Executive Director of Child Care Operations Director of Department of Education

Introduction

The Maryland State Department of Education is dedicated to supporting a world‑class educational system that prepares all students for college and career success in the 21st century. With excellent stewardship from our divisions, we oversee State and federal programs that support the needs of a diverse population – students, teachers, principals, and other educators throughout Maryland.

State Salary Grade 25. Salary Range: $120,722 - $190,376. State Salary Guidelines apply for current State employees.

Nancy S. Grasmick Education Building, 200 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.

The Executive Director (ED) of the Child Care Operations Bureau (CCOB) provides statewide leadership, strategic direction, and operational oversight for Maryland’s Child Care Licensing (CCL) and Child Care Scholarship (CCS) programs. The ED ensures statewide consistency, equity, responsiveness, and high‑quality customer service for families, child care providers, and community partners.

The ED oversees all regulatory, operational, policy, fiscal, and workforce components of the Bureau while driving modernization, customer‑centered service delivery, and continuous improvement aligned with the Office of Early Childhood’s strategic vision.

A core responsibility of the ED is leading a comprehensive statewide restructuring of the Child Care Licensing system to improve responsiveness, reduce the time needed to license new programs, strengthen provider capacity‑building, and modernize operations. This includes evaluating national models, designing a dual‑director structure (inspections/compliance and capacity‑building/technical assistance), and implementing a data‑driven, evidence‑based, user‑centered design process involving regional offices, licensing staff, unions, providers, Child Care Resource Centers (CCRCs), and interest holders.

The ED ensures alignment with HB 477 (2025), which directs MSDE to analyze and propose updates to child care licensing rules—covering staffing, ratios, physical standards, profitability, and cross‑state benchmarks—with interim and final reports due in 2026.

While the ED does not oversee IT systems directly, they work in continuous partnership with the Executive Director of Finance and IT Systems to ensure that CCOB’s business requirements, data needs, workflows, and user experiences inform the design, procurement, enhancement, and implementation of IT systems that support licensing and scholarship operations.

The ED ensures CCS program operations meet federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) compliance expectations and collaborates with the CCS Director and the ED of Finance and IT Systems to strengthen processes, improve data use, enhance payment accuracy, and reduce improper payments. The ED serves as MSDE’s lead for monthly statewide child care provider meetings, ensuring transparency, feedback, and partnership.

As a key member of the Office of Early Childhood leadership team, the ED leads statewide efforts to ensure safe, developmentally supportive, and high‑quality child care for all Maryland children while improving outcomes for families and child care providers.

• Leads Bureau participation in statewide initiatives including the CCDF State Plan, Preschool Development Grant (PDG), Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, COMAR modernization, and HB 477 alignment.
• Develops annual Bureau and Branch workplans with KPIs tied to inspection timeliness, licensing throughput, provider capacity‑building, scholarship processing timelines, payment accuracy, and customer service.
• Directs the use of evidence‑based operational practices such as risk‑based monitoring, efficient licensing pathways, and improved provider business supports.
• Ensures coordinated work across CCRCs and Local Early Childhood Advisory Council (LECACs) to assess local child care needs, support provider start‑up and expansion, and strengthen early childhood infrastructure.
• Oversees operational and fiscal management of CCOB contracts, grants, procurements, and vendor relationships with strong internal controls.
• Leads data‑driven continuous improvement initiatives…