Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) — a world-renowned education and poverty-fighting organization based in New York — seeks an enthusiastic, dedicated, and mission-aligned Director to join The Baby College.

The Director will bring a passion for the mission of Harlem Children’s Zone: break the cycle of intergenerational poverty with comprehensive, on-the-ground programming that builds up opportunities for children and families to thrive in school, work, and life. 

The Baby College, a critical piece of our early intervention and parent engagement work, is a program that addresses the needs of families through a series of parenting workshops for expecting parents and those raising toddlers. Workshops and classes are held both evenings and Saturdays, and all services are free. Families receive resources, incentives, and ongoing support through various educational engagements, which cover a broad range of subjects but not limited to brain development, health and wellness, and parent-child bonding, The primary goal of The Baby College is to provide families with the resources and support necessary to raise happy and healthy children who enter school ready to learn. 

Three-Year-Old Journey is a twelve-week Saturday program that continues parenting skills training derived from Harlem Children’s Zone Baby College and GRADS Early Head start programs. The primary goal of the Three-Year-Old Journey is to provide parents and guardians with a range of information and the support necessary to ensure that their three-year-olds obtain the cognitive and social-emotional skills needed to enter school. Parents participate in workshops discussing topics such as language, literacy, and teachable moments. Other parenting subjects include discipline, effective communication, managing stress, and more. Meanwhile, the three-year-old participants are placed in small and large groups learning to develop their intellectual and social skills.

We are currently seeking a Director to serve as an integral part of The Baby College and Three-Year-Old Journey’s management team. The Director is responsible for developing a vision, support, and direction for full-time and part-time staff. The Director will supervise a team of professionals to ensure that best practices are coordinated seamlessly through outreach, program engagement, and family support. The Director will report to the Managing Director of HCZ K-12 Programming.

For more information, check out Want to Work at Harlem Children's Zone? Here's 7 Things You Need to Know

 Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree
• Four or more years of experience in Social Services, Early Childhood Education, Youth Development, Child Psychology, or a related field.
• Two or more years of Supervisory experience.

Who you are

• Superior organizational, planning, and problem-solving skills
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Zoom, and Outlook
• Ability to lead and motivate a high-performing, mission-driven staff
• Serve as a role model, consistently demonstrating HCZ's core values
• Familiar with issues prevalent in under-served communities of color
• Must be available to work flexible hours, including evenings and Saturdays

What you'll do

• Guide, lead, and develop staff continuously to ensure alignment with organizational goals, values, and standards.
• Support with program oversight, ensuring high-quality programming.
• Assess and guide high-risk situations and make immediate recommendations and referrals to ensure child safety and reduce or eliminate risk factors following HCZ Standards and Ethical responsibility.
• Serve as a role model to the program, exhibiting excellent communication skills, emotional intelligence, and leadership skills.
• Provide weekly supervision to relevant teams.
• Lead ongoing team meetings and professional development efforts to ensure all staff meets HCZ standards.
• Successful implementation of the program cycle (i.e., recruitment, intake, outreach & engagement, comprehensive family assessment, outcome-driven service planning, etc.
• Monitor and ensure the integrity and timely submission of data
• Conduct ongoing internal audits and quality assurance measures, assessing both casework practice and family satisfaction of services.
• Provide vetting and ongoing assessment of the quality of consultants that support services to families.
• Attend relevant training and workshops per ethical degree standards (MSW, LMHC, etc.).
• Fulfill duties delegated by the Managing Director; attend and preside over meetings.
• Establish and maintain systems for monitoring frontline managers for staff performance and progress in achieving organizational and program goals.
• Foster strong relationships and effective communication with presenters, parents, staff, and HCZ leadership.
• Establish and maintain strong collaborative relationships with HCZ colleagues and liaison with external community organizations, schools, parents, and other stakeholders.
• Other duties as assigned.

 Schedule

• Must be available to work flexible hours, including evenings and Saturdays

Benefits

As a Harlem Children's Zone team member, you will join a supportive and inclusive community dedicated to helping children, families — and our staff — thrive. We offer highly competitive salaries, a comprehensive benefits package, and growth opportunities.

Our exceptional full-time benefits include:

• Highly competitive base salaries
• Paid time off
• Employee referral bonus
• Career Advancement
• No-cost health insurance
• Life Insurance
• Short-and long-term disability
• Additional voluntary benefits
• Wellness discounts
• Commuter benefits
• Financial wellness perks
• Additional Benefits (Discounts on flights, hotels, theme parks, concert tickets, and more.)

The annual salary range for this position is $80,000 - $85,000 per year with a comprehensive benefits package including employer-covered health insurance. To be considered, interested applicants can apply directly through the posting. No telephone inquiries or recruiters, please. Replies will only be sent to qualified applicants. HCZ is an EOE.