Manager- Agenda for Children Literacy Initiative

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

The Department of Human Service Programs (DHSP) creates and coordinates services that enhance the quality of life for Cambridge residents. Driven by the needs of residents, DHSP’s extensive services and programs touch almost every sector in the city: from newborns to older adults, from school‑aged children to homeless families, from non‑profit organizations to local employers.

The Agenda for Children Literacy Manager will lead city efforts to help children enter school ready to learn how to read and write by educating and supporting their parents and caregivers. This role uses the Social Determinants of Health framework to address factors like economic stability, education, and racism that affect community well‑being. As manager of this initiative of the City of Cambridge, the Manager will balance the interests of many stakeholders and will be responsible for maintaining and developing strong collaborations with city and community partners.

The Manager will also be responsible for the ongoing development, implementation, and evaluation of comprehensive and innovative programming. Examples of programs include Let’s Talk, Pathways to Family Success and Cambridge Dads, a unique partnership between Center for Families and AFC. This critical role will also help connect early literacy development directly to the broader maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes for families in Cambridge.

Day‑to‑day supervision for the position will be shared between the Department of Human Services and the Cambridge Public Health Department.

Specific duties include but are not limited to the following:

• Collaborate with the Office of Early Childhood to provide leadership and support for city‑wide strategic planning and advocacy efforts focused on children from birth to age eight.
• Plan, organize, supervise, implement, and expand parent education programming that teaches parents how to support their children’s literacy development, including workshops, home visits, playgroups, family events, and Book Bike.
• Engage the community, and specifically the families that the agenda is designed to serve, in the planning and evaluation of agenda activities.
• Develop and implement strategies for ensuring that the agenda’s programming equitably serves Cambridge’s diverse community, particularly for low‑income individuals and families and residents from historically marginalized communities.
• Conduct ongoing programmatic evaluation to ensure that the agenda’s activities are meeting programmatic goals and effectively serving Cambridge families. Evaluation should include the development of clear and specific program goals, related metrics, and evaluation activities designed to measure the extent to which goals are being met.
• Develop and monitor program budgets.
• Actively promote the professional growth and development of program staff to support them in working effectively with families in ways that are consistent with best practices in adult learning and family engagement.
• Supervise program staff, including the Early Literacy Program Supervisor, Pathways to Family Success Coordinator, Cambridge Dads Coordinator and 6‑8 Literacy Ambassadors.
• Lead strategic planning efforts across city departments to embed the agenda’s goals and priorities into city and community partner initiatives, including the Department of Public Health’s Maternity and Child Health Outcomes.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Education:
  
  Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
• Demonstrated program experience working in early education, public health, or social services with a focus on maternal and child well‑being, family support, or early childhood development.
• Experience in developing and monitoring budgets.
• Experience building consensus among stakeholders with different agendas.

• Proven knowledge of the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) as they impact low‑income and immigrant families and Maternal and Child Health principles.
• Stron…