Administrative Coordinator

Overview

Start Early (formerly known as the Ounce) is an energized, future-focused organization committed to providing quality early learning and care across the country. Our desire to close the opportunity gap and build more equitable early learning experiences for our youngest learners guides everything we do. As a leader in early learning and care, we scale our deep expertise across program, policy, and research through partnerships across the country.

Full-time

We are recruiting individuals who want to join us in this mission and share a commitment to our core values of appreciation & respect, empowerment, diversity, excellence, learning, and communication
. Become part of our rewarding, mission-driven culture. We want our employees to feel empowered, motivated, energized, and passionate about the work they do.

The Administrative Coordinator plays a critical cross-site role in supporting the Directly Operated Programs (DOP), including Educare Chicago, Lake County Early Learning Centers, and Healthy Parents & Babies. This position strengthens coordination, consistency, and efficiency across all sites by managing shared administrative systems, facilitating operational processes, and supporting compliance and reporting requirements.

This role is designed to streamline operations across sites—not duplicate site-based administrative functions—by centralizing key processes, tracking systems, and communication that support program leadership and content area teams. The Administrative Coordinator also manages and supports projects across initiatives to ensure alignment of management systems and adherence to funder requirements, including the Office of Head Start (OHS), the Chicago Department of Family & Support Services (DFSS), and the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS).

• Cross‑Site Coordination & Systems Management: serve as the central coordinator for shared administrative systems across all DOP sites; maintain and monitor cross‑site calendars, include operational, training, and compliance timelines; ensure consistency in administrative processes, documentation, and communication across sites; track and follow up on action items from DOP leadership and management meetings.
• DOP Leadership & Meeting Support: coordinate and support DOP leadership and cross‑site meetings, schedule, agenda development, and material preparation; facilitate documentation of meetings, capture key decisions, track action steps, and maintain organized records; ensure follow‑up and alignment between meeting outcomes and cross‑site priorities.
• Compliance, Monitoring & Reporting: support monitoring of Head Start performance standards and licensing requirements across all sites; maintain centralized documentation for federal, state, and local reporting (OHS, DFSS, DCFS); track deadlines for grants, reporting requirements, and licensing renewals; assist in preparation for audits, federal reviews (FA2), self‑assessments, and monitoring visits.
• Data & Administrative Systems Support: maintain and organize key administrative and program data across sites, including training records, compliance documentation, and enrollment tracking; support data entry, tracking, and reporting to inform leadership decisions; coordinate systems for maintaining personnel documentation in collaboration with site‑based administrative staff.
• Onboarding & Content Area Coordination: coordinate onboarding processes for new staff across DOP sites, ensuring alignment by program type (Early Head Start, Head Start, Home Visiting) and content areas (Education, ERSEA, Family Support, Health/Mental Health, PMQI); partner with content area managers to organize onboarding schedules, required trainings, and documentation; maintain onboarding trackers to ensure completion of required trainings, certifications, and compliance requirements.
• Shared Resources, Vendors & Operational Support: coordinate procurement, inventory tracking, and distribution of shared resources across sites (e.g., parent store supplies); support reporting related to shared resources and program operations; serve as liaison for consultant…