Early Childhood Specialist

Position Overview

Responsible for the planning and support of staff competency in implementation of a developmentally appropriate early childhood classroom in order to meet the social, emotional, intellectual, and physical needs of the children. Strengthen the skill sets of staff in high-quality adult-child interactions and teaching practices through individual and group modeling, instructing, and training. Serve as a content-area expert within the State of Michigan Licensing Rules and Regulations to assure all rules are being followed and complied with.

Assist the site in ongoing daily operations in conjunction with the site supervisor.

Read the full ‘Early Childhood Specialist’ position description

• Provide classroom coverage to ensure that appropriate licensing ratios are maintained.
• Maintain an orderly, healthy, and safe environment conducive to optimal growth and development of children in compliance with agency, state and federal guidelines and regulations.
• Cultivate relationships with education and site staff to maximize teacher-child interactions and enhance teacher knowledge and skills in the evaluation of child progress and effect
  change.
• The ability to work independently, establish priorities and manage deadlines, multi-task and work in a fast-paced environment; and work flexible hours.
• Support and assist early childhood educators in identifying specific needs of children, developing educational plans, and referring children for further evaluation when necessary.

• Bachelor’s degree or higher with a stated major in Early Childhood Education or Child Development (or) a Bachelor’s degree or higher in a child-related field including 18 credit hours in Early Childhood Education or Child Development and 480 hours of experience (or) a Bachelor’s degree in any area that includes a minimum of 18 credit hours in Early Childhood Education or Child Development and 1920 hours of experience.
• Must have or complete a minimum of two (2) credit hours in childcare administration within six (6) months of hire in accordance with the Licensing Rules for Child Care Centers

• $27.71 – $29.93

• Mon-Fri
  • Hours may vary, but should be similar to:
    Mon-Thurs [7:30am-5:00pm] & Fri [7:30am-11:30am]
• Site Determined in Interview

• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Dental insurance
• 401(k)
• Vision insurance
• Flexible schedule
• Tuition reimbursement
• Life insurance
• Retirement plan
• Referral program
• Flexible spending account
• Health savings account
• Parental leave
• Professional development assistance
• Employee assistance program

At Head Start for Kent County, we strive to care for our employees and their families as much as our employees care for the children and families in our community. We offer an excellent benefits package with health insurance that starts after just 30 days of employment–several benefits are at little-to-no-cost to the employee. We provide generous time-off and paid holiday policies that start on your very first day.

Wear jeans on Mondays, work half-days on Fridays, and take advantage of our Employee Assistance Programs, which provide corporate discounts and wellness programs for physical and mental health (including free counseling sessions). We offer retention and attendance incentives (some of which are monetary), professional development opportunities, and tuition reimbursement including paid-in-full CDAs and assistance with Associates degrees and above. Find out more about how we invest in our employees at (Use the "Apply for this Job" box below).!