The Child Development Laboratory (CDL) at the School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a pioneering institution dedicated to advancing early childhood education through a whole-child, ecological approach. The CDL serves as a vital resource for research, professional development, and community engagement, focusing on children from birth to age five, their families, and the broader community.

As the Director, you will provide strategic leadership and oversee the day-to-day operations of the CDL, ensuring that our program exemplifies excellence in early childhood education and complies with all regulatory standards. In this role, you will collaborate with faculty, staff, and families to foster an inclusive and innovative learning environment that reflects the School of Human Ecology's values and commitment to holistic child development.

You will also be responsible for cultivating relationships with both internal and external partners, which may include helping to secure funding to support the CDL's mission, and contributing to the broader research and educational initiatives of the School. The Director position is integral to the School of Human Ecology Business Affairs Team and reports directly to the Associate Dean for Finance and Administration. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of early childhood education and plays a key role in supporting the facilitation of groundbreaking research at a leading institution.

• 20% Directs strategic planning initiatives and establishes unit objectives to ensure appropriate use of financial, administrative, staffing resources, and alignment with the strategic plan
• 15% Develops operating policies and procedures to comply with regulations, institutional policies, and unit objectives
• 25% Exercises supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees
• 10% Develops and audits the unit budget
• 25% Serves as the key leadership contact for internal and external stakeholders and promotes effective communication in a professional work environment
• 5% Works with external partnerships to ensure terms of contracts and or services are met such as 4K community program contract w/MMSD, Child Care Counts grants, Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation.

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

For more information on diversity and inclusion on campus, please visit: Diversity and Inclusion

Required
Bachelor's Degree with a preferred focus in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, Elementary Education, Special Education, or a closely related field.

Preferred
Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, Elementary Education, Special Education, or a closely related field is preferred.

Teaching License with certification in PK-3, PK-6 preferred.

Required Qualifications:
- Six or more years of experience in early childhood administration, teaching, leadership, and or supervision in a child centered setting.
- Experience in regulated child centered setting equivalent to a Director, Associate/Assistant Director, Principal, Assistant Principal etc.
- Experience with program operation oversite, personnel supervision, and program financial management.
- Meet the qualifications for an administrator as outlined by the State of Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, Division of Early Care and Education licensing rules for group child care centers.
- Fulfill the qualifications for a center director with a strong understanding of curriculum development and assessment, in accordance with the State of Wisconsin Department of Children and Families regulations.
- Possess in-depth knowledge and working understanding of key Wisconsin childcare regulations as provided by the State of Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.
- Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, demonstrating strong self-motivation, time management, and problem-solving skills.

Preferred Qualifications:
- Ability to cultivate and sustain strong, collaborative relationships with diverse stakeholders, including families, staff, faculty, and community partners.
- Ability to create program vision while working collaboratively with multiple stakeholders.
- Ability to inspire engagement in continuous quality improvement while meeting all state regulatory and national accreditation standards.
- Ability to lead with strengths-based approaches.
- Ability to use clear and effective communication.

Full Time: 100%

It is anticipated this position requires work be performed in-person, onsite, at a designated campus work location.

Ongoing/Renewable

Negotiable
ANNUAL (12 months)
The starting annual salary for this position is listed as negotiable. This position is a grade 25 salary range of $79,193 - $147,299. Final salary will be determined based on experience and qualifications of the finalist. Employees in this position can expect to receive benefits such as generous vacation, holidays, and paid time off; competitive insurances and savings accounts; retirement benefits.

This position may require more of a time commitment outside of the standard 40 hour work week.

A Criminal Background Check will be performed to meet UW as well as state of Wisconsin Childcare regulations.

The Child Development Lab (CDL) is a unique early care and education program for young children 0 - 6 years of age that also provides a teaching and research laboratory setting for university students, faculty and staff. The CDL is State-Licensed, City of Madison-accredited, and nationally accredited by NECPA and is in a state-of-the-art teaching and research facility on the beautiful UW-Madison campus. The CDL is licensed for 75 children and offers year-round programming. The CDL's tripartite mission is: (1) to provide UW students with carefully supervised learning opportunities associated with their course of study; (2) to provide a population and a setting in which UW faculty and students can conduct research on issues related to child development, early learning and family related studies, and (3) to engage in outreach activities, such as hosting professionals and scholars from around the world, serving on committees, providing continuing education to other teachers in the community and helping to organize community service projects. The CDL has provided excellence in early childhood education, research, and college student learning around infants, toddlers, and preschoolers since its inception in 1926. The CDL is the first preschool laboratory of its kind in Wisconsin, and it was the first laboratory school in the nation to receive accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in the 1980s. https://childdevelopmentlab.wisc.edu 

SCHOOL OF HUMAN ECOLOGY: The mission of the School of Human Ecology is to understand the complex relationships and interdependence among individuals, groups and families, and to focus on quality-of-life issues through research, creative innovation, education, and outreach. The School has four academic departments (Civil Society and Community Studies, Consumer Science, Design Studies, and Human Development & Family Studies) with a collective undergraduate enrollment of 2,100 students, and 100 graduate students. See https://humanecology.wisc.edu/ 

UW-MADISON: The University of Wisconsin-Madison has a strong reputation as a research university and for producing research that improves people's lives. The University consistently ranks among the top 6 institutions in national research expenditures. In 2015, the University received a community engagement award from the Carnegie Foundation for its commitment to deeply engaging with local, regional, national, and global communities. It is a land-grant institution with an enrollment of about 43,000 students. Madison (pop. 243,000) is the state capital and combines the culture of a large urban area with the comfort of a small city. See http://wisc.edu 

Please click on the "Apply Now" button to start the application process.

We are eager to learn more about how your experience and passion may align with this position. Please submit a cover letter referring to your related work experience and a resume detailing your educational and professional background. The application reviewers will be relying on written application materials to determine who may advance to preliminary interviews. You will also be asked to provide contact information for three references within the application. 

References may be contacted for all finalists and will not be contacted without prior notification to the candidate.

Lizzie Druke
edruke@wisc.edu
Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information.

Early Child Edu Dir(TL018)

A27-SCHOOL OF HUMAN ECOLOGY/PRE-SCHOOL LAB/LINDEN

Limited

304366-LI

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer.