Program Director, Business Development - Center for Early Childhood (Hybrid

About West Ed

As a community of over 1,400 researchers, practitioners, consultants, and administrative professionals from all backgrounds and life experiences, we are committed to making a qualitative difference in the lives of youth, children, and adults. We conduct and apply research, develop evidence-based solutions, and provide consulting services across the country in both rural and urban communities to improve equitable outcomes for individuals from infancy through adulthood.

Serving as trusted partners in the areas of education, health, and justice, our teams enhance capacity within communities and school districts to prioritize impact — asking the right questions, customizing methodologies, developing relevant tools, and implementing best practices specific to a diverse range of stakeholder needs. West Ed supports individual initiative, excellence, and hard work of all individuals in our hiring and work practices.

West Ed complies with all applicable federal and state anti-discrimination laws, as well as OFCCP requirements. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, or status as a protected veteran.

Although West Ed provides the option of working at one of its facilities for employees, many roles allow employees to choose to work remotely for their own convenience. The decision to allow remote work at the employee's convenience is based on the requirements of the position or project in question.

The Center for Early Childhood at West Ed is expanding the Center’s impact and portfolio through strategic business development. The Program Director, Business Development will plan, develop and implement strategies for developing business and managing a portfolio of work focused on early childhood development and learning on the areas of professional learning, technical assistance, research and evaluation, and policy analysis. Reporting to the Center Vice President, the candidate will be a part of a Business Development leadership team focused on increasing West Ed’s visibility and impact nationally.

The Center where this position is housed is home to over 350 full and part‑time staff who contribute to West Ed’s mission through work that builds the capacity of early childhood educators, caregivers, parents and systems through cross‑sector, integrated service delivery, policy guidance, system building efforts and initiatives to support the whole child, whole family, and whole community.

The Program Director has responsibility for developing and supporting the growth of a large portfolio of professional services including research and development, evaluation, and state‑wide technical assistance. This includes but is not limited to:
This position will develop sole source work and respond to competitive proposals as the lead writer. In this role, the candidate will be expected to use their subject matter expertise and reputation to represent West Ed before federal, state, and local government agencies and other early childhood and adjacent groups. You will also be expected to identify internal/external partnership opportunities consistent with the portfolio’s areas of work and provide project leadership.

Developing collaborative working relationships and partnerships with other West Ed leaders is a key component for performance success.

This position combines strategic market development, proposal leadership, and portfolio expansion responsibilities. Success requires proactively creating opportunities—not only responding to them—and partnering across the organization to translate those opportunities into funded work. The Program Director may also strengthen the Center's business development capacity by mentoring proposal teams, supporting strategic capture efforts, and fostering collaborative resource development practices across the organization.

• Deep knowledge of and demonstrated leadership, statewide, regionally, and/or nationally in the early childhood development and learning space; credibility to speak to national audiences and advise…