Career Center

Job Title:         Program Director

Reports to:      Executive Director

Job Summary:

The Program Director leads the education and related programming in a large, urban, non-profit, NAEYC-accredited program.  The Program Director is a member of the leadership team and supervises the Family Services Director and 4 Education Coordinators.  Children’s Village has capacity to serves 450 – 475  infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school-agers in 23 classes.  Children’s Village staff and families represent the diverse communities in and around Philadelphia – including those (1) of various racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, a significant portion of whom are relatively new immigrants, (2) who speak English as well as other languages, particularly Chinese dialects and Indonesian, among others, and (3) of all economic levels, in varying family compositions.

Mission:
Children’s Village is a non-profit educating young and school-age children, current and future teachers, and families. Children’s Village is distinguished by teaching excellence, a comprehensive and holistic framework and its focus on inclusion and diversity. Working together with children, families and the community, we promote a society that is fair, compassionate and economically vibrant.

Core Values:

• Recognizing children as our first priority
• Maintaining accreditations to assure educational excellence
• Supporting parents in work, in school and as community volunteers
• Embracing the broad diversity of families in today's society
• Creating an inclusive, collaborative community of childcare professionals, families and community representatives
• Engaging staff and families in open dialogue to learn from one another
• Retaining and developing professional, committed and passionate teachers and staff

Program Director Areas of Responsibilities:

Licensing and Accreditation Compliance

Know and understand the standards and criteria as established by all regulatory and accrediting bodies to which Children’s Village subscribes by mandate or voluntarily, including but not limited to the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning, Keystone STARS, the Environment Rating Scales, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Head Start, Pre-K Counts and the National After-School Association.  Regularly assess Children’s Village’s level of compliance with these standards, identifying areas falling short.  Work with the administrative team and teachers to correct areas of noncompliance or deficiency, through direct supervision and/or through systematic approaches, in collaboration with the management team and, when applicable, within the center committee structure.  Assist the Executive Director in meeting the documentation and other general performance requirements expected of above agencies. 

Education and Curriculum:

Shape and spearhead the Children’s Village vision of high-quality education in a forward-thinking, reflective and innovative manner.  Select, adopt and implement exemplary curricula for the infant, toddler, preschool, and school-age programs, in accordance with regulatory and accreditation agencies, and in line with current and expert thinking in the field of education and well-respected theories on children’s learning and development.  Ensure curricula are aligned with best practice standards in a manner consistent with the Children’s Village mission and core values.  Ensure that curricula and their implementation are vibrantly inclusive of and responsive to the children, their families and their cultures. 

Strategic Program Growth, Development and Administration:

Support the Executive Director in achieving the organization’s strategic goals, setting strategic direction, aligning and coordinating funded programs, developing and implementing new programs, assessing the feasibility of Children’s Village participation in various opportunities, and managing budgets.  Ensure that programmatic staff perform effectively and that organizational policies and procedures are fully implemented and consistently applied.  Document progress and identify barriers that inhibit progress.    

Key Responsibilities:

• Oversee enrollment and work to ensure that all classrooms are filled, and all slots by funding source are utilized.
• Oversee the education program, and ensure that dual language-learners, and children needing assessment for and ongoing provision of specialized services are appropriately progressing at Children’s Village.
• With the Education Coordinators, review child- and classroom-level data to ensure that the curriculum is effective and review teacher-level data to create staff development and training plans for individual teachers and groups of teachers.
• Address and resolve program challenges at the individual, family and classroom levels.
• Oversee program licensing and accreditation, and coordinate all monitoring visits mandated by regulatory and funding bodies.
• Oversee family services, including translation and interpretation, and ensure that all families receive the in-home and center-based services that they need.
• Identify program gaps and in partnership with Development, work to design and fund new programs to fill those gaps.
• Work with the Executive Director to implement the organization’s strategic plan.
• Write programmatic reports and ensure deliverables are met.
• Oversee program budgets and ensure that spending and revenue is aligned.
• Know and endorse all Children’s Village policies and procedures as spelled out in the Employee Handbook and Family Handbook, as well as in other written formats. Recommend revisions and additions to Children’s Village policies and procedures in order to improve compliance with regulatory and accrediting bodies and to maintain Children’s Village’s alignment with current thinking in other relevant fields of study and practice. 
• Participate in meetings, serve on committees and assist with the annual program self-evaluation in a collaborative spirit, tackling program deficiencies or conflicts with a problem-solving approach that considers each participant’s perspective.
• In the absence of the Executive Director, ensure immediate organizational needs are met. Communicate with the Executive Director, as needed, to review and coordinate interim responsibilities.  Likewise, assume responsibilities of management team members in their absence when necessary.
• Promote the program in Children’s Village’s immediate neighborhood, within the wider community and in the field of education locally, regionally and beyond. Support the center’s goal of maintaining center enrollment at capacity in all age groups.  Promote Children’s Village, our program and philosophy, within these contexts. 
• Maintain strict professional standards of confidentiality regarding children, families, staff and applicable agencies.
• From time to time, responsibilities in addition to those listed above may be required to meet the needs of Children’s Village.

Physical Demands:

The candidate must be able to observe center operations by sight and sound for supervisory purposes, and must be able to effectively communicate with coworkers.  The candidate may be expected to assist in the classroom, which includes picking up children, or helping a child who is having trouble maintaining physical self-control.  The candidate must be able to assist in a center evacuation, which can involve walking up and down several flights of stairs.  The candidate must be able to walk distances and travel to other parts of the city, or even farther, for home visits, meetings and trainings.

Hours/Shift:

This full-time, exempt, management-level position has flexible hours.  The hours are modified in order to open or close the center, as needed.  Additionally, to meet the needs of Children’s Village, it may be necessary to work extended hours, including nights and weekends.  Holiday schedule and leave policy are outlined in the employee manual.

Qualifications:

1. Educational Degree – A master’s degree from an accredited college in early childhood education or related field required.
2. Supervisory Experience – A minimum of five years supervisory experience.
3. Child Care Experience – A minimum of five years working in a high quality child care center or another type of youth-oriented program. Must include demonstrated ability to fully comprehend and comply with regulatory/accrediting and funding bodies, while supervising others to do the same.
4. Budget Experience – Comfortable drafting and reviewing program-level budgets and ensuring that revenue targets are met and expenditure limits are upheld. Experience in working with budgets of more than $3 M annually.
5. Experience working with licensing and governing agencies such as Department of Human Services, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Experience working with systems funding early child care preferred (Child Care Works, PA PreK Counts, PHL PreK)
6. Data Analysis and Reporting – Experience analyzing individual-level and aggregated data in order to identify trends, make programmatic adjustments and improvements, and to report on program progress.
7. PQAS instructor certification desired – not required at hiring, but must gain this certification within 18 months

Compensation: $90,000 - $120,000 annually, dependent upon qualifications

To apply, please submit an application to maryg@childrensvillagephila.org. 

To download employment application, go to http://www.childrensvillagephila.org/careers

Qualifications:

1. Educational Degree – A master’s degree from an accredited college in early childhood education or related field required.
2. Supervisory Experience – A minimum of five years supervisory experience.
3. Child Care Experience – A minimum of five years working in a high quality child care center or another type of youth-oriented program. Must include demonstrated ability to fully comprehend and comply with regulatory/accrediting and funding bodies, while supervising others to do the same.
4. Budget Experience – Comfortable drafting and reviewing program-level budgets and ensuring that revenue targets are met and expenditure limits are upheld. Experience in working with budgets of more than $3 M annually.
5. Experience working with licensing and governing agencies such as Department of Human Services, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Experience working with systems funding early child care preferred (Child Care Works, PA PreK Counts, PHL PreK)
6. Data Analysis and Reporting – Experience analyzing individual-level and aggregated data in order to identify trends, make programmatic adjustments and improvements, and to report on program progress.
7. PQAS instructor certification desired – not required at hiring, but must gain this certification within 18 months