Ages 3-8 Director

Ages 3-8 Director

 

REPORTS TO:   VP of Public Will Building

FLSA STATUS:  Exempt

SUPERVISES:  Project Manager or Managers

Background

Ready for School, Ready for Life (Ready Ready) is a collaborative effort to build a connected, innovative system of care for Guilford County’s youngest children and their families. Our focus is ensuring all children in Guilford County and their families get the resources they need for healthy development. We want every child born in Guilford County from 2023 and beyond to enter kindergarten developmentally on track in five key areas:

  • Physical
  • Language and communication
  • Social-emotional
  • Cognitive
  • Approaches to play and learning

Family voice informs our work, and we share our learning with residents and community stakeholders. We also work with more than 100 community partners in Guilford County and North Carolina to create this system of care. As a backbone organization, our goal is population-level change.

The Ages 3-8 Director will lead Ready Ready’s work focused on supporting the needs of children ages 3-8 and their families in Guilford County with the goals of:

  • increasing readiness at kindergarten entry
  • ensuring proficiency in 3rd grade
  • decreasing disparities between white children and children of color.

The Ages 3-8 Director will work closely with Ready Ready staff, community stakeholders, family leaders and organizational partners to design, coordinate and direct the implementation of strategies to support children and families ages 3-8. The Ages 3-8 Director will offer oversight and strategic direction to partners implementing strategies in Guilford County and will work closely with Ready Ready staff and partners supporting the implementation of prenatal to age 3 strategies to ensure alignment with the existing Routes to Ready Navigation System.

The Director will possess:

  • Successful history in project/program design, management, coordination, implementation and evaluation.
  • Knowledge about Guilford County’s early childhood needs, assets, and partners.
  • The ability to work well with a diverse group of stakeholders and community service providers.
  • Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex projects and deadlines at once.

The Ages 3-8 Director will report to the Vice President of Public Will-Building and will manage a team of two project managers and additional consultant support.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

The Ages 3-8 Director will oversee the design and implementation of community driven strategies to address the needs of children ages 3-8 and their families in Guilford County ensuring activities align with Ready Ready’s Values and Principles and Equity Statement which include a commitment to identifying and implementing equity focused activities.  Key responsibilities include:

  • Designing and overseeing the implementation of community-driven strategies to address the needs of ages 3-5 (prior to kindergarten entry).
  • Coordinate a community driven process to identify strategies to support children age 5-8 (kindergarten-3rd grade) with a focus on ensuring success in 3rd grade. Once identified, support the piloting, testing and implementation of these strategies.
  • Ensuring Ready Ready’s ages 3-5 and ages 5-8 work aligns with the established prenatal -3 system.
  • Establishing and maintaining strong relationships with implementation partners and other key community partners/stakeholders – including facilitating collaborative relationships across partners.
  • Serve as the Staff Liaison to Steering Committees and Planning Teams established as part of the ages 3-8 work.
  • Actively seeking out opportunities for synergy with other early childhood efforts in Guilford County, particularly those serving children ages 3-8.
  • Supporting implementation partners via frequent team touchpoints, ongoing communication and technical assistance, tracking of data, documentation of progress and lessons learned, etc.
  • Foster a sense of synergy, ownership, and personal connection among ages 3-5 and ages 5-8 partners to Ready Ready’s work and the community we serve.
  • Supervise staff and contract roles working directly with the ages 3-5 and ages 5-8 stages of Ready Ready’s work.
  • On an as needed basis, representing Ready Ready at local, regional and state-level meetings and events focused on early childhood education and families.
  • Maintaining appropriate documentation for agreed upon work with partners. MOUs or contracts will be established with all partners.
  • Compiling, synthesizing, and analyzing data, including identifying benchmarks and tracking progress of work to be reported to funders and other stakeholders.
  • Ensure project goals, including timelines for implementation, are met.
  • Providing regular reports on progress to RR leadership team and liaise across other partners/consultants
  • Other activities as assigned.

POSITION QUALIFICATIONS

  • Bachelor’s degree in early childhood development, public policy, or a related field such as social work, public health, public administration, business, communication. Masters preferred.
  • Five or more years of experience working on community-based or community organizing projects with multiple team members.
  • Three or more years of experience managing employees (including tracking performance, completing performance reviews and delivering feedback).
  • Superior oral and written communication skills: articulate communicator and active listener; understanding and responding effectively with consummate professionalism at all levels.
  • Experience developing and managing budgets.
  • Knowledge of the early childhood, education and/or healthcare systems is desirable.
  • Demonstrated ability to cultivate partnerships both inside and outside of an organization and to move a group towards a common goal.
  • A strong work ethic, with a results-oriented philosophy and personal qualities of trustworthiness, openness, accessibility, kindness, flexibility, and a sense of humor.
  • Superior oral and written communication skills: articulate communicator and active listener; understanding and responding effectively with consummate professionalism at all levels.
  • Prior project/program management experience.
  • Sound judgment and ability to handle confidential information with discretion and professionalism.
  • Ability to work autonomously.
  • Intermediate to advanced skills with Microsoft desktop programs, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams, and others.
  • Must have a valid driver’s license, reliable transportation and pass a criminal and driving background check.
  • A commitment to Ready for School, Ready for Life’s Values and Principles.
  • Supports the Ready Ready Equity Statement and commits to the implementation of the Equity Action Plan.

 

Accepting applications on a rolling basis until filled.