POSITION: Orientation & Mobility Specialist

REPORTS TO: Director, Orientation and Mobility

STATUS: Full-Time, Exempt

JOB CLASSIFICATION: Specialist II

UNION ELIGIBLE: Yes

WORK ARRANGEMENT: Hybrid (3 days/week in office)

LOCATION: San Francisco, CA

SALARY RANGE: $69,000-$90,711

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Open Until Filled

Founded in San Francisco in 1902, the LightHouse's purpose is to promote the independence, equality and self-reliance of people who are blind or visually impaired. The LightHouse is currently in a period of growth, increasing our capacity to serve more low-vision and blind clients.

*Blind/visually impaired strongly encouraged to apply.

*Please note the terms and conditions of this position may be subject to change, once a Union Collective Bargaining Agreement is in place.

OVERVIEW

LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, headquartered in downtown San Francisco, is looking for a full time Orientation and Mobility Specialist (O&M Specialist). The Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS or NOMC) provides in-person and virtual orientation and mobility instruction to blind, low-vision, or deaf-blind youth, adults and seniors from diverse backgrounds. The Orientation and Mobility Specialist (OMS) will conduct assessments and provide training that reflects recent and progressive travel and orientation techniques and trends, focusing on the student's travel needs in the home, work, academic sites and community.

The OMS must have the ability to assess and teach to differing skill levels, as well as to train on varied mobility devices and options such as: monocular telescope, tints, GPS Apps and use (ie BlindSquare, Google Maps), Audible Pedestrian Signals and tactile maps (public streets, transit hubs, and public spaces and buildings). The OMS must provide instruction that takes into consideration understanding of student's abilities and potential concomitant health conditions. Knowledge and understanding of primary eye conditions, including Cortical Visual Impairment, is imperative. Knowledge of health associated with aging, head injury, diabetes and mental health and developmental disabilities is very helpful. Together, the OMS and the student develop and revise goals to achieve the student's intended mobility outcomes.

Flexibility and 'thinking outside of the box' are attributes essential to this position. The philosophy of our trainers is to facilitate skills for independent (as defined with each student) travel. The OMS also provides training with the student using a training shade where best applied for learning and instruction. The OMS must be able to work with and provide information and training to family and friends, community members, volunteers and service providers as well as effectively communicate and collaborate with referral agencies in providing services to shared students. As the cross-cultural community of the LightHouse is increasing, a second language ability is preferred. Cultural sensitivity to disability is integral to this position. The duties of the OMS may include (but are not limited to): conducting assessments, writing individual training plans with the student, and facilitating individual and group instruction as needed. Additionally, the OMS may be requested to coordinate specific training projects with colleagues or represent the LightHouse in the community, which may be ongoing or short term. Orientation and mobility instruction may occur virtually (via Zoom), on-site at LightHouse facilities, in the home, workplace, academic sites or the student's community, including travel on all forms of local and regional public transportation and Paratransit.

While most of the training occurs in the counties of Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Lake, Marin, Solano and Humboldt, the OMS must be open and flexible to working from all LightHouse locations and sometimes beyond, as needed for special projects. Additionally, the OMS must be able to balance their training schedule to accommodate week-long seminar training at Enchanted Hills Camp and Retreat; immersive training in San Francisco with our Guide Dogs for the Blind collaboration (orientation skill development) or travel to locations outside the greater bay area overnight to accommodate training for students who live outside the area. Training may occur in either urban (all areas of a city) or rural settings. The OMS may also be asked to teach and assess urgent and basic daily living skills. The OMS is a professional within the Lighthouse Training Team, sharing resources, recommendations, referrals, and skills with each other. All of our training team members practice honing their teaching skills under occlusion as needed, providing feedback and discussing strategies for training.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's Degree or BA in Orientation and Mobility (ACVREP Certified) or Master's Degree and National Orientation and Mobility Certification (NOMC) from the National Blindness Professional Certification Board (NBPCB)
• Minimum of 2 years teaching Orientation and Mobility preferred. A history of teaching basic independent living skills (home-to-work skills) with young adults, and/ or adults and seniors.
• Knowledge and understanding of primary eye conditions, including Cortical Visual Impairment is imperative. Knowledge of health associated with aging, head injury, diabetes and mental health and developmental disabilities is very helpful.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, flexible, detail oriented.
• Must have strong interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, patience and ability to relate to a diverse population of staff, students, board members and volunteers.
• Manage multiple projects with precision and a high degree of organization.
• Assess and teach to differing skill levels, as well as to train on varied mobility devices and options such as: monocular, tints, GPS Apps and use (ie Blind Square, Google Maps), Accessible Pedestrian Signals and tactile maps (public streets, transit hubs, and public spaces and buildings).
  Formulate individual, sequential training plans.
  Strong computer skills - Microsoft Office Suite, Word, Excel and Outlook, as well as smart phone and tablets accessibility related to O&M and Braille/tactile mapping experience desired.
  Fluency speaking, reading and writing in Spanish, Cantonese, American Sign Language (ASL) or Russian preferred.
  Multicultural teaching experience and cultural sensitivity preferred.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Assess individual needs of students and set goals for instruction.
• Provide professionally written student assessments, goal development, and training summaries / recommendations, monthly to all third-party contracting sources (such as the Department of Rehabilitation, Veterans Administration, Regional Center and other third-party vendors).
• Maintain weekly and monthly database entries regarding units of service provided to students, along with notes, goal-planning and reports for all direct services provided.
• Act as Agency liaison in traffic, community transportation services and auditory signal issues or projects as requested.
• Provide cane travel, route travel with dog guide users & teams and human guide instruction.
• Maintain updated information regarding Paratransit programs, providing registration assistance and training in the programs as necessary.
• Provide orientation and route training in all environments and on various forms of public transit.
• Assess and teach basic and essential independent living skills to blind and low-vision students such as labeling, money organization, use of an ATM, and home safety practices (5-minute lessons).
• Provide training in a range of all indoor and out-of-door environments: all urban city environments, rural environments, professional and academic campuses and buildings, homes, skilled nursing facilities etc.
• Facilitate or co-facilitate classes, including our Changing Visions, Changing Lives immersion and community workshops.
• Conduct outreach, training and collaboration with local universities and school's disabled student programs, in providing campus orientation.
• Conduct student home safety assessments and community agency environmental evaluations.
• Provide consultation and/or training to staff in community agencies regarding environmental modifications and strategies in working with persons who are blind or low vision.
• Attend and participate in All-Staff meetings, monthly Consumer Review and departmental meetings (Training Services).
• Complete requisite documentation, billing, reports etc. in a timely manner (monthly). All completed in Salesforce Database.
• Participate in Agency public outreach and education as requested.
• Maintain timely communication and responses to students (within 48 hours of referral).
• Maintain professional communication via e-mail and voice mail on a timely and ongoing basis.
• May supervise, mentor and provide instruction to Orientation and Mobility Interns as requested per certification eligibility. (Must have MA/ACVREP Certification plus 3 years' experience for Intern supervision.)
• Willingness to perform other related duties as assigned.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Ability to teach in rain, cold, heat and other inclement conditions.
• Physical stamina and the ability to work indoors and outdoors and walk up to 7 hours at a time (all terrains including stairs).
• Ability to lift 25lbs on a frequent basis and up to 50lbs on an occasional basis with the assistance of another person as needed.
• Ability to independently travel to all LightHouse physical locations and events, as well as throughout Northern California up to Eureka, to provide services as needed.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

LightHouse is an equal opportunity employer. LightHouse policy and the law prohibit discrimination and harassment based on an individual's race, ancestry, religion or religious creed (including religious dress and grooming practices), color, age (40 and over), sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, national origin (including language use restrictions), marital status, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), physical or mental disability (including HIV and AIDS), military or veteran status, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions, denial of Family and Medical Care leave, height and weight, or any other classification protected by federal, state, or local laws, regulations, or ordinances. Our policy and the law prohibit co-workers, third parties, supervisors, and managers from engaging in such conduct.

LightHouse personnel are employed on an at-will basis. Employment at-will means that the employment relationship may be terminated, with or without cause and with or without advance notice at any time by the employee or the Agency.

We strive to maintain a scent-free environment and a drug-free workplace. Employees are expected to behave in accordance with these objectives.

All employees at LightHouse are hired for an indefinite and unspecified duration and consequently, no employee is guaranteed employment for a specified length of time. Employment is at the mutual consent of the employee and LightHouse. Accordingly, either the employee or LightHouse can terminate the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause ("employment at will").

HOW TO APPLY:

Please submit a cover letter and resume as Word attachments (no. PDFs please), along with the completed employment application (downloads in a Word document), to HR@lighthouse-sf.org, including the job title in the subject line. To fill out the application, please enable editing in the document. We will not consider videos or hyperlinks to online profiles. Due to time constraints, we will only respond to complete submissions in which there is serious interest, thanks for your understanding.