Are You Ready to Make an Immediate & Lasting Positive Difference?

Little Sprouts Early Education & Child Care is a part of a global network of early educators dedicated to building and sustaining optimal learning and working spaces where children ages 0-5 can thrive. Here in the US, we operate 39 individual school locations; Little Sprouts (MA & NH), Building Blocks (CT), and Heartworks (VT) Early Education & Child Care Centers. The Director of Operations, Heartworks (DO), is our most senior position in the state, and highly engaged with hundreds of Vermont families and dedicated staff. As we sustain six current Vermont locations, with the intent to grow rapidly over the next two years, the DO will proactively and thoughtfully assume responsibility for the local application of all safety and compliance regulations, outstanding education delivery, and compassionate school culture. As a versatile player-coach, the DO will be an essential support for our Vermont Executive Directors and our company’s management team. The DO will help ensure safe, equitable, and engaging spaces by creating and implementing strategic and creative plans to invest in teacher development and retention, attract family enrollment, and most importantly, produce positive outcomes for our youngest children.

What We Will Achieve Together:

• Become the Employer of Choice. Be the employment destination for Vermont, early education professionals, and students
• Lead with Safety First. Maximize safety by ensuring and applying all local and state regulations along with company best practices, which can often go above and beyond local standards
• Strengthen Our Stellar Reputation. Ensure that our Vermont schools are local leaders in nature-based learning, social-emotional learning, anti-bias early education, STEAM/STEM, and child-led/play-based curriculum
• Maintain Data Proficiency. Identify, gather, and report upon key performance indicators (KPIs)to make decisions and recommendations grounded in facts
• Be a Change Agent. Partner with facilities, marketing, and other managerial experts across our local and global network to further evolve, develop, and publicize our innovative Vermont schools and approaches

• Ensure and enforce all child-to-teacher state-mandated ratio compliances
• Ensure and enforce all state-mandated safety and education regulations
• Ensure and enforce all company policies and procedures per employee and family handbooks
• Convey and display mastery of licensure regulations, including the ability to prepare a school for licensure visits, communicate with licensors, and adapt to changing regulations
• Confirm monthly fire drills completed as directed by policy and regulation
• Safeguard that personnel costs are within the budgeted percentage of revenue, ensuring that licensure guidelines and company quality standards are met and maintained
• Attend and contribute to bi-weekly Leadership team meetings and annual strategic planning summits
• Spearhead and participate in special projects, i.e., Family Handbook and monthly KPI reporting.
• Continuously review, refine and update operational policies.
• Allocates resources appropriately in the face of competing demands
• Create a culture of mutual respect and caring

• Champion of Education - Bachelor’s degree required; M.ED, MBA, and/or state early education license preferred
• Experienced Manager – 5-8 years of center-based early education experience managing multi-site schools or comparable educational services
• Based in Chittenden County, VT – at least 50% of your time will be dedicated to field mentorship
• Builder - track record of successfully scaling projects or programs
• Self-Starter - motivated, highly organized, and flexible
• Leader – an active listener who values compassion, communication, and clarity
• Connector – exceptional writer, communicator, presenter, and networker who’s known for being kind, smart, and curious
• Digital Navigator - proficient in Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, Teams), social media platforms, Workplace, Asana, Zoom, and willing to master internal enrollment, employment, and financial software

• Work full-time, 40-hour work-week, sometimes off-hours as the business requires
• Sustain long periods at a computer in a primarily sedentary position; manual dexterity is required to operate necessary digital equipment
• Travel; school visits, events, meetings, and mentor sessions will account for at least 50% of your time; less than 10% of travel time will be out of state. Your classroom and school visits are designed to mentor staff and ensure quality, not meet state ratios.
• Physical endurance being able to stand on feet for up to 90% of the day, lift up to 30 pounds, sit on the floor and crouch down, and perform all activities with the children, including running, jumping, etc.

We’re Growing!

Little Sprouts LLC is a subsidiary of Babilou Family, a global network of 1,000 early education and child care centers. Little Sprouts LLC provides award-winning early education and child care across 39 New England school locations. Through the experience and talents of nearly 900 early education professionals and in partnership with nearly 4,000 families, we are on a meaningful journey to create optimal learning spaces where children ages 0-5 can learn, grow, and thrive.

Little Sprouts LLC, Building Blocks Early Learning, and Heartworks Early Education are a subsidiary of Babilou Family, a global network of 1,100 early education and child care centers, providing award-winning early education and care across 39 New England schools. Through the experience and talents of nearly 900 early education professionals and in partnership with nearly 4,000 families, we are on a meaningful journey to create optimal learning spaces where children ages 0-5 can learn, grow, and thrive.

Our teams, whether at our home office or inside our schools, are change makers – they inspire, create, model, and most importantly make this a great place to work. At Little Sprouts, LLC we are consistently recruiting, retaining, and promoting a diverse mix of colleagues who are representative of the diversity within the communities in which we operate. Our focus on equity and inclusion allows us to develop a broader scope of ideas and approaches, offering a collaborative and dynamic educational experience for the youngest members of society.

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