Continuous Quality Improvement Manager

 

Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Manager:

Kelli Crawford

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 2022 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.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Manager will work with organization leaders and funders to set the strategic direction for CQI work in Guilford county. The CQI Manager will recruit, manage and support early childhood programs’ engagement and participation in Ready Ready’s CQI initiative in Guilford county. This includes relationship management with organizational leaders of participating programs and facilitators of CQI, as well as funders.  Further, the CQI Manager will manage multiple aspects of the project delivery from creation through implementation, including proposals for funding to support both short-term and long-term CQI initiatives. The CQI Manager will oversee the grant application process, as well as the online CQI Learning Community. Along with other CQI coaches and facilitators, The CQI Manager will coach Guilford County early childhood programs to strengthen their capacity to collect, analyze, and use data to provide higher quality services to improve outcomes for families.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

  • Lead planning and implementation of all CQI work, including coaching CQI cohorts
  • Design implementation and coaching strategy for the CQI cohorts, building upon practices and resources developed for the first and second cohorts
  • Support the selection and relationship with external contractors that may be used to facilitate and support learning and implementation of CQI methodology within the organization
  • Lead the planning and implementation of the CQI Learning Community
  • IT administration for CQI web based tools, such as project management software and/or learning management system
  • Oversee and/or lead the planning, development, and implementation of complementary CQI workstreams including cohort selection, community-wide culture-building, internal evaluation, and CQI stakeholder group facilitation
  • Work with the Ready Ready team to align and integrate CQI activities with other Ready Ready Initiative strategies and priorities
  • Lead and drive work forward for relevant CQI stakeholder groups, that could included but is not limited to the CQI Community of Practice (program leads from the first CQI cohort), a CQI Working Group (funder and program representatives), and the CQI Implementation Team, while collaborating with additional stakeholders as needed
  • Develop a staffing plan to support CQI growth including but not limited to a CQI summer intern, a CQI grant administrator, a CQI Learning Community Coordinator, a CQI Technical Support Specialist, and CQI coaches
  • Hire, on-board, and manage Ready Ready CQI team members, which could include employees, interns, and/or contractors
  • Maintain and develop relationships with CQI cohort program members, staff of other Guilford County programs, funders, and other Initiative stakeholders
  • Works with the CEO, Vice President of Strategic Impact, and Network Director to develop and manage annual budgets for CQI work
  • May provide periodic reports to Board
  • Incorporate the organization’s Values and Principles into the work
  • Agree with the organization’s Equity Statement and support the implementation of the Equity Action Plan

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Participate in Ready, Ready Sponsored Events
  • Participate in professional development opportunities to improve skills
  • Perform other duties as assigned by CEO and/or Vice President of Strategic Impact

QUALIFICATIONS:

Education and Experience:

  • Bachelor’s degree required (advanced degree preferred)
  • 5+ years of relevant, progressively responsible leadership experience in early childhood, education, public health, or related human service fields required (early childhood and/or education experience preferred)

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

  • Working knowledge and experience in quality improvement; experience with methodologies such as Model for Improvement, Lean, or Six Sigma is a plus
  • Proven ability to lead and collaborate, with the interpersonal skills necessary for working well with diverse people within the organization and in the community
  • Knowledge of Guilford County nonprofit and public sectors a plus
  • Experience with hiring staff, including contract staff
  • Strong written and verbal English communication skills; ability to communicate complex ideas effectively to a range of audiences
  • Ability to develop, deliver, manage, and prioritize long- and short-term strategies while maintaining a high attention to detail, accuracy, and overall quality of work products
  • Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple work streams and teams in a fast-paced, evolving work environment
  • Strong data analysis and interpretation skills
  • Proficient in Microsoft Office products and web-based applications
  • A passion for supporting children and families and for Ready Ready’s mission
  • A commitment to equity and engaging family voice
  • Able to genuinely connect with people of varying backgrounds and experiences
  • Proactive, with the ability to anticipate and plan for multidimensional challenges involving many organizations, processes, cultures, and technologies
  • Adaptive, with the ability to pivot on multiple projects when needed and to thrive in a fast-paced, evolving organization
  • Strategic thinker and planner
  • Knowledge of human service organizations and resources for families
  • Experience in budget development and oversight
  • Experience interacting with non-profit organization boards and committees, government officials, and external stakeholders, such as, funders and other non- profit organization leaders, highly desirable
  • Dedication to customer service and confidentiality
  • Effective interpersonal and management skills, including diplomacy, influencing and consensus building skills
  • Champion of diversity

Physical Demands and Working Environment:

  • Regularly stand, sit, and walk; use hands; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; talk or hear; and taste or smell
  • Frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds
  • Generally works in an office environment, but may occasionally be required to perform job duties outside of the typical office setting
  • Occasional travel outside the office