Director of Early Childhood Access

Job Title:

Director of Early Childhood Access

Reports To:

Chief Program Officer (CPO)

Job Location:

Fort Collins, CO (Hybrid Remote)

Work Schedule:

Full-time; salaried (40 hours/week).

May require occasional evening or weekend hours.

Hiring Range: $78,000-$91,000 annually depending on qualifications and experience

Northern Colorado Kids Thrive is an independent nonprofit organization working to ensure every young child in our community has quality early childhood experiences so they can thrive from day one.

We administer significant public and private investments that expand families’ access to early care and education, strengthen the early childhood workforce, support child care providers, and improve coordination across the local early childhood system. This includes stewardship of more than $20 million annually in public funding, requiring a strong commitment to fiscal integrity, transparency, equity, and long‑term sustainability.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Director of Early Childhood Access leads Northern Colorado Kids Thrive’s strategy to expand equitable access to early care and education across Larimer County. The Director oversees a portfolio that includes local tuition subsidies, alignment with Universal Preschool and the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program, Head Start coordination, provider participation, family support, and Navigation services.

Reporting to the Chief Program Officer, the Director provides strategic leadership and oversight for up to $11 million annually in local tuition subsidy funding. This role is responsible for access strategy, policy development, funding alignment, partnerships, risk management, staff supervision, and overall portfolio performance.

The Director supervises the Early Childhood Access Manager and the Family and Provider Navigators and works closely with Finance, Evaluation and Impact, Communications, Operations, Workforce Stability, Specialist Consultation, public agencies, providers, and community organizations.

This position is suited for a systems‑minded early childhood leader who can move between strategy and implementation, manage complexity, build strong partnerships, and lead a highly visible public funding strategy with integrity and care.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Lead Northern Colorado Kids Thrive’s early childhood access strategy across local tuition subsidies, Universal Preschool, the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program, Head Start, provider participation, Navigation, and other family access supports.

Provide strategic oversight for up to $11 million annually in tuition subsidy funding, including utilization, enrollment, waitlists, provider participation, funding projections, access gaps, and implementation risks.

Develop and refine policies related to eligibility, prioritization, waitlists, documentation, provider participation, exceptions, and coordination with other funding sources.

Align local investments with existing public and private funding to reduce duplication, funding gaps, family burden, and administrative complexity.

Ensure the tuition subsidy model is equitable, transparent, accessible, financially responsible, and operationally feasible.

Supervise the Early Childhood Access Manager and Family and Provider Navigators, establishing clear priorities, responsibilities, decision‑making authority, referral pathways, and accountability.

Build partnerships with public agencies, school districts, Head Start, child care providers, family‑serving organizations, and other early childhood stakeholders.

Set strategies that improve the experience of participating families and providers while maintaining eligibility standards, documentation requirements, fiscal controls, and public accountability.

Partner with Finance on payment controls,…