Onboarding Specialist

Goodwill SWPA; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 47,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

Goodwill SWPA in Pittsburgh is seeking an Onboarding Specialist to lead new-hire orientation and onboarding. You will deliver engaging sessions, coordinate resources, and ensure accurate documentation and compliance.

The role reports to the Director of Training and Development and requires strong public speaking, organizational, and communication skills in a collaborative, mission-driven environment.

Qualifications

• Associate's degree in Business Management, HR, or related field with 3+ years of experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Business Management, HR, or related field with 2+ years of experience.
• Master's degree in Business Management, HR, or related field with 1+ years of experience.
• Strong public speaking and presentation skills, engaging diverse audiences in person and virtually.
• Excellent organizational and administrative skills with attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Deliver and facilitate onboarding sessions and initial training for new hires.
• Coordinate onboarding resources including facilitators, rooms, and virtual meeting links.
• Maintain onboarding records, generate completion reports, and ensure required documents are completed.
• Manage onboarding calendars and training materials with confidentiality.
• Monitor onboarding metrics and provide updates to hiring managers and leadership.
• Assist with compliance, background checks, and COE coordination as needed.
• Drive continuous improvement of onboarding processes based on feedback and data.

Skills

Public speaking

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Attention to detail

Adaptability

Education

Associate's Degree in Business Management or related field

Bachelor's Degree in Business Management or related field

Master's Degree in Business Management or related field

Tools

Excel

HRIS

Microsoft Teams

Reporting tools

Job description

Position Title: Onboarding Specialist

Job Category: Admin and Operations

Requisition Number: ONBOA004735

Full-Time

Location: Lawrenceville WDC - 118 52nd St. Pittsburgh, PA 15201

External Hiring Range: $25

Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.

Travel: Travel within Goodwill SWPA terriroty.

DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW

Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania and North Central West Virginia is a nonprofit organization that funds job training, education, and other community programs by selling donated clothing and household items in Goodwill stores and online. We offer life-changing work on a mission-minded team. We are 1,000 working as one and each of us is essential to helping our community thrive. For three years running, Goodwill has been named to Forbes' list of America's "Most Inspiring Companies".

We offer a wide range of career opportunities ranging from entry-level to management in retail, human services, and administrative fields. Learn more about working at Goodwill. You can help. We can show you how.

POSITION SUMMARY

Are you a people person?

Do you enjoy public speaking?

Our Onboarding Ambassador Specialist reports to the Director of Training and Development and serves as a process owner and subject-matter expert for new hires and hiring managers throughout an employee's orientation and onboarding period. The Specialist collaborates with the People Services team throughout the hiring, pre-boarding and onboarding processes. By conducting in-person sessions throughout the Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania (SWPA) network, this role drives onboarding experiences, by delivering a structured, welcoming, and consistent onboarding process, ensuring new employees have the information, tools and support needed for a successful experience at Goodwill SWPA.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Included but not limited to:

New Hire Orientation and Training Facilitation

• Deliver and facilitate engaging orientation, employee training, and presentations that introduce employees to Goodwill SWPA's mission, culture, policies, benefits, systems, resources, and workplace expectations.
• Deliver orientation and onboarding sessions in a welcoming, accessible, and inclusive format that respects diverse cultural backgrounds, identities, experiences, learning styles, and accessibility needs.
• Champion onboarding and training best practices, facilitation techniques, adult learning principles, and emerging trends.

Onboarding Administration and Documentation

• Oversee the coordination of relevant resources such as facilitators, rooms, and virtual meeting links for orientation sessions training activities, and onboarding meetings.
• Maintain accurate onboarding and orientation records, generate completion reports, and communicate outstanding requirements I-9 documentation, job description sign-off, accessing HR software to the appropriate hiring manager and HR personnel, ensuring timely resolution and smooth new hire integration.
• Coordinate the distribution of training materials, accuracy of orientation calendar, schedules, and related administrative tasks while maintaining accuracy and confidentiality.
• Demonstrate ownership in managing and monitoring HR Portal for new hire 30,60,90-day tracking.

Cross-Functional Onboarding Coordination

• Facilitate a seamless transition from Talent Acquisition through onboarding and orientation by proactively coordinating outstanding documentation, introducing new hires to available People Services support, and connecting them with the appropriate resources to ensure a successful start.
• Manage reminder alerts, track outstanding tasks, and provide hiring managers with timely updates regarding each new hire's onboarding progress and readiness. Proactively address onboarding concerns and questions, provide clear guidance, coordinate follow-up activities with key business units, and ensure timely resolution of onboarding-related issues.

Compliance and Policy Knowledge

• Confer with People Services leadership to implement personnel policies and procedures while maintaining strict confidentiality.
• Assist with broad array of HR tasks, including but not limited to hiring events, onboarding support, unemployment claims, administrative tasks, open enrollment, coordinating with applicable centers of excellence (COEs), and other HR-related functions as assigned.

Compliance & Risk Management

• Maintain working knowledge of agency policies, procedures, benefits, systems, and applicable employment requirements to provide reliable guidance and support.
• Clearly explain relevant policies and required actions to new hires and hiring managers, identify missing or incomplete documentation, and collaborate with appropriate teams to resolve issues.

Program Evaluation and Continuous Improvement

• Recommend and coordinate updates to onboarding processes, training content, materials, systems, and schedules based on feedback, performance data, and organizational needs.
• Administer onboarding surveys and gather feedback from new hires, hiring managers, and facilitators to identify strengths and improvement opportunities.nticipate and recommend adjustment to generalist services to stakeholders.
• Maintain onboarding metrics, prepare reports, and monitor trends such as attendance, completion rates, participant satisfaction, and timely completion of required activities.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education and Years of Experience

• Associate's Degree in Business Management, Human Resources, or related field AND 3+ years of relevant experience. OR
• Bachelor's Degree in Business Management, Human Resources, or related field AND 2+ years of relevant experience. OR
• Master's Degree in Business Management, Human Resources, or related field AND 1+ years of relevant experience.

Required

• Strong public speaking and presentation skills, with the ability to engage diverse audiences in person and virtually.
• Excellent organizational, time-management, and administrative skills, with strong attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Strong verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills, including the ability to provide clear guidance and responsive support.
• Ability to properly use basic systems (email, HRIS, Excel, Teams, reporting tools).
• Ability to identify process gaps, recommend scalable solutions, and support the development of efficient and consistent onboarding practices across multiple departments or locations.

Preferred

• Association of Talent Development (ATD) Training & Facilitation Certificate, ATD-APTD, SHRM-CP, or another relevant certification
• Experience collaborating with Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, and cross-functional leaders

REQUIRED CLEARANCES, LICENSES, AND CERTIFICATIONS

• Qualified candidates must have a valid driver's license, active insurance policy, and reliable transportation for local travel.
• Candidates are expected to complete background checks assigned by Goodwill SWPA, including a National Criminal Background check, prior to their first day of employment.
• Candidates are expected to provide current, valid clearances (Child Abuse Clearance, FBI Fingerprints Clearance, and PATCH) prior to their first day of employment.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.