The Director is responsible for leading the work of the federally funded Early Childhood Developmental Health Systems Evidence to Impact National Center (Center), a dynamic partnership and collaboration with several of the nation’s leading early childhood and health organizations, practitioners, and state, family, and community leaders, working to secure the health and well-being of young children and their families.

The Director provides inspired, forward-thinking leadership, strategic direction with the ability to translate the vision into actionable data- and evidence-informed plans that channel and maximize the power of the partnerships and collective expertise to realize the Center’s goals and objectives. The Director serves as the face of the Center and builds and maintains productive and collaborative working relationships with the federal funders (Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HRSA,) and other public and private sector partners, including a national advisory board. This is an exciting opportunity for an innovative leader with deep and varied health policy and early childhood development (ECD) experience to serve as a leading voice for health equity, pediatric primary care transformation, and early childhood systems change.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Leadership

The Director is responsible for leading a national technical assistance center focused on advancing statewide systems of comprehensive early childhood developmental health promotion, screenings, and interventions that improve outcomes and reduce disparities in early developmental health and family well-being for communities with high levels of childhood poverty and for improving the delivery of high-quality ECD promotion and support services in pediatric settings. This requires the Director to bring policy leadership and expertise, including staying informed of and adapting to shifts that impact the work of the Center, providing strategic direction, including helping translate and align the big picture to shared goals and activities among diverse partners and stakeholders, and serving as the key representative for the Center with HRSA, national partner organizations, and with other health and ECD leaders, including family leaders. In doing so, the Director will serve as an engaged and thoughtful “external voice” and representative for the Center, able to leverage their expertise to actively pursue opportunities to advance and amplify the reach and impact of the Center’s work and forge and maintain partnerships. As a leader in the organization, the Director will contribute to the development of effective organizational efforts to ensure program and project integration and alignment across teams such as, Safe Babies, Healthy Steps, and the ZERO TO THREE Policy Center to share best practices and maximize impact.

Planning and Execution

The Director is charged with developing and implementing organizational planning, and ensuring effective processes and procedures for decision-making, communication, and continuous improvement are in place to realize the Center’s goals, work streams, and drive impact. The Director will build a culture of results orientation, commitment to vision, and collaboration across Center staff and partners. The Director oversees a team comprised of Center staff at ZTT, staff at core partner organizations, and subject matter experts who deliver evidence-informed technical assistance, evaluation activities, and expert consultation to three Implementation Sites (Colorado, Hawaii, and Washington) and to multiple state level pediatric hubs, and also provide technical assistance resources to federal health centers. The Director supervises a Senior Policy Specialist and Project Specialist (Program Coordinator) and has responsibility for ensuring exceptional quality work execution by other ZTT project staff and those at partner organizations. The Director will establish and maintain productive and collaborative working relationships with HRSA representatives, national partner organizations, advisory bodies, grantees, and other key partners to ensure the development and execution of work and evaluation plans and provision of training and technical assistance and will facilitate processes that support the Center partners in reflecting and iterating in response to new learning, new opportunities, and project successes.

Policy Expertise

The Director must possess a deep knowledge of early childhood developmental health systems including expertise in maternal and child health policy, social determinants of health, pediatric primary care, and Medicaid and Title V funding streams. The Director should also possess a deep understanding of ECD systems-building work, with previous experience in facilitating equity-centered and community-driven approaches that value on-the-ground and beneficiary perspectives in understanding policy implementation and systems change work. The Director will work with family leaders and ECD policy experts on the National Advisory Board (NAB) to inform Center policy analysis technical assistance, resources, and publications, and ensure that the lessons learned through the work of implementation sites inform policies and systems efforts in the field.

Business Acumen

The Director will develop funding strategies and budgets to support the work of the Center and will work closely with key ZERO TO THREE colleagues to ensure alignment of planning and strategy with budget and contracts management, fiscal planning efforts and federal reporting requirements across federal projects, and to enhance organizational effectiveness and operationalize programmatic and organizational goals and funding requirements. The Director will work with staff to develop and manage the budgets to support timely completion and performance of all project deliverables and coordinate with and oversee the work of subcontractors to ensure timely and satisfactory performance of assigned deliverables. The Director will work with ZERO TO THREE colleagues to conceptualize new funding opportunities, including writing and reviewing proposals, developing budgets, and gathering supporting documentation as required for submission to funders.

The Director also will perform other duties as assigned to ensure the efficient and effective functioning of the project.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• A minimum of 15 years of experience in health or early childhood policy, project leadership and management, budgeting, and collaboration/partnership work with a wide range of partners that demonstrates the ability to effectively use data to articulate big-picture strategy and articulate and manage the actions needed for implementation that drives intended results and outcomes. Experience with leading federal grant projects is preferred.
• Exceptional talent and skill as an external spokesperson to explain and amplify the Center’s work including the successes and opportunities for further collaboration and advancement, with ability to navigate different spaces and mediums and successfully engage all stakeholders and interested parties.
• Deep knowledge of early childhood developmental health systems and other related systems.
• Knowledge of early childhood development integration into primary care, Medicaid, Title V, health equity.
• Clear and concise writing skills; effective verbal communication and presentation skills.
• Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills; successful experience working and communicating with diverse people.
• Ability to work independently as well as in a team structure; ability to manage multiple tasks and be flexible.
• Strong supervisory skills, including experience providing reflective supervision, with the ability to inspire and motivate a team.
• Ability to travel required. Performs other duties as assigned for the purpose of ensuring the efficient and effective functioning of the project.

ESSENTIAL QUALITIES

• Encourages and practices critical thinking
• Is self-reflective and empathic
• Recognizes the influence of workplace relationships on outcomes and results
• Maintains a respectful and accepting approach to others
• Awareness of the influence of the larger context on individual behavior
• Collaboratively and creatively supports the work efforts of colleagues at all levels and in all areas of the organization
• Is curious and interested in exploring various ways of attacking problems and opportunities.

EDUCATION

Master’s degree in public health, social work, public policy or a related field required. Robust experience will be valued, considered, and accepted in place of academic credentials.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

This position's salary is estimated to be low $120,000s to mid $150,000s depending on experience, geo-location, budget, and other comparable and similarly scoped internal positions. In addition to salary, ZERO TO THREE offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, HRA, retirement contributions, generous leave benefits and more.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

While performing the responsibilities of the job, the employee is frequently required to use finger dexterity and sufficient hand dexterity to use a computer keyboard and be capable of reading a computer screen. Also, they may need to remain seated for extended periods, can perform repetitive motions, and reach for objects. An employee is frequently required to hold a writing instrument, communicate verbally, and hear well enough to detect nuances and receive detailed information. They may be required to grasp objects, push, and pull objects, bend, stand, walk, squat, or kneel. Vision abilities required by this job include close vision for data preparation or analysis, and expansive reading. May need to lift up to 30 pounds.