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Position Profile

Director of Programs

Wake County Smart Start

www.WakeSmartStart.org

Raleigh, NC

THE ORGANIZATION

Founded in 1996, Wake County Smart Start’s (WCSS) mission is to build the capacity of families and the community to prepare children, birth to age five, for success in school and in life. WCSS works collaboratively with community partners to improve the quality, accessibility and affordability of child care, provide preventive health and early intervention services and offer family support services—all delivered as part of a strong, diverse integrated early childhood system.

WCSS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is part of the Smart Start initiative across North Carolina. The organization receives its primary funding from the State of North Carolina through the Smart Start and NC Pre-K programs, with additional funding received from private grants and contributions.

THE CANDIDATE

The Director of Programs serves a vital role in the organization, acting as a visionary community-builder and strategic connector, with strong nonprofit leadership, multi-program management, and analytical and evaluation skills. Using an equity-based and family leadership focus, the Director of Programs will ensure internal and external accountability and alignment of WCSS programs with the organizational mission, community needs and strategic plans.

Empathetic, flexible, and passionate about the work, the Director of Programs will be respectful of different viewpoints and roles, encourage inclusion, manage conflicts adeptly, and engage in and maintain strong relationships.

THE POSITION

The Director of Programs will provide effective supervision, management, and coordination to programmatic departments of WCSS to assure high quality program implementation and demonstration of impact. This position will provide leadership to the WCSS Executive Director, Board of Directors, and Board committees through collaboration with community, state and local organizations.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES are identified below. Other duties may be assigned.

  • Plan and develop programs and other strategies to achieve goals as identified in the WCSS Strategic Plan
  • Oversee all funded activities and grants in compliance with budgetary, regulatory and contract requirements
  • Manage program standards across departments in compliance with contracts and best practices in early childhood education to address goals of WCSS Strategic Plan
  • Provide administrative responsibilities, including but not limited to preparation of ad hoc and recurring reports, development of internal policies and procedures, and development/management of bidding processes
  • Build community capacity to meet the overall needs of children and families and the systems that support them

Plan and develop programs and other strategies to achieve goals as identified in the WCSS Strategic Plan

  • Support, manage and integrate the work of WCSS in identifying and prioritizing the needs of young children and families, including but not limited to strength-based community needs assessment. Develop seamless comprehensive strategies to address identified needs
  • Facilitate and integrate activities, projects and efforts across all WCSS programmatic departments and with other departments
  • As assigned, convene, lead or participate on community and state committees and organizations that support achievement of WCSS goals

Oversee all funded activities and grants in compliance with budgetary, regulatory and contract requirements

  • In collaboration with fiscal department, develop and review budgets designed to support programmatic implementation of funded activities and grants
  • Design and implement continuous quality improvement of WCSS evaluation plans for all funded programs, including documentation of both accountability factors and demonstration of impact
  • Oversee evaluation of all programs funded by WCSS and other funding sources (e.g. DCDEE, private funds)

Manage program standards across departments in compliance with contracts and best practices in early childhood education to address goals of WCSS Strategic Plan

  • Develop and implement procedures that align with WCSS monitoring policy and accurately assess program compliance with contract requirements
  • Oversee development and ongoing use of a quantitative and qualitative measures of program and evaluation performance. Integrate these measures with fiscal and communication standards, which are used as an indicator of overall performance
  • Utilize evaluation data to improve performance in order to achieve goals as outlined in WCSS Strategic Plan
  • Align evaluation data across departments with EC Profile and other community Indicators

Provide administrative responsibilities, including but not limited to preparation of ad hoc and recurring reports, development of internal policies and procedures, and development/management of bidding processes

  • Develop and maintain ongoing relationships with NCPC program staff to coordinate and align WCSS services with funding requirements
  • Coordinate the development of internal policies and procedures to support the work of the departments and/or agency
  • Oversee the development and management of requests for proposals (RFPs) and requests for application (RFAs) processes to address goals of WCSS Strategic Plan

Build community capacity to meet the overall needs of children and families and the systems that support them

  • Facilitate collaborations among funded and non-funded community Partners to integrate and maximize resources to address the needs of young children and their families
  • Network with community leaders and stakeholders to build relationships that will facilitate a coordinated community response to the needs of young children and their families and will help achieve goals as identified in WCSS Strategic Plan
  • Identify, coordinate and leverage community resources to meet the priority of young children and their families
  • Coordinate involvement of program staff across departments in convening, leading and participating in state and local work groups and committees

Other duties:

  • Provide professional expertise and support to the Executive Director to achieve WCSS goals.
  • Promote WCSS programs and mission and represent WCSS in the community.
  • Carry out the responsibilities of Acting Executive Director as outlined in the WCSS Succession Plan in the event of a temporary or permanent absence of the Executive Director.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: Responsible for supervision of all assigned staff. Responsibilities include interviewing, for hiring and training employees; planning, assigning and directing of work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems. Ensures optimum staffing and utilization of competent staff, recommending policy changes to benefits, compensation, employment, training and other areas as appropriate.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and ability required.

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE: Attainment of an advanced degree in Early Childhood, Business, Non- Profit Management or a related field and five years of increasingly responsible administrative experience, at least three of which shall have been in a supervisory capacity, or a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood, Business, Non-Profit Management or other related field and seven years of increasingly responsible administrative experience, at least five of which shall have been in a supervisory capacity.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Ability to read, analyze and interpret professional journals, financial reports, legal documents, technical procedures or governmental regulations; write reports, business correspondence and procedure manuals; efficiently respond to questions from Board, staff, the media and members of the community; communicate effectively in both written and oral form; and, effectively present information to the Board and committees and the public.

REASONING ABILITY: Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions; exhibit independent judgment in the development, implementation and evaluation of plans, procedures and policies. Ability to understand and relate to community concerns around early childhood education and to incorporate salient concepts into existing and new programs.

OTHER KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES: Knowledge of the principles and techniques of grant administration, contract administration and negotiation, community organization, fiscal and organizational management, principles and practices of marketing and public relations. Extensive knowledge of child and family services methods/strategies, education networks, emerging issues and the major challenges and opportunities in the field. Demonstrated effective management/administration of a non-profit or educational organization. Demonstrated ability to provide vision and leadership for a complex organization; excellence in problem-solving and leading effective change. Proven ability to effectively collaborate and to convene leaders and organizations around issues and opportunities.

COMPUTER SKILLS: PC, excellent word processing, spreadsheet and graphics application skills. Ability to use or learn to use Email and Internet/intranet applications.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand and walk. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and ability to adjust focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

An individual in this position will be exposed to conditions typical of traveling office staff. Travel to multiple sites and community meetings, approximately 25% of time. Position requires overnight travel, usually within the state.

The target hiring salary for this position is $100,000 to $110,000 at this time.

TO APPLY

Please send cover letter, resume, and contact information for three to five references to: WCSSPrograms@CapabilityCompany.com. Only applications received through this address will be considered.

DEADLINE: Applications will be accepted until 5 PM, March 5, 2021.