Southeast Wisconsin Community Engagement Lead

UWMSN University of Wisconsin Madison; Gainesville (GA); Hybrid; USD 55,000 - 67,000; Full time

Job summary

UW–Madison is seeking a Southeast Wisconsin Community Engagement Lead to advance health insurance access awareness and coordination with community leaders. The Milwaukee-based role focuses on developing collaborations, supporting outreach campaigns, and providing direct enrollment assistance for Medicaid and Marketplace programs.

The role requires strong outreach experience, public communication skills, and the ability to manage multiple initiatives across a broad Southeast WI region.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to cultivate, develop, and maintain collaborative relationships with leaders of community‑based organizations and partner agencies.
• Strong public communication skills as demonstrated through presentations, media interviews, and written messaging.
• Coordination of outreach to and/or community organizing with populations most at risk for health and other disparities.
• Group meeting facilitation, coordination, and leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment while prioritizing multiple initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Schedules and secures resources and communicates logistics in support of an outreach program
• Identifies, promotes, and maintains external partnerships to support the outreach program
• Delivers outreach program content and materials to community members
• Leads the implementation of programs, policies, and procedures through oversight of day‑to‑day activities for program staff and volunteers
• Implements initiatives and events that serve the target audience
• May assist with monitoring outreach program budget spending
• Develops and evaluates curriculum and programs and provides recommendations for improvement
• Researches, develops, and facilitates outreach program content and materials

Skills

Community engagement

Public communication

Diversity & inclusion

Facilitation & leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Master's degree preferred

Job description

Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.

Job Details

Job Category: Academic Staff Employment Type: Regular Job Profile: Outreach Specialist Job Summary: The Southeast Wisconsin Community Engagement Lead serves as a key regional representative for Covering Wisconsin in elevating health insurance access awareness, understanding, and opportunities for coordination with other community-serving entities and leaders. This Milwaukee-based position will be responsible for: 1) developing and growing thoughtful collaborations with the wide range of public, private, and governmental stakeholder leaders throughout the area; 2) supporting and implementing a comprehensive outreach and education campaign, in coordination with statewide and other Milwaukee outreach efforts led by CWI and partners, to better reach consumers and professionals representing or serving communities most at‑risk for lack of coverage and access to care; 3) conducting direct health insurance enrollment assistance supporting Medicaid and Marketplace coverage; 4) leading well‑organized and action‑oriented meetings and other collaborative professional efforts; 5) engaging in persuasive communications through formal presentations, media interviews, and direct written messaging to elevate health coverage access awareness and understanding.

Regional Location

The primary programming focus is Milwaukee County; however, programming will be conducted over a broader geographical area in Southeast WI. Partial Remote - This position may require some work to be performed in‑person, onsite, at a designated campus work location. Some work may be performed remotely, at an offsite, non‑campus work location. Remote work requires an approved remote work agreement (RWA). A RWA requires successful candidates to possess their own high‑speed internet and phone to perform the work on a university provided computer. Per University policy, transportation between home and assigned work location is not payable/reimbursable and will be at the expense of the employee. This position has the possibility of working up to 2 days remote per week.

Evening/Weekend Work

This position may be required to work occasional nights and weekends to meet the program needs and priorities of the communities served.

Travel Expectations

It is expected that employees will make individual arrangements for transportation adequate to meet position responsibilities and essential job functions. Read more about UW‑Madison Driver Authorization.

Applicants are required to:

Have a valid drivers license and a reliable source of independent transportation for periodic in‑state work travel, and/or comply with requirements for UW‑Madison vehicle use authorization.

Bilingual

Bilingual Preferred This position has a bilingual preferred qualification, which means a bilingual skillset is desired to bolster programming initiatives but is not required. A bilingual title designation and unique responsibility will be added to the final position description if the final candidate passes the language proficiency assessment.

Physical Requirements

Ability to lift 20 pounds with assistance; ability work outside in inclement weather.

Key Job Responsibilities

• Schedules and secures resources and communicates logistics in support of an outreach program
• Identifies, promotes, and maintains external partnerships to support the outreach program
• Delivers outreach program content and materials to community members
• Leads the implementation of programs, policies, and procedures through oversight of day‑to‑day activities for program staff and student and community volunteers
• Implements initiatives and events that serve the target audience
• May assist with the monitoring of outreach program budget spending
• Develops and evaluates curriculum and programs and provides recommendations for improvement
• Researches, develops, and facilitates outreach program content and materials

Department

About Extension: Extension embodies the Wisconsin Idea by developing and connecting the research and educational resources of UW‑Madison with residents and communities to address local, statewide, and national issues. We teach, learn, lead and serve, transforming lives and communities.

About the Institute: The Health & Well‑Being Institute supports healthier lives by working with and for the people, communities and Tribal nations of Wisconsin to build relationships, facilitate learning and pursue data informed and culturally based strategies. (https://health.extension.wisc.edu/)

In living our values, the Health & Well‑Being Institute: Builds and maintains positive, trust‑based, inclusive relationships; Centers community voices, experiences, strengths, and diverse perspectives; Takes purposeful, strategic action to build capacity in addressing identified needs; Engages in lifelong learning with the people and communities we serve; Collaborates to achieve shared goals by integrating diverse perspectives; Supports opportunities for everyone to achieve optimal health.

Additional Department Details

As a vital piece of the Health & Well Being Institute, Covering Wisconsin (CWI) focuses on educating people about the importance of health insurance and helping them understand and sign up for publicly available health coverage and get connected to care. CWI began in 2003 and has been a federally‑designated health insurance Navigator entity since 2014. With a team of 20, CWI serves any resident of Wisconsin through a combination of funding from grants, contracts, and contributions.

Our approach prioritizes education, assistance, and relationship‑building by providing information and services in ways that are relevant, accessible, and understandable.

Compensation

The minimum annual (12 months) starting salary for the position is $60,795 but is negotiable based on experience and qualifications.

Bilingual Preferred This position has a bilingual preferred qualification. Upon the successful completion of a Language Proficiency Assessment, a ‘bilingual’ prefix will be added to the official title. The bilingual prefix is accompanied by a $3,500.00 pay increase applied to the annual salary.

Benefits

Employees in this position can expect to receive benefits such as generous vacation, holidays, and paid time off; competitive insurances and savings accounts; retirement benefits. Benefits information can be found at (https://hr.wisc.edu/benefits/).

Required Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to cultivate, develop, and maintain collaborative relationships with leaders of community‑based organizations and partner agencies.
• Strong public communication skills as demonstrated through presentations, media interviews, and written persuasive messaging.
• Coordination of outreach to and/or community organizing with populations most at‑risk for health and other disparities.
• Group meeting facilitation, coordination, and leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively work with people from a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast‑paced environment while prioritizing and managing multiple initiatives at one time.

Preferred Qualifications

• Connections and relationships with agencies, partners, and collaborators in the southeast Wisconsin area.
• Knowledge about Medicaid, BadgerCare Plus, and federal Marketplace eligibility and policies.
• Direct assistance for consumers, such as public benefits enrollment or support accessing health or social programs.
• Bilingual Preferred Spanish speaking, writing and comprehension skills; knowledge and understanding of Hispanic culture. Language skills will be evaluated.

Education

• Required Education: Bachelor's degree or equivalent in communications, public affairs, social work, sociology, political science, public health, consumer science, adult education, public affairs, public or health care administration, health communication, nonprofit management, or related field.
• Preferred Education: Master's degree in a related field.

Contact Information

Michele Blakeman (Human Resources) [e-mail] (608) 262‑7110

Caroline Gomez (Hiring Manager) [e-mail] (608) 673‑0560

Relay Access (WTRS): 7‑1‑1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information.

Institutional Statement on Diversity

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW‑Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals. The University of Wisconsin‑Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

The University of Wisconsin‑Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgrounds and encourage all qualified individuals to apply.

Employment Dues

Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment. The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7).

The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report contains current campus safety and disciplinary policies, crime statistics for the previous 3 calendar years, and on-campus student housing fire safety policies and fire statistics for the previous 3 calendar years. UW‑Madison will provide a paper copy upon request; please contact the University of Wisconsin Police Department.

Other

Work with purpose, make an impact, and grow your career. The University of Wisconsin–Madison is committed to equity, inclusion and employee well‑being as we proudly work to improve the lives of people in Wisconsin and beyond. UW–Madison offers a wide range of professions that cover various interests and skill levels. We employ everything from accountants to arborists, chefs to custodians, editors to electricians, graphic designers to ground‑keepers, HR associates to HVAC technicians, librarians to locksmiths, mechanics to medical assistants, painters to police officers, web designers to welders, and absolutely everything in between! No matter what you are looking for professionally, chances are you will not only find it but will thrive at it while working at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.