Culture:

Trying Together’s mission is to support high-quality care and education for young children.

Trying Together is a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that supports the work of early childhood by providing advocacy, community resources, and professional growth opportunities for the needs and rights of children, their families, and the adults who interact with them. A fast-paced organization, Trying Together looks for dedicated and passionate staff who bring positivity to their work and a solution-oriented sensibility.

Trying Together encourages its team, partners, and communities to interact compassionately and honor the range of cultures, ideas, and identities that root each person. Young children develop and learn by example; this means that children whose early learning environments reflect just actions, equitable opportunities, diverse representation, and inclusive approaches experience healthier interactions and build relationships that enable them to thrive.

Trying Together is an equal opportunity employer. Trying Together does not discriminate and encourages qualified candidates of any gender, race, class, sexual orientation, faith, disability, or age to apply. All candidates will be evaluated on a merit basis.

Purpose:

The Director of Quality Initiatives is responsible for overseeing the workforce and professional development efforts of Trying Together funded through a range of revenue streams including grants and contracts. As Director, they provide leadership for a core deliverable of our strategy roadmap. The Director of Quality Initiatives will represent Trying Together at local, statewide, and national events for the purposes of partnerships and collaborations. The Director of Quality Initiatives will have direct supervision of the Quality Initiatives Professional Learning team and will work alongside the Executive Director, leadership team, and staff in all capacities of the organization. 

Responsibilities:

• Commitment to racial equity and inclusion and a willingness to do the ongoing personal work to bring about a more just society by actively participating in professional growth opportunities.
• Actively work with peers to create a culture of belonging at Trying Together.
• Willingness to disrupt practices that do not honor children’s, families’, educators’ and colleagues’ humanity.
• Have strong working knowledge and experience with local, state, and national early care and education systems.
• Ability to independently and collaboratively organize, prioritize, and execute operational plans to achieve strategic goals; synthesize information; see the “big picture”.
• Establish processes to ensure Quality Initiatives are effectively implemented at the highest quality and meet their established goals.
• Coach a team of Professional Learning staff by leveraging each staff member’s strengths, learning styles, and professional goals to facilitate the development and implementation of high-quality professional growth opportunities to the ECE and OST field.
• Collaborate with local ELRCs, Institutes of Higher Education, and other professional learning organizations to build partnerships and determine the professional development and workforce development needs of the early learning and school-age care field; identifying gaps, publicizing and delivering professional development in a coordinated effort.
• Develop Continuous Quality Improvement efforts for Trying Together instructors, consultants, and programs.
• Represent Trying Together on local, statewide, and national workforce and professional development initiatives. 
• Conduct and report both formative and summative evaluations of grant- and contract-funded projects to assess and describe impact, in partnership with the data and evaluation team.
• Work collaboratively with the Executive Director to create grant and contract proposals and develop processes and procedures to meet deliverables.
• Have a working knowledge of adult learning principles.
• Willing and able to engage in honest self-reflection about progress and her/his/their contribution to the process.
•  Experience with compiling and following budgets.
•  Ability to think critically when problem solving and decision making.
•  Ability to multitask, prioritize, and manage time effectively.
•  Excellent written and verbal communication including interpersonal and negotiation skills.
• Must demonstrate enthusiasm and flexibility.
• Ability to convene and facilitate collaborative groups.
• Comfort with public speaking and representing Trying Together on local and statewide committees and workgroups.
• Work collaboratively across departments within Trying Together to meet the mission and accomplish the work.
• Participate in initial and ongoing professional development for the purposes of continuous learning and expanding one’s professional knowledge base.
• Consistently use the NeonCRM platform to build relationships with constituents, record data that measure project performance, and support continuous quality improvement in the organization's resources and services.
• Other duties as assigned. 

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership, Early Childhood Education Administration, or related field.
• A minimum of five years experience in program administration and staff supervision.
• Ability to work occasional evenings and/or weekends.

Required Clearances:

• Clean Act 33 Child Abuse Clearance.
• Clean Act 34 PA State Police Clearance.
• Clean Act 73 Federal Criminal History Clearance.
• National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR) Verification.
• Valid Driver’s License and proof of insurance.

Required Training:

• Mandated Reporter Training (must be completed in the first month of placement).
• NeonCRM Training (required and recommended online courses must be completed in the first three months of placement).
• PQAS Professional Development Instructor Certification (must be obtained within the first year of employment for staff with a Bachelor’s Degree).

Benefits:

• Competitive compensation and benefits package.
• Appreciative inquiry and strengths-based review process.