ABOUT US:

Illinois Action for Children (“IAFC”), a local, state, and national leader in the early childhood care and education sector for over 50 years. IAFC programs, services, and advocacy improve learning and life outcomes for children and families, including reducing the effects of poverty. IAFC works to ensure that every child in Illinois – particularly those in need – have access to the necessary resources to succeed in school and in life.

Along with our mission, IAFC is committed to building and maintaining a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist culture. We are dedicated to this pledge through our hiring practices and our focus on creating a culture and environment where diverse perspectives, ideas, and identities are valued and integrated into our way of working and servicing our staff and clients. IAFC staff represent a wide diversity of racial, socio-economic, gender, religious, and national identities. We welcome all applicants who share our mission and vision to join us in our essential work.

SUMMARY:

The Director of Referrals and Outreach develops and oversees all aspects of the Referrals and Outreach programs. The Referrals and Outreach programs foster parent, provider, and community relationships with the goal of building stronger community ties and a dependable network of resources for families. The Director provides management, support and supervision of staff associated with alignment and collaboration of cross department systems to assure children and families have access to early learning and childcare services and resources. Program strategies will be developed based on the Strong Families, Powerful Communities approach and on Illinois Action for Children’s Theory of Change. All work to be completed with minimum supervision and in accordance with organizational standards.

This incumbent will be expected to promote and adhere to the workplace core capabilities of: accountability, customer focus, continuous quality improvement, communication, competent people and clear priorities. All work to be completed with minimum supervision and in accordance with organizational standards.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include but are not limited to the following. The organization reserves the right to add to, delete, change, or modify the essential duties and responsibilities at any time.

1. Maintain effective and efficient systems of operations for all components of the Referrals and Outreach programs (IDHS Resource and Referrals, Chicago Early Learning, Enhanced Referrals, Strengthening Connections).
2. Act as lead point of contact for all Referrals and Outreach funding partners, providing feedback and input on family experiences, policies and procedures, funding, and program structure for individual contracts.
3. Provide strategic direction and oversight in the development, delivery and evaluation of annual department goals, objectives, and activities.
4. Develops research-based parent and community-building strategies appropriate for targeted, local initiatives.
5. Collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to plan teams’ work in targeted communities, seeking opportunities to develop networks of providers and parents and expand strategic neighborhood partnerships.
6. Collaborate to secure grant funding, prepare proposals, and identify other possible funding sources to support sustainability and continued program growth.
7. Prepares the annual budgets associated with assigned cost centers, monitors expenditures and fiscal needs and reports budget issues to the Vice President of Community Impact.
8. Prepare written program, data, and financial reports as required by contract, agreements and agency reporting needs.
9. Manage Salesforce and Smartsheet project management software and systems across Referrals and Outreach teams in collaboration with managers and staff.
10. Performs other duties as assigned and collaborates with other critical agency functions to ensure the success of IAFC’s mission and vision.
11. Commit to applying a culturally responsive and racial equity lens to all work.
12. Execute our workplace core capabilities of: accountability, customer focus, continuous quality improvement (CQI), communication, competent people and clear priorities. All work is to be done in alignment with Illinois Action for Children’s mission and vision.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

Formal responsibility for planning, assigning, directing, and managing the work of all Referrals and Outreach teams.

Direct Reports:

• Assistant Director, Chicago Early Learning
• Enhanced Referrals Manager
• Program Coordinator

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

• Master’s degree in education, social work, or related field preferred.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant and proven professional responsibility for the execution and management of projects in early childhood education or social services.
• Minimum 5 years of leadership and supervisory experience, preferably including oversight and development of managers and/or supervisors.
• Bachelor’s degree and 7 or more years of equivalent training and experience also accepted.

OTHER SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Organization & Project Management – Keeps track of upcoming, ongoing, and prior work products. Ability to quickly adjust to shifting priorities and deadlines and to juggle multiple and varied projects simultaneously. Develops realistic action plans and utilizes team effectively to achieve department goals.
• Data Analysis & Analytical Thinking - Ability to analyze statistics, identify trends, and make balanced, objective decisions in a proactive manner to achieve maximum results.
• Collaboration – Initiates, builds, and manages cohesive partnerships and professional relationships both internally and externally.
• Communication with Stakeholders – Ability to build strong relationships with key stakeholders. Demonstrates intercultural competence and proven effectiveness in working with people from diverse backgrounds. Communicates at a high level in both written and verbal form with an impeccable detail-orientation and a focus on customer service and relationships. Has a strong regard for confidentiality and employs sound reasoning.
• Enhanced knowledge of the community and individuals we serve.
• Demonstrated knowledge of community service organizations and community-based research.
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills; intermediate skills in software including Zoom, Salesforce and Smartsheet.

Benefits of Working at IAFC:

• Working with passionate team members that are driven by our Mission: Illinois Action for Children is a catalyst for organizing, developing and supporting strong families and powerful communities where children matter most.
• We strive to foster and implement a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion across our organization. We know it is not only critical to the success of diversity initiatives - but instrumental in creating an unbiased and inclusive workplace! It not only relates to the diverse clients we serve but also creates a positive employee experience.
• We offer an extensive benefits package that adds value to your total compensation. Our benefits include:

• Health, dental and vision insurance plans with company contribution of 95% for single coverage
• 401k with company match
• Generous PTO – first year-23 days, the second year-28 days, the third year and on - 35 days
• 11 Paid Holidays and 1 Floating Holiday
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Flexible Spending Account
• STD & LTD insurance
• Company paid Life Insurance

Salary: $93,700 (annualized) based on background and experience

Location: Chicago - Chatham

Illinois Action for Children is EEO/M/F/V/D employer

While we desire for this job posting to be comprehensive, all aspects of the position may be amended at any time at the discretion of IAFC including job duties, work location and/or work schedule.

As established by the Illinois Action for Children Board of Directors, all employees are required to receive a vaccination against COVID-19, unless a medical or religious reasonable accommodation is approved. If offered a job, the candidate must be able to prove that they have been vaccinated with one of the CDC-authorized vaccines, including either Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson / Janssen or request and be granted an accommodation before their start date.