Job Summary

Upwork (previously Elance-oDesk), is a global freelancing platform where small-to-large businesses and independent professionals connect and collaborate remotely. Millions of job openings are posted on the platform yearly, making it the world's largest freelance marketplace.

The Professionals Talent and Partnership Lead is the people person within Upwork Professionals; responsible for building and managing the training content, as well as owning the cross-functional relationships with other internal teams such as HR, Compliance, and Sales.


Team Background: Upwork Professionals are a team of program managers and coordinators who design and implement programs to engage on-demand talent for Upwork's largest clients. We act as the client's agent or delegate and take every action on behalf of the client and with their consent, so they can remain hands-off.

Most members of the Upwork Professionals team are client facing or working on client projects. This role is primarily internally-facing, with some occasional client interactions.


Responsibilities:

Key responsibilities of the Professionals Talent and Partnership Lead falls under three groups:

1. Talent and Training
Build and maintain training programs for new and existing team members
Manage participation and monitor performance in regular repeat training programs
Design new training content and paths based on future needs
Onboard, train, and ramp-up new team members
Manage monthly (or bi-monthly) training sessions for general education and deep dives
Maintain a talent Pipeline for all talent levels, keep regular contact with identified potentials

2. Cross-functional relationship management

Know internal partners and stakeholders (Compliance, Legal, Talent Solutions, Talent Agency, Product, Trust and Safety, etc.)
Maintain ongoing relationships with partners
Help plan and prioritize our cross-functional requests with our partners
Keep track of progress and follow up issues with cross-functional partners
Troubleshoot platform issues as they arise, escalate to partner teams as necessary
Establish and maintain Professionals agency freelancer profiles and ensure appropriate permissions are provisioned
Manage Professionals Agency User Accounts and client interfaces
Track client support contracts with Professionals; open, close, and assign resource contracts on Upwork platform for agency

3. Compliance

Learn as much as possible about worker classification within the context of Upwork platform
Build a partnership with compliance to enhance client experience
Train Upwork Professionals on compliance requirements and processes
Help build a more efficient, transparent, and effective communication channel between Compliance, Upwork Professionals, and the Client

REQUIREMENTS

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Expertise in relationship-building across different stakeholders and teams
Resourcefulness, time management, and attention to detail
Either HR, training, or other forms of team building experience is a must have
Training or coaching background is nice to have
Exposure or experience in worker classification and compliance is a plus
SH: 5/22