Early Childhood Education Manager

Department: Bright Beginnings
Reports to: Director of Programs
Employment Type: In-Person, Full-Time, Salary, Exempt

About Our House

Our House empowers homeless and near-homeless families and individuals to succeed in the workforce, in school, and in life through hard work, wise decision-making, and active participation in the community. The Our House team has defined a set of seven Guiding Principles that characterize our culture and that we intentionally seek to uphold: Hard Work, Wise Decision-Making, Community, Initiative, Integrity, Safety, and Heart.

About the Role

You will be responsible for the operation and vision of Bright Beginnings, Our House’s Better Beginnings Level 6 licensed child development center, which serves ages infant through PreK in 9 classrooms. You must have strong leadership skills, organization, wise-decision making skills, and integrity to maintain and continue the growth of this program with a high level of professional excellence.

What You’ll Do

• Hold overall vision and leadership of Bright Beginnings, and identify, create and implement high quality programming and curriculum built on best practices in the field, innovation, and sharing of resources
• Supervise, grow and support a large team of program coordinators, teachers, and a hospitality team to accomplish organizational and programmatic goals with excellence
• Maintain safe and welcoming program areas for Bright Beginnings and uphold trauma-informed approaches to serving infants, toddlers, and children in the program
• Ensure that Bright Beginnings follows all licensing requirements, and requirements of the Arkansas Better Chances (ABC) program, including staffing ratios, team training and qualifications, risk mitigation plans, quality supervision, and safety protocols
• Oversee the Bright Beginnings meal program, and make sure all Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) requirements are followed carefully by the hospitality team 
• Make sure that supplies are available and maintained, furniture, equipment, and donations are maintained, and the space is sanitized and cleaned regularly
• Develop and maintain policies, procedures, and effective communication for Bright Beginnings infants, toddlers and children, families, and team members
• Ensure effective systems to track program outcomes, including tracking attendance, administering assessments of developmental milestones, conducting family surveys
• Oversee the voucher billing system for relevant families enrolled in Bright Beginnings, and manage a balanced roster of families with voucher slots, private pay slots and Arkansas Better Chances slots in each Bright Beginnings classroom 
• Build relationships with community partners and volunteers who can help to create enriching programming opportunities for infants, toddlers, children, and families
• Work with the Development team to ensure compliance with all grant requirements, including reporting, maintaining files, data tracking, enrollment and attendance logs
• Collaborate with all other Our House programs—Our Club, Housing, Career Center, Mental Health, Stability Program—to provide holistic, wrap-around and coordinated services to families served by Bright Beginnings
• Attend weekly Staffing Meetings and provide support to the Bright Beginnings team in responding to challenging client situations
• Attend training, professional development, conferences and community meetings relating to early childhood education programs
• Create and find training opportunities for the Bright Beginnings team and ensure all professional development requirements are met and tracked
• Serve as representative of Bright Beginnings and participate in fundraising events, tours, meetings with current or potential funders, thank you letters to supporters, assistance with grant proposals, identification of needs, and communication of relevant stories
• Actively engage and energize Our House staff members, volunteers, partnering organizations, donors, and grant funders at Our House
• Conduct other duties as assigned to fulfill Our House’s mission

What You’ll Bring

• Experience working with children or families in a program or organization that serves at-risk populations
• Experience leading a large team to meet organizational goals
• Ability to work effectively with diverse staff, parents, and community members
• Ability to implement and supervise a positive learning environment while incorporating educational programming
• Experience with conflict resolution and/or crisis management
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; a persuasive and passionate communicator with excellent interpersonal and multidisciplinary project skills
• Action-oriented, entrepreneurial, adaptable, empathetic, and innovative
• Ability to work effectively in collaboration with diverse groups of people
• Passion, idealism, integrity, positive attitude, mission-driven, and self-directed

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a field related to early childhood education, or in an unrelated field, plus at least four years of experience in early childhood education. 
• Must be able to pass criminal background checks, child and adult maltreatment registry checks, sex offender registry checks, and a pre-employment drug screen
• CPR / First Aid certified within 90 days of employment
• Must be able to lift 30 lbs

Benefits & Perks

• Insurance benefits are available on the first day of the month following start date:
  • 100% employer-paid premiums for employee health insurance
  • Optional employee-paid dental, vision, and life insurance
• 401(k) match up to 4% after one year of employment
• 10 days of annual leave and 10 holidays per year including a birthday holiday
• 15 days additional leave for requirements of life
• Employee Assistance Program 
• Eligible for tuition discount at UA Little Rock

Our House is a drug-free workplace. 

Our House is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all team members. People of color and members of the LGBTQ community are encouraged to apply.