Community Navigator

The Community Navigator is a new position within the Human Services Division of the City of Santa Monica. The primary goal of this position is to help vulnerable or underserved populations find, understand, and successfully access needed resources, including local, state, and federal benefits. Unlike traditional case managers who may focus on long-term clinical goals, this navigator will focus on reducing barriers to an individual or family’s immediate, practical needs.

This position will primarily be based at the Park Center at Virginia Avenue Park but may co-locate at other city locations in Santa Monica as needed.

• Develops and implements strategies to connect underserved community members to relevant programs and resources.
• Conducts proactive outreach in neighborhoods, community spaces, and trusted gathering places to increase awareness of City programs and services among diverse and underserved populations.
• Plans, implements and conducts community engagement and resource navigation activities at schools, community centers, libraries, parks, faith-based organizations, and other community locations to connect residents with available resources and services.
• Assists individuals and families in identifying, accessing and navigating appropriate City and community resources related to housing, healthcare, crisis intervention, legal, and social service systems and coordinates referrals to appropriate resources, providers and follow‑up support.
• Identifies cultural, linguistic, and systemic barriers impacting access to services and collaborates with City staff and community partners to support more inclusive and equitable practices.
• Serves as a cultural broker between communities and institutional systems, conveying context, history, and lived experience in ways that enable residents and service providers to engage more honestly and effectively.
• Gathers and communicates community feedback, concerns, and priorities to City departments and stakeholders to support program development, outreach efforts, and continuous service improvement.
• Collects and analyzes data on service utilization, barriers, and unmet needs to identify gaps in program access and recommend improvements. Provides program analysis and policy‑related recommendations for department or division operations.
• Facilitates participatory planning processes and shared governance models that center community voice in program design, policy development, and decision‑making.
• Organizes and supports community input sessions, co‑design processes, and feedback mechanisms that give residents meaningful influence over the services intended to serve them.
• Reviews existing programs, policies, and service delivery methods to assess effectiveness, cultural responsiveness, and accessibility.
• Collaborates with external agencies, nonprofits, and service providers to streamline referrals, share resources, and support joint initiatives.
• Serves as primary contact for inquiries to the City of Santa Monica related to social services. Handles sensitive community/participant complaints.
• Works with internal departments to coordinate service delivery, share insights, and align efforts to improve community access.
• Trains colleagues on community engagement and available resources, as assigned.
• Performs other duties, as assigned.

• Diverse and underserved community needs, programs and services.
• Intersectional approaches to systems navigation, including how to identify and address the layered and overlapping forms of inequity.
• Effective customer service and case management techniques.
• Principles of program planning, monitoring, implementation and evaluation with the ability to apply an equity lens to assess whether programs are reaching those most in need and…