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Senior Specialist, Early Childhood Education and Kindergarden Readiness

This job is no longer available

Washington, D.C., USA
Full-time

Save the Children provides high-quality early learning interventions to children, from birth to age eight, in more than 150 low-income rural communities across the U.S. We are seeking an early learning expert to deepen our impact and reach more children, with a focus on strategies to support children aged three to five. As a member of the national program leadership team, the Senior Specialist for Early Learning and Kindergarten Readiness’ primary responsibilities include designing high-quality programs, leading innovation efforts, and ensuring our evaluations and learning agenda align with the strategy. The Senior Specialist will also work closely with our Rural Education field team to ensure program quality standards are met and collaborate with fundraising colleagues to drive business growth and development. This position can be office-based or remote.

Areas of Responsibility: 

Support for Program Design and Quality Assurance (35%)

Responsible for having the deepest and broadest knowledge about areas of Save the Children Rural Education programming, methodology, assessment and implementation, including:

  • Providing technical expertise at the national level in early childhood education, with a focus on children aged 3 to 5;
  • Staying abreast of national trends and working with field team to revise and adapt curriculum materials to align with best practice and meet local contexts/needs;
  • Summarizing and analyzing program implementation data; informing other national staff of strengths and weaknesses of programs; informing quality improvement efforts;
  • Developing training materials to support the onboarding of new field and national staff; designing, implementing and supporting national trainings;
  • Working with National Program Team and field colleagues to break down silos and foster collaboration.

Organizational strategy, planning and reporting (25%)

Responsible for ensuring that programmatic strategies are clearly understood, informed by data/our experience and in keeping with the leading edge of best practice, including:

  • Developing thematic strategies and contributing to program design and improvement;
  • Collaborating with state teams to develop and refine staff development plans (including train-the-trainer models, in-person and remote methods);
  • Analyzing partner performance reports on a quarterly basis and providing guidance and support to state leads and PSs on areas for program improvement;
  • Aligning assessments with curriculum; ensuring data collection aligns with program design and logic models; providing training and guidance in the implementations of assessment.

New business & proposal development (20%)

Responsible for contributing to the pursuit of strategic funding opportunities, including:

  • Cultivating partnerships and/or relationships with donors and other key stakeholders;
  • Preparing for grant opportunities by gathering information, conducting formative research, and leading or participating in the program design process;
  • Contributing to the active proposal development process through design workshops, proposal writing, reviews, etc.

Thought leadership, embedding evidence and learning (15%)

Responsible for shaping the evaluation and learning agenda around our early learning programs and partnerships, with a focus on results for three to five-year-olds, including:

  • Innovating and adapting to ensure programs and partnerships are driving kindergarten readiness;
  • Generating evidence, research, collating and sharing learning, developing tools, approaches, training guides etc.;
  • Keeping on top of research, training PSs in new evidence, presenting at conferences;
  • Leading in standards-setting and other technical dialogue with key stakeholders (e.g. donors, partners), and supporting technical dialogue in states and nationally; -
  • Promoting Save the Children’s expertise and services through conference presentations, and other related activities.
Educational Background: 
Bachelor degree or equivalent relevant experience in education, child development or related field
Skills/Experience: 
  • You have a minimum 5-7 years' experience in early childhood education
  • Familiarity with the unique challenges facing rural communities
  • Experience working with home-based, center-based, and school-based early learning programs
  • Proven ability to work within a complex organization
  • Experience with data management and web-based platforms (i.e., SharePoint, Microsoft-suite: Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word)
  • Pro-active, energetic, patient, detail-oriented, and manages deadlines independently.
  • Excellent communication and facilitation skills.
  • A valid driver’s license and ability to drive a car
Compensation/Benefits: 
  • Aetna Medical and Dental insurance with a concierge service
  • Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account
  • Vision Insurance
  • Life insurance
  • Employee Assistance Program
  • Commuter Benefit Program
  • Vacation and Sick leave
  • Paid holidays

What makes us special!

  • Generous Retirement Savings with matching company contributions of up to 8%
  • Family Leave – 10 additional days of paid time off for you to use to care for your family members
  • Additional Maternity and Paternity Leave – 30 days where parents can take additional paid leave (beyond short-term disability and FMLA) at the birth or adoption of a child during that critical first year!
  • Critical Child Illness Leave – We hope you never have to use it, but we will provide an additional 30 days of paid leave per year should your dependent child be faced with a critical illness.
  • Pet Insurance, Critical Illness Insurance, Identity Protection, Home, Auto and additional Life insurances
  • Summer Fun Fridays – During the summer months, early release at 1:30 pm every other Friday!
  • Volunteer Day – One paid day a year to support the causes that matter to you!
  • Leadership and Employee Development Training, including:
  • Our remarkable in-house CORE, Senior Management Development, and Leadership Development Programs
  • Language learning opportunities
  • Continuous Improvement skill development programs
  • Brown Bag information sharing sessions

Organization Info

Save the Children US

Overview
Headquarters: 
Fairfield, CT, United States
Annual Budget : 
More than $500M
Founded: 
1964
About Us
Mission: 

Save the Children is the world's leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in nearly 120 countries, including the United States. We aim to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to create immediate and lasting change in their lives by improving their health, education and economic opportunities. in times of acute crisis, we mobilize rapid assistance to help children recover from the effects of war, conflict and natural disasters. Save the Children is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, a global network of 30 independent Save the Children organizations working to ensure the well-being and protection of children in more than 120 countries.

Listing Stats

Post Date: 
Jun 11 2019
Active Until: 
Jul 11 2019
Hiring Organization: 
Save the Children US
industry: 
Nonprofit