The person who provides comprehensive workforce development services to people with criminal records — assessment, training, job placement, and ongoing support — designed to address the full arc of moving from incarceration or court involvement into stable employment.
Offender Workforce Development Specialist (OWDS) pay typically runs $52K–$84K at this level, and jobs in this field are projected to grow 3% through 2034.
Day-to-day tends to involve client assessments, job readiness training (often in groups), individual coaching, employer outreach and placement work, retention follow-up, and coordination with the broader reentry system. The role tends to span more of the workforce continuum than narrower placement or retention specialist positions.
Coordination tends to happen with clients, employers, corrections and probation, reentry programs, training providers, and community partners. Building relationships across both the criminal justice and workforce systems is much of the practical value — your effectiveness depends on knowing the resources on both sides and how to navigate them.
People who tend to thrive here are comprehensive thinkers, patient, and grounded in the reality that stable employment is one of the strongest predictors of reduced recidivism. If you need narrow scope or quick outcomes, the holistic work can feel diffuse. If you find satisfaction in being the person who walks alongside clients through the long arc from court involvement to working life, the role can be among the most consequential in reentry services.
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Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
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Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Social Services roles →The person who provides comprehensive workforce development services to people with criminal records — assessment, training, job placement, and ongoing support — designed to address the full arc of moving from incarceration or court involvement into stable employment.
Median pay for an Offender Workforce Development Specialist (OWDS) is about $65K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $44K to $106K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Active Listening, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, Service Orientation, and Active Listening.
Most people in this role hold a bachelor's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to grow about 3.05% through 2034, with roughly 429,170 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Youth Development Director, Offender Employment Specialist (OES), and Academic Counselor.
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