Director, Child and Family Development Programs Head Start/Early Head Start/State Preschool

About Encompass Community Services:
At Encompass Community Services we provide our community with a wide range of services related to family & social well-being, early childhood education, behavioral health, housing and more. Every day through these services we work to make health, education and housing more equitable for all people in Santa Cruz County. For more than 50 years our work has touched generations by helping people have access to education, rebuild relationships, restore their health and regain dignity. 

Overview:

Encompass Community Services seeks a hands-on, results-oriented leader with Director level experience to lead our Head Start Programs. This position is an outstanding opportunity to play a vital role in advancing equitable access to high quality, culturally appropriate early education, childcare and supportive services to hundreds of children and families across Santa Cruz County. Head Start programs promote school readiness, provide parent-training opportunities, improve parent involvement and parent-child relationships, and decrease parental distress – all with the goal of helping families build a strong foundation for growth and learning. 

Position Purpose:  

Reporting to Encompass Community Services’ Chief Program Officer, this role directs all functions of Encompass’s Head Start, Early Head Start and State Preschool programs. The Director is responsible for leading, motivating, guiding, and supporting staff in implementing the department’s mission, vision and strategic plan. They are also responsible for setting and holding program managers accountable for achieving specific benchmarks with the goal of meeting and exceeding child and family service outcomes; evaluating and improving program systems; and representing the agency in local, regional, state and national communities. 

The ideal candidate will be a strategic leader, possessing systems management skills and high-level financial analysis experience.  Budgetary oversite experience is critical for this position. They will be able to demonstrate a strong track record of cultivating, managing and leveraging community and public-school partnerships. The candidate will have experience working with a Union. The position requires a level of comfort serving as a public leader in early childhood education. They are required to interface with community agencies and public entities.

Key Responsibilities:

• The Director position has oversite and management responsibility for program management staff, who oversee teachers and assistant teachers. Management includes ensuring teaching staff provide child development services, plan and implement learning experiences, and promote children's progress across the Head Start program and Early Head Start. The Director position is responsible for managing the implementation, monitoring and maintenance of quality standards of education, and the support of the Senior Managers of those content areas which include, but not limited to, curricula, child assessment, family engagement, health, safety and nutrition, mental health and disabilities, ERSEA enrollment and all policies and procedures.
• Experience and skills must be demonstrated in the areas of conflict resolution, promotion of a consistent exchange of information across the Agency, coaching and mentoring skills for professional staff development across the departments.
• Director will show initiative in understanding the education requirements for staff roles, budget revisions and program planning. detailed in the Head Start Performance Standards.
• Gather information to know the program needs and expectations based on enrollment, community, family and child needs.
• Utilize resources to make sure programs have human resources and professional development policies and procedures to ensure Head Start meets requirements.
• Director is required by regulation to ensure all staff, consultants, and contractors have sufficient knowledge, training and experience and competencies to fulfill the roles and responsibilities of their positions.
• Direct responsibility is held by the Director over facilities, IT, and locations and will be accomplished in collaboration with finance, information technology, and facilities staff.
• Director ensures tha