SUMMARY: Lead Early Childhood Development Specialist, bilingual English/Spanish, works with the Program Manager to promote and provide daily oversight, supervision, and support of the EMPOWER program. This is a supervisory level position with expertise in early childhood development and effective parent engagement strategies, who works directly with families to deliver developmentally appropriate activities to families with children 0 to 5 years of age. The Lead Child Development Specialist collaborates with community providers to support the families of the children served by teaching parents how to guide their child toward developmental milestones that a typical child would need to be ready for kindergarten. This position reports to the Program Manager of Great We Grow. 

Full-time exempt annual salary: $44,000, to $46,000. depending on experience.

Schedule: Full-time 37.5 hours per week, Monday through Friday 

The position is based in Pinellas County, providing program services at the Sanderlin Neighborhood Family Center, High Point Neighborhood Family Resource Center & the CAP Neighborhood Family Center.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES:

1. Plan, conduct, and facilitate educational groups and act as a backup for caregiver and child together developmental playgroups. This includes learning the Curriculum, researching activities that support the curriculum, creating a schedule of playgroups and activities, preparing for groups, cleaning up materials after groups, and organizing resource material.

2. Manage the ASQ database system while also providing oversight, support, and approval for all ASQ’s conducted to ensure families are appropriately connected to services as needed. 

3. Cultivate and manage collaborative relationships with early childhood and family-serving agencies and may include presentations and participation with community events, special projects, and attending meetings as a representative of the program. 

4. Directs supervision, support, and training of assigned staff, volunteers and interns including individual supervision, regular staff meetings and completion of performance evaluations.

5. Plan & participate in outreach and special educational projects to benefit parents and families.

6. Develop outreach materials such as flyers and maintain an appropriate and dynamic social media presence.

7. Coordinate with NFC staff on maintenance of the facility (inside and outside) to preserve a well-maintained, clean, and safe environment for participants.

8. Complete accurate and timely data collection to complete reporting requirements and support program’s compliance to contract, grant, accreditation, and agency requirements. Act as backup for data entry.

9. Assist in engaging families to services including providing a warm greeting and acting as back-up of the participant registration process (e.g. Eventbrite)

10. Supports the agency’s performance and quality improvement processes.

11. Attend staff meetings, ongoing in-service training, and reflective supervision as required.

12. Participate in appropriate agency, department, and community planning teams.

13. Performs other related duties as assigned.

REQUIREMENTS: 

1. Minimum Bachelor’s Degree in child development, social work, early childhood, or related field.

2. Minimum of 5 years' experience working with families with young children.

3. Bilingual (English/Spanish) is a requirement.

4. Ability to work occasional non-traditional hours as needed. 

5. Professional, self-directed, follow-through on projects and prompt responsiveness to internal and external stakeholders.

6. Must have strong communication & interpersonal skills (e.g., nonjudgmental, objective, reflective, empathetic, patient, tactful)

7. Strong organizational and record-keeping skills

8. Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, SharePoint ,& PowerPoint and internet research.

9. Ability to walk, stand, climb stairs, kneel, bend, reach, and manipulate objects; move materials up to 10 lbs on a regular basis; infrequently require moving materials weighing up to 20 lbs.

10. Routine travel to two other locations in Pinellas County is required.

11. Must be sensitive to the cultural and socioeconomic characteristics of the population that Champions for Children serves.

12. Must have a reliable vehicle, active auto insurance, and a valid Florida driver’s license.

13. Must successfully complete a Florida level 2 criminal background clearance, motor vehicle records check, and drug screening