"Alerted.org

Description

ICF’s Early Education Services Line of Business seeks an **Early Childhood Systems Consultant** to deliver training and technical assistance (TA) to Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) grantees (states and territories). This professional will support the Office of Child Care and provide TA to CCDF Lead Agencies and their partners to strengthen early childhood systems and programs.

This position requires up to 30% travel to provide technical assistance in states and territories and attend national meetings.

The Early Childhood Systems Consultant will support the Office of Child Care (OCC) funded Technical Assistance (TA) activities in alignment with CCDF requirements. This requires extensive understanding of the CCDF Statute and CCDF Plan. This may include work with CCDF policy, quality initiatives across the age continuum (infant/toddler through school age), emergency preparedness disaster response and recovery, child care health and safety best practice, licensing, and other related content areas by delivering TA to CCDF grantees and their partners, facilitating peer learning opportunities, leading webinars, and providing significant expertise to the development of resources. This may include working with federal partners such as OCC and state partners and contractors who are responsible for the state or territory CCDF Plan. TA will be delivered through virtual platforms or onsite as requested.

The ideal candidate will have both a background and experience with CCDF and early care and education (ECE) systems at the state or national level, including experience supporting the implementation of CCDF and extensive understanding of CCDF statute. The ideal candidate will also understand or have led efforts related to CCDF policy, child care regulations and program implementation including quality initiatives across the age continuum (infant/toddler through school age), consumer education, emergency preparedness disaster response and recovery, and other related areas.

Key Responsibilities:

Communication, Collaboration, and Client Focus

+ Support OCC designated priorities and special projects, including development of TA materials, data briefs and reports

+ Build strong, positive relationships with team members for ongoing communication, collaborative planning, and shared problem solving to meet the needs of clients, states, and territories.

+ Build a strong, positive relationship with OCC regional office staff and regional CCDF Lead Agency staff, for ongoing communication, collaborative planning, and shared problem solving.

+ Build strong, positive relationships with Child Care Technical Assistance Network (CCTAN) partners to ensure all States, Territories and Tribes benefit from the wide range of training and TA services funded by OCC to support the entire child care sector.

+ Collaborate closely with OCC staff and other federal partners in the planning and of training and/or TA to CCDF grantees and other partners in the child care sector.

Expertise and Scope:

+ Develop and maintain positive, results-oriented relationships with state and territory early childhood agencies and their partner organizations.

+ Engage with states and territories to meet their goals for planning and implementation of efforts for early childhood system building through strategic planning, results-based facilitation, active listening, analysis, strategy, resource and policy development, and reflective thought partnership.

+ Provide technical assistance and consultation in a manner that is responsive to state, territory and tribal needs and meets states, territories, and tribes where they are using relationship-based approaches that include consultation, coaching, mentoring, etc.

+ Incorporate evidence-based facilitation, active listening, analysis, data, strategy, resource provision, research, and reflective thought partnership in the work

+ Identify outcomes as well as partnership responsibilities of states, territories, and tribes as well as TA staff, cocreating plans and activities.

+ Incorporate a systems building perspective including one or more dimensions of capacity building (climate, engagement and partnerships, financial resources, infrastructure, knowledge, and skills)

+ Establish and incorporate communication protocols and continuous quality improvement from evaluation data and other feedback loops into the work.

+ Stay abreast of the latest trends, research, tools, and resources that support early childhood system building.

+ Stay abreast of the latest techniques in providing technical assistance and consultation.

+ Proactively contribute to the development of systems building materials and resources that are universally available, including research, develop, prepare, and disseminate resources and products to advance system building, policy, and practice of early childhood systems work.

+ Proactively contribute to the development of group technical assistance opportunities focused on facets of early childhood systems building including the research, preparation and facilitation of peer learning groups, communities of practice, etc.

+ Participate in regular team meetings and calls.

+ Participate in regular Continuous Quality Improvement activities and support ongoing evaluation of the work.

+ Participate in national workgroups and task forces as assigned.

+ Participate in presentations at national meetings, webinars and conferences as assigned

+ Enter data on TA planning and provision within the TA Tracker database, adhering to established protocols and timelines, and provide regular updates in various formats to demonstrate sound implementation of the work and the results that are being achieved

+ Demonstrate commitment for tracking data in various systems and high levels of data literacy to help drive decision making.

+ Leverage specialized depth and breadth of expertise and apply a broad perspective to identify solutions to complex tasks

+ Lead the development and delivery of complex tasks and deliverables

+ Submit claims for reimbursement of expenses in a timely manner.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Basic Qualifications:

+ Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, public policy, public administration, or management.

+ 12+ years of relevant experience to include:

+ Collaboration and partnership experience across early care and education systems, including State and Federal partners.

+ Experience with content knowledge related to state early childhood system building, mixed delivery systems for early childhood, publicly funded early childhood system implementation and operations, early childhood governance, quality improvement efforts including Quality Rating and Improvement systems, professional development systems, early learning guidelines, child assessment, Head Start, State prekindergarten, and other early childhood programs and initiatives, including core knowledge of key federal early childhood law, policy and regulation

+ Prior experience providing training and technical assistance in the field of early education, preferably to state leaders and their partners

+ Collaboration and partnership experience across early care and education systems, including state and federal stakeholders

+ Extensive prior experience with the development of systems-oriented technical assistance materials and high-quality written products, such as tools, presentations, handouts, issue briefs, reports, etc.

+ Experience working with state agencies or partner organizations specific to early childhood policy development and program implementation.

+ Prior experience developing early education materials, such as TA tools, presentations, handouts, etc.

Preferred Skills:

+ A master’s degree in early childhood education, public policy, public administration, or management

+ 10+ years of experience at the state or national level, focusing on early childhood policies, regulations, and systems

+ State public sector leadership experience in early childhood

+ Experience providing complex technical assistance and consultation at the state systems level

+ Experience working with multiple partner/constituent groups as a participant, content advisor and technical assistance provider

+ Experience as a systems-level early childhood consultant, facilitator, and coach

+ Experience across diverse delivery systems

+ Proficient in MS Office Applications (Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel, SharePoint) and other E-learning, webinar and project management tools including Smartsheet and Mural.

+ Expertise with Smartsheet and other project management tools to track project plans, milestones, and timelines for project deliverables

+ Collaboration and partnership experience across early childhood education systems, including state and federal partners

+ Prior experience with project management including leading a group of senior professionals and complex deliverables

+ Bilingual and able to read, write, and speak Spanish proficiently

+ Prior experience delivering training/TA through virtual platforms (i.e., Zoom, Teams).

Professional Skills:

+ Excellent verbal, interpersonal, and written communication skills

+ Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities

+ Ability to be a team player and multitask in a fast-paced environment

+ Demonstrated outstanding level of professionalism in providing state and their partners’ team support, including ability to exercise good judgment, discretion, tact, and diplomacy

+ Sound business ethics, including the protection of proprietary and confidential information

+ Ability to apply detailed knowledge of organizational procedures to make independent decisions and serve as a credible resource for a senior management team

+ Ability to work with all levels of internal staff as well as outside clients and vendors

+ Flexibility to handle multiple priorities and work limited overtime, as necessary

Working at ICF

ICF is a global advisory and technology services provider, but we’re not your typical consultants. We combine unmatched expertise with cutting-edge technology to help clients solve their most complex challenges, navigate change, and shape the future.

We can only solve the world's toughest challenges by building a workplace that allows everyone to thrive. We are an equal opportunity employer. Together, our employees are empowered to share their expertise and collaborate with others to achieve personal and professional goals. For more information, please read our EEO (https://www.icf.com/legal/equal-employment-opportunity) policy.

Reasonable Accommodations are available, including, but not limited to, for disabled veterans, individuals with disabilities, and individuals with sincerely held religious beliefs, in all phases of the application and employment process. To request an accommodation, please email  [email protected]  and we will be happy to assist. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.

Read more about  workplace discrimination righ t s or our benefit offerings which are included in the  Transparency in (Benefits) Coverage Act.

Candidate AI Usage Policy

At ICF, we are committed to ensuring a fair interview process for all candidates based on their own skills and knowledge. As part of this commitment, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate or assist with responses during interviews (whether in-person or virtual) is not permitted. This policy is in place to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the interview process.

However, we understand that some candidates may require accommodation that involves the use of AI. If such an accommodation is needed, candidates are instructed to contact us in advance at  [email protected] . We are dedicated to providing the necessary support to ensure that all candidates have an equal opportunity to succeed.

**Pay Range** - There are multiple factors that are considered in determining final pay for a position, including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and competencies that align to the specified role, geographic location, education and certifications as well as contract provisions regarding labor categories that are specific to the position.

The pay range for this position based on full-time employment is:

$98,124.00 - $166,810.00

COVID-19 Policy: The position you are applying to requires the selected employee(s) to provide proof of their full vaccination status which is defined as vaccinated two weeks after receiving the requisite number of doses of a COVID-19 vaccine approved or authorized for use by the FDA.

Nationwide Remote Office (US99)