Senior Director, QUALITYstarsNY

General Description

MISSION

Children thrive when they spend their most critical years with dedicated, educated, trained, and well-compensated individuals. The New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute leads the work to establish and implement an early childhood workforce system to ensure funding, standards and competencies, career development resources, qualifications and credentials, professional development (training and strengths-based coaching), and program quality assurance and improvement for individuals who work with young children throughout New York. Housed at the City University of New York, the Institute is a fast-paced, dynamic public/private partnership that is committed to the early childhood workforce across New York State.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

QUALITYstarsNY is New York’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) for early childhood programs, providing support and resources to improve and sustain high quality across New York State. Early childhood educators are committed to the young children they work with and are motivated to improve their practice. QUALITYstarsNY exists because we believe that early childhood educators across the state and in all modalities deserve support to engage in continuous quality improvement for the children and families they serve.

Over the last three years, QUALITYstarsNY has doubled in size, increasing the number of programs being served and growing the team to do the work. The Senior Director of QUALITYstarsNY will play a pivotal and influential leadership role in sustaining and supporting this growth. The Senior Director is responsible for leading the team to develop, implement, manage, and promote the QUALITYstarsNY system that supports early childhood program quality.

This position will report to the Institute’s Executive Director. The Senior Director will lead a team of quality improvement specialists, program quality coaches, data and rating system specialists, a communications and outreach team, and an administration team. The Senior Director will quickly gain an understanding of the Institute’s work and how it fits with other statewide early childhood systems and will be able to identify areas of opportunity for positive impacts on program quality, the workforce, and New York’s youngest children and their families. The Senior Director will work with other local, state, and national organizations and initiatives to accomplish these goals.

The Senior Director will work in conjunction with the Institute’s other system-building projects, including New York Works for Children, the Aspire Registry, Career Development Centers, and professional development and learning projects and systems that produce research, data and outcomes relevant to policymakers and early childhood stakeholders in New York City, New York State, and around the country. In this role the Senior Director will serve as a collaborator with external agency and organization partners to further the work of improving and supporting program quality.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Leadership & Supervision

• Serve as the representative of QUALITYstarsNY throughout the state and in key meetings with the NYS Early Childhood Advisory Council, elected officials, and other public agencies and non-profit organizations, as well in national forums to communicate the value and critical function of the program
• Provide oversight of and direction for the growth and sustainability of the QUALITYstarsNY program
• Develop and maintain clear objectives aligned with the program’s mission
• Coordinate and supervise efforts led by directors, project managers, administrative staff and remote quality improvement staff. The Senior Director works with the overall leadership team to:
• Develop and implement program goals and objectives
• Delegate and carry out program activities
• Ensure timely completion of program goals
• Effectively carry out supervision responsibilities and expectations

Reporting & Monitoring

• Provide fiscal oversight and accountability in collaboration with the Director of Systems and Administration
• Analyze and leverage data to evaluate implementation efforts and inform program planning decisions in collaboration with the data systems team
• Develop effective proposals and accurate reports for funders and other key stakeholders that describe progress toward program objectives and outcomes
• Organize monitoring efforts of data system and staff performance carried out by the leadership team to ensure accountability across the team

Communication & Partnerships

• Maintain funder relationships and contractual partnerships, including delivering updates at regularly scheduled meetings
• Liaise with various partners to develop and enhance systems that support participants’ quality improvement efforts in collaboration with the quality improvement team
• Present at conferences, meetings and other engagements
• Review communication releases working closely with the communications team
• Maintain accurate and up to date calendar and Microsoft 365 applications (Outlook, Teams, Sharepoint, and One Drive) to effectively communicate with the team and colleagues

Other Duties

• Perform other duties as assigned by the Executive Director
• Participate in Institute team leadership meetings and projects and work collaboratively with other Institute projects
• Identify, interview, hire and train qualified staff
• Consult and collaborate with researchers and authorities in the field, as appropriate
• Maintain accurate, detailed and well-organized records
• Maintain confidentiality as required by the project

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• A master’s degree in public administration, public policy, education leadership or a related field of study
• The equivalent of 10+ years in a leadership role including supervisory and fiscal responsibilities within a nonprofit setting
• Strong supervision and organizational skills, with a demonstrated ability to manage up and laterally to accomplish goals in a timely manner and achieve desired outcomes
• Proven track record of ability to successfully develop, support and implement projects with complex, concurrent work streams
• Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills that can be used to target diverse audiences and stakeholders
• Excellent judgement and decision-making capacity in various environments
• Proficiency in Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Teams, Sharepoint, One Drive, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) and general fluency with various technology tools and platforms
• Ability and willingness to travel, including overnight stays

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a program participating in QUALITYstarsNY or another state’s quality rating and improvement system
• Experience working with data system developers

Physical Requirements

• This is a 70/30 hybrid position, subject to change. Remote work arrangements are not a right or entitlement of employment and, as such, are discretionary and subject to operational needs unless otherwise provided by the CUNY Flexible Work Guidelines. A laptop may be provided if needed to support working remotely.
• This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as personal computers, laptops, tablets, smart phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and presentation equipment.
• While performing these duties, the employee is required to perform physical activities such as, but not limited to, lifting items (up to 20 pounds), bending, reaching, and sitting for prolonged periods of time. Reasonable accommodations will be made for employees with disabilities or other needs per RFCUNY policies.

How to Apply

Provide a resume and cover letter specifying your qualifications, experience, and interest relevant to this position.

RFCUNY Benefits

About the Research Foundation

The Research Foundation of The City University of New York (RFCUNY) was established as a not-for-profit educational corporation chartered by the State of New York in 1963. RFCUNY supports CUNY faculty and staff in identifying and obtaining external support (pre-award) from government and private sponsors and is responsible for the administration of all such funded programs (post-award).

RFCUNY stands between CUNY’s principal investigators (PIs) and the sponsors who support them and strives to fulfill its essential responsibilities to both groups. Working closely with individual PIs and Grants Officers on the campuses, RFCUNY oversees employment, accounting, audit, reporting, purchasing, and special responsibilities that include management of a planned giving program; liaison with governmental agencies and foundations; negotiation of agreements; facility construction and renovation; protection and commercialization of intellectual property; and compliance with applicable standards in research involving human subjects, animal care, environmental and radiological safety, and conflicts of interest.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

The Research Foundation of the City University of New York is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Americans with Disabilities Act/E-Verify Employer. It is the policy of the Research Foundation of CUNY to provide equal employment opportunities free of discrimination based on race, color, age, religion, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, national origin, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, domestic violence victim status, arrest record, criminal conviction history, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.