Community Health Worker Lead

Charles River Community Health; Massachusetts; On-site; USD 56,000 - 79,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a passionate team at Charles River Community Health as the Community Health Worker Lead, where you will enhance community health outcomes by supervising and training frontline workers, engaging with community partners, and implementing health improvement programs. This role emphasizes diverse communication, program coordination, and the integration of technology to serve underserved populations effectively.

Benefits

Medical & Dental Insurance

Short & Long-term Disability Insurance

Generous Paid Time Off

Flexible Spending Account

Employee Assistance Program

Professional Development Opportunities

Qualifications

• Must be bilingual in English plus either Spanish, Haitian Creole, or Portuguese.
• Minimum of 1 year experience in a healthcare setting.
• Willingness to work flexible hours.

Responsibilities

• Supervise and train Community Health Workers and Medical Interpreters.
• Establish relationships with community organizations to address patients' needs.
• Manage grants and support the community health team.

Skills

Bilingual speaking

Interpersonal skills

Organizational skills

Time management

Cultural competence

Communication skills

Education

High School diploma or GED

40 hours of Medical Interpretation training, or willingness to obtain

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Job description

CLASSIFICATION/STATUS: Exempt, Full-time, Permanent

IMMEDIATE SUPERVISOR: Chief Operating Officer

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: Community Health Workers and Interpreters

SALARY RANGE: Band 4 ($56,200-$79,000/year)

WHO YOU ARE:

YOUR ROLE & IMPACT

The mission of Charles River Community Health (CRCH) is to partner with individuals and families to help them thrive and lead healthier lives by delivering comprehensive, integrated, and equitable primary healthcare. The Community Health Worker (CHW) Lead is a key member of this mission, serving as a frontline public health worker and interpreter. This role acts as a vital link between healthcare providers, social services, and the community, addressing the social determinants of health and ensuring equitable access to care.

The CHW Lead plays a leadership role by supervising, training, and onboarding Community Health Workers and Medical Interpreters across all CRCH locations. This position oversees and coordinates day-to-day community health operations, facilitates outreach programs, and works collaboratively with internal teams and community partners to meet C3 and other health center goals. The CHW Lead also develops and implements strategies that address community health needs, ensures cultural and linguistic competence in service delivery, and supports the integration of technology such as MyChart and telehealth tools.

This role requires a strong understanding of the community, the ability to build and maintain trusting relationships, and experience managing grants, workflows, and event planning. Working closely with a diverse team, the CHW Lead ensures alignment with the organization's mission and contributes to improving patient outcomes and overall community health.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

• Supervise and lead all onsite and offsite Community Health outreach activities for both the Brighton and Waltham CRCH sites. Conduct outreach, implement programs in the community that promote, maintain, and improve community health needs while providing resources.
• Establish and maintain ongoing relationships with community-based organizations to address patients’ social determinants of health and other non-clinical needs.
• Collaborate with the Site Manager and Clinical Leadership to oversee the operations of school-based programs.
• Supervise, train, and onboard Community Health Workers, Medical Interpreters, and Chronic Care Case Management.
• Coordinate day-to-day Community Health operations in partnership with the Site Manager.
• Work closely with the Digital Navigator to train Community Health Workers and Medical Interpreters in enrolling patients in MyChart and supporting them with video telehealth.
• Develop Community Health strategies, plans, and programs under the direction of the Site Manager, ensuring they align with the health center's needs.
• Partner with Operations and Clinical staff on social determinants of health (SDOH) administration, creating and maintaining a streamlined workflow for SDOH.
• Collaborate with IT and the CTC team to implement and supervise Medical Interpreter schedules in Epic, ensuring the ongoing success of interpreter services.
• Manage grants supporting the Community Health team, including data collection for applications, grant reporting, and tracking staff hours allocated to grants. Attend grant meetings as required.
• Work closely with the Chronic Care clinical team to develop and maintain workflows for the Integrated CHW role and provide supervisory support to Integrated CHWs.
• Manage a caseload of C3 patients in coordination with the Integrated Community Health Workers, with responsibility for understanding, tracking, and meeting C3 CCM casework deliverables.
• Manage and coordinate event planning, including donor solicitation, for the annual National Community Health Center Week celebration.
• Conduct accurate medical and general interpretation for patient care staff, patients, and their families.
• Translate documentation, posters, and flyers as needed.
• Build trusting relationships with patients and their families, providing general support and encouragement.
• Provide ongoing follow-up, basic motivational interviewing, and goal setting with patients and families.
• Offer referrals to community agencies and stay up-to-date on community resources.
• Enable and improve culturally and linguistically competent services and care by understanding community culture and resources.
• Conduct outreach and implement programs in the community to promote, maintain, and improve community health needs.
• Collect data to help identify community health needs.
• Advise community groups on chronic diseases and means of prevention. Provide informal counseling as needed.
• Perform additional duties as assigned by the Chief Operating Officer or designee.

YOUR QUALIFICATIONS, COMPETENCIES, TRAITS

• Bilingual speaking required. Must be proficient in English and a secondary language of either Spanish, Haitian Creole or Portuguese.
• High School diploma or GED required.
• Must have proof of completion of a minimum of 40 hours of Medical Interpretation training, or is willing to pursue training on the job and obtain certification within 1 year of employment.
• Must have at least 1 year of experience working within a healthcare setting.
• Certification as a Community Health Worker or Medical Interpreter preferred.
• Must have knowledge of computer systems including Word and Excel.
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, and time management skills required.
• Knowledge of both community and healthcare system resources.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Must have a willingness to work flexible hours to meet the organization's needs/demands. Flexible to work on evenings and/or Saturdays 8:30a-1:00p (otherwise, there is some flexibility with the schedule).
• Must be able to work at all CRCH sites as needed.
• Must have excellent communication skills, particularly with people from diverse cultures, with the ability to understand the community, population, and patients we serve.
• Must have experience in diverse cultures, with strong commitment to promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and reducing inequities.
• Must believe in the work we do at CRCH, with a strong passion to serve underserved populations in diverse settings.

WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO

Charles River Community Health’s mission is to partner with individuals and families so they can thrive and lead healthier lives by delivering the comprehensive, integrated, and equitable primary healthcare that matters most to them.

CRCH is a comprehensive practice providing medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, optical, and vision services to diverse underserved local communities. We serve over 13,500 patients annually, and 90% of those served are low income, while over 70% need services in a language other than English.

We are committed to providing patients with timely access to the right care, at the right place and at the right time, collaborating with other organizations to connect patients with a comprehensive range of services and provide continuity of care, and creating new community partnerships to meet the changing needs of patients and the community.

We value caring for everyone with dignity, respect, and compassion, reducing cultural, financial and other barriers to care, and eliminating health care disparities for our patients. We also advocate for the needs of our patients, the community, and public health causes.

OUR PROMISE

If you are passionate about providing service excellence in a mission-driven, team-oriented, and progressive organization, you will find your career as the Community Health Worker Lead rewarding and impactful! You will also find a partner in your career path goals and trajectory!

OUR BENEFITS & PERKS

Medical & Dental Insurance

Short & Long-term Disability Insurance

Generous Paid Time Off

Flexible Spending Account

Employee Assistance Program

Tickets at Work

Health Reimbursement Arrangement

Travel Reimbursement

Professional Development Opportunities

Solid track record of developing and promoting employees internally!

Charles River Community Health is strongly committed to diversity and a workplace environment that respects, appreciates and values employee differences and similarities. By providing and supporting a work culture that fosters and builds upon diversity and its strengths, CRCH will better serve our local communities and continue to provide quality patient care and services. CRCH is an employment at-will organization and an equal opportunity employer committed to maintaining a work and learning environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, national origin, pregnancy, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital/civil union status, ancestry, place of birth, age, citizenship status, veteran status, political affiliation, genetic information or disability, as defined and required by state and federal laws. Additionally, CRCH prohibits retaliation against an applicant or employee because he or she has engaged in protected activity under the statutes prohibiting discrimination in the workplace.