Associate Director of Head Start and Early Childhood Services

Associate Director of Head Start and Early Childhood Services

Full Time Hermiston, OR, US

3 days ago Requisition

Salary: $90,868.31 Annually

Job Goal:

In alignment with the agency’s vision and strategic plan, the Associate Director of Early Childhood Services ensures strong, cohesive systems across the Health and Safety, Professional Development, and Early Childhood Regional Management components to ensure children—and those who care for them—are prepared for lifelong learning and success. This position provides strategic leadership and operational oversight to ensure all program systems are effectively aligned, compliant, and designed to support high-quality service delivery for children, families, and staff.

The Associate Director leads the planning, organization, and integration of early childhood systems to strengthen program quality, consistency, and accountability, ensuring that infrastructure, policies, and practices across all components support measurable outcomes in school readiness, child well-being, staff excellence, and family engagement. Working as part of a multidisciplinary leadership team, the Associate Director promotes a culture of continuous improvement, compliance with Federal Performance Standards and state regulations, and alignment with UMHS’s mission to prepare children for lifelong learning and success.

• Ensures that Regional Managers effectively implement high-quality Education and Disabilities services across all early childhood programs, promoting consistent, compliant, and developmentally appropriate practices that promote school readiness and equitable outcomes for children and families.
  • Administer high-quality early childhood programs, ensuring effective implementation of Education and Disabilities components across Head Start, Early Head Start, and other preschool initiatives.
  • Provide leadership, guidance, and support to ECE Regional Managers to ensure effective implementation of the Education and Disabilities components, maintaining compliance with all Federal Performance Standards and state regulations.
  • Plan, coordinate, and monitor educational benchmarks, ensuring that curriculum, assessment, and instruction align with developmentally appropriate practice and contractual requirements.
  • Facilitate integration of educational strategies with health, mental health, nutrition, and safety systems to promote holistic child and family outcomes.
  • Ensure culturally and linguistically responsive practices are embedded throughout educational environments, supporting equitable access and inclusion.
  • Maintain an active and supportive presence in classrooms and regional programs, using data and observation to guide continuous improvement and model educational excellence.
  • Use data and monitoring results to drive continuous quality improvement, identify strengths and challenges, and guide program enhancements at the classroom, regional, and system levels.
  • Advise the CEO, Director of Head Start and Early Childhood Services, and other relevant Directors in education component planning, development, and operations
  • Assist in the facilitation of multi-disciplinary tier staffings and track follow-up
  • Effectively communicate vision, policies, practice, and redirection in alignment with best practice
  • Maintain policies complying with Head Start/EHS/EHS CCP/OPK Performance Standards, related to curriculum, disabilities, attendance, and personally identifiable information
  • Coordinate hiring of ECE professionals, including screening, interviewing, selection, and location appointment to discern supportive teaching teams
  • Guide the identification and procurement of education supplies to meet educational objectives.
• Ensure that all education tools, including curricula, forms, meetings, and Child Plus are well implemented.
  • Ensure all education systems—including curriculum, assessments, documentation tools, and data platforms such as Child Plus—are effectively implemented and monitored for fidelity.
  • Oversee curriculum planning and implementation to ensure alignment with lesson plans, individual goals, documentation, and staff training.
  • Use assessment data and child outcomes to drive continuous quality improvement,…