Director, Early Educator Investment Collaborative

Overview of the Collaborative

The Early Educator Investment Collaborative (the Collaborative) is a national early childhood funder collaborative that has come together to transform the early childhood education workforce. The Collaborative envisions a country in which there is no opportunity gap among children, and every child makes significant and sustained gains in cognitive, social, and emotional development through their early care and education experience. As a group of early childhood funders, the Collaborative is committed to eliminating the systemic racism that has held early childhood educators in poverty and limited the access of children of color to high-quality early childhood education in their communities.

To achieve this vision, the Collaborative seeks to ensure every young child in an early care and education (ECE) program has an educator who is well prepared, possesses competencies needed to promote healthy learning and development, and is compensated appropriately.

The Collaborative is enacting two strategies to fulfill its vision:

• Educator Preparation: Under this strategy, the Collaborative is working to transform how institutions of higher education (IHEs) prepare ECE teachers.
• Compensation: Under this strategy, the Collaborative is working toward an increased and appropriate compensation for ECE professionals.

The Collaborative is represented by a Steering Committee of funders and informed by an Advisory Committee of experts, with deep experience in early childhood. The Collaborative is fiscally sponsored by TSNE, an organization that provides grants and financial management, consulting, and training services to strengthen nonprofits.

Role of the Director

The Director will bring a substantial level of knowledge in and passion for ECE, and deep knowledge of the ECE workforce. This includes an understanding of the demographic composition of the ECE teaching workforce in the U.S., the status of access to competency-based preparation for lead teachers, the historical antecedents and barriers to appropriate compensation for the workforce, and the impact of external forces – including, but not limited to, systemic oppression and the racialized and gender wealth gaps, and how these affect the stability of the ECE workforce.  The Director reports to the Steering Committee (SC), the governing body for the Collaborative, under a mutual agreement with TSNE.

The Director will also demonstrate a proven track record of leadership, execution, and consensus-building, to lead the Collaborative forward toward its goal of dramatically of eliminating the opportunity gap by improving the status of the ECE workforce via increased compensation and competency-based preparation. The Director will be the nexus and day-to-day leader of the Collaborative, skillfully implementing the Collaborative Steering Committee’s dual strategic focus on competency-based preparation and compensation for lead ECE teachers.  The Director will engage directly with the communities of intended impact. This includes, but is not limited to, working with the ECE workforce itself, individuals working in IHEs that prepare the workforce, and policymakers, advocates, and grassroots organizers working to increase workforce compensation and access to competency-based preparation.  The ability to effectively engage and comfortably communicate with many different audiences is essential.  As the first staff member for the Collaborative, an entrepreneurial spirit and demonstrated capacity to be a “self-starter” will be necessary to thrive and succeed. 

The Director will have the flexibility ability to hire one full-time equivalent position(s) for support staff to assist with content and logistics or another identified need.

Responsibilities

• Implement, refine, and help evolve the Collaborative’s strategy and content as defined by the SC to transform the ECE workforce and serve as direct liaison to the SC co-chairs
• Serve as the day-to-day leader of all Collaborative activities, including staff management and supervision, communications, fundraising, financial planning, strategic planning, and stakeholder management
• In conjunction with the Collaborative, develop, issue, and manage requests for proposals to solicit grants and contracts
• Oversee grantees and contractors for the Collaborative, potentially including an external evaluator to measure progress against the strategy
• Oversee/Supervise logistics and administrative supports 
• Manage the learning table for the Collaborative higher education grantees
• Provide technical assistance to grantees as needed
• Convene and facilitate the Collaborative’s Steering Committee and sub-committee regular meetings, as well as the Expert Advisory Committee, the Technical Assistance Advisory Group, and Aligned Contributing funders.
• Accountable to individual foundations such as facilitating grants to the Collaborative, handling funder specific requests, and tracking of funder allocations and distributions
• Oversee and work with the Collaborative’s communications firm and communications sub-committee to manage external communications, serving as a spokesperson for the initiative when appropriate.
• Ensure strategic alignment of grants issued by independent foundations across the six principles intended to capture the spirit of collaboration and transparency in grantmaking, reporting, and evaluation, among the Contributing Funders acting through the Steering Committee, including as related to: providing resources to achieve shared vision, grantmaking and contracting, reporting from fiscal sponsor, monitoring and evaluation, relationships, and confidentially.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required and an advanced degree in a relevant field strongly preferred
• 5+ years working in the early childhood sector, with specific experience related to ECE workforce system development a must
• 5+ years of management with increasing responsibility

Skills

In addition to the attributes described in the role above, the successful candidate will have:

• Ability to think strategically and successfully execute the Collaborative’s strategy
• Ability to move seamlessly between big picture / strategic thinking and highly detailed execution and is responsive to changing environments
• Strong management skills, both project and staff management
• Facilitation and management of meetings in person and on-line is a strength; an ability to set clear agendas, practice good listening skills, and work toward building consensus
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including communicating a compelling vision that attracts others to the work
• Excellent organizational skills and detail orientation
• Excellent critical-thinking skills and ability to prioritize and think about long-term goals
• Energetic and resourceful, with creative problem-solving skills and learning orientation
• Sound judgment and the highest ethical standards
• Strong foundation in ECE and the status of the early childhood workforce and extensive knowledge of related research
• Comfort working independently and in a collaborative team environment
• Passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion with a demonstrated ability to lead with cultural sensitivity

Location

This will be a telework position. Funders are flexible on location.

Term

The Collaborative funders have committed to funding this role for a minimum of two years.

Application Guidelines

This search is being conducted by TSNE and the Collaborative.  All submissions will be acknowledged and are confidential.

Please include a resume and a cover letter with salary range expectations, information regarding how you learned of the position, and a description of how your qualifications and experience match the Collaborative’s needs and mission. All submissions of candidacy will be accepted until the position is filled. The compensation range for this position is $100,000 - $145,000 and is commensurate with experience, within the framework of the organization’s annual operating budget and in conjunction with the benefits package.

TSNE / the Collaborative actively seek a diverse pool of candidates and welcome people from all racial and ethnic backgrounds, abilities, gender identities, religions, ages, and sexual orientations to apply. As an EOE/AA employer, TSNE / the Collaborative will not discriminate in its employment practices due to an applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin or ancestry, age, sexual orientation, gender identification, genetic information, veteran or disability status or any other factor prohibited by law.