sustain momentum to deliver quality results.
• Expertise in accessibility standard methodologies, guidelines, and regulations—such as WCAG 2.0 & 2.1 and the CVAA; ability to consult with the Technology team on risk assessment.
• Experience working with engineering, product, design, research, and legal teams to deliver accessibility audits, code reviews, and other advisory services.
• Experience working on consumer product accessibility both on video and communications products and across a variety of devices, such as desktop, smartphone, and OTT services.
• Strong awareness of assistive technologies available to people with disabilities.

Benefits Summary: In addition to meaningful and rewarding work, Facing History provides an excellent and competitive compensation and benefits package including medical with a health reimbursement account, dental, vision, life & AD&D, long-term & short-term disability insurance, 403(b) retirement plan with a discretionary organizational contribution, generous paid time off, an employee assistance program, travel assistance plan, pre-tax commuter spending accounts, flexible spending accounts, voluntary Colonial Life group plans, robust wellness programs through Welnys TV, aHealthyMe & weekly virtual yoga and meditation, WellCents 403(b) advisement, and a friendly hybrid work environment.

Facing History values a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status and record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.

Facing History’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. At Facing History, we honor and value the uniqueness of each and every human being. Our strength as an organization that provides and distributes educational content and pedagogy to teachers across the globe is directly tied to our diversity of staff, leadership, educators, students, scholars, and volunteers. Our commitment is to treat individuals with dignity and to build and maintain a community of full participation, inclusive of the voices, needs, and contributions of all. As an organization, we are deeply aware of the legacies of injustices that persist in society and in the workplace, and we value and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in their association with excellence.