Position Summary

The Outreach Specialist for the PlaySure Network 2.0 program will play the primary role for planning, coordinating, and evaluating events-based outreach and social media/app-based outreach, in collaboration with the social media staff.   

Reports to: Director of Clinical and Holistic Health  
Annual Salary: $45,000 – $50,000 
Position Type: Full Time
Hours Per Week: Monday – Friday 8:30 am-4:30 pm

Responsibilities

• Conduct targeted outreach and recruitment 3-4 times per week at parks, on the streets, and strategic neighborhood partner organizations in Upper Manhattan.
• Conduct events-based outreach, including community health fairs, HIV testing and awareness days, HIV/STI testing events, and other events in collaboration with partners, including parks, local elected officials, Community Boards, and other non-profits organizations located in Upper Manhattan.
• Collaborate with the mobile vans team and Peer Worker once a week.  
• Offer free HIV testing and other comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment and holistic health care services, providing nutritious snacks and other incentives to support client’s engagement in HIV prevention services.  
• Conduct point of care HIV testing, in collaboration with the PSN 2.0 team through outreach encounters to as many individuals from the priority populations as possible.
• Provide free condoms and HIV testing, along with HIV prevention education and linkage to PrEP or PEP, and linkage to other providers, as needed.
• Conduct rapid 4^thgeneration HIV testing on mobile vans and provide H-Plus screening, brief intervention, intake, and PrEP/PEP education as part of the outreach and engagement process. 
• Normalize conversations about HIV prevention and connect individuals from the priority populations to the services they need.
• Closely collaborate with staff on the PSN 2.0 team on-site at the primary location and at the other site location in Upper Manhattan, to maximize reach and impact in offering HIV prevention services to the priority populations.
• Work with the social media staff to use social media-based outreach strategies on platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok to engage with individuals through direct messaging, share anonymous surveys with clients, highlight community partnerships, raise awareness of our HIV prevention services, and share sex-positive health education messages and promote our outreach events. Manage and grow online outreach efforts on active forums dedicated to discussing drug use, safer sex, and other pertinent issues as well as provide targeted education and training for relevant topics. Provide timely and informed responses to all online outreach inquiries.
• Track and document all outreach activities, including all events-based and social-media-based outreach activities, in line with the PSN 2.0 contract targets and deliverables. Provide monthly deliverables to the Data and Evaluation team.
• Perform other related tasks and responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications

• Experience with both event-based and social media-based outreach, especially around increasing awareness and education on key sexual health topics.
• Ability to relate to the priority populations, especially Black and Latina/Hispanic women, in a way to normalize and destigmatize conversations about HIV and HIV-related prevention and care services.
• Strong ability to build rapport and trust with key strategic partners, including parks, health care centers, elected officials, Community Board members and other non-profit organizations in Upper Manhattan.
• Familiarity with HIV and STI testing and providing linkages to HIV prevention and care services.  
• Strong ability to promote navigation services and connect participants to other services, including mental health, substance use treatment, and other supportive services.
• Familiarity with the full array of supportive services available to individuals in the priority populations, especially Black and Latina/Hispanic women.
• Experience with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
• Must be outgoing, self-motivated, and committed to working in a diverse environment. 
• Must be a team player and able to work effectively with a large variety of personalities and abilities, pragmatic with excellent problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills. 
• Must be familiar with and believe in a harm reduction philosophy. 
• Must be willing to work outdoors and at street sites (sometimes in inclement weather) and conduct intensive outreach.  Hours may include nights and weekends.
• Significant life experience in the areas of drug use, sex work, HIV prevention preferred, along with deep knowledge of the neighborhoods of Upper Manhattan, especially Harlem and Washington Heights.
• Individuals from Northern Manhattan are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Familiarity with local drug use and sex work patterns and nuances between demographics is an asset.