Chief Program Officer

FCF is seeking a Chief Program Officer (CPO) who is a talented manager and leader whose approach is strategic, collaborative, and characterized by the ability to inspire, motivate, and empower others to achieve the goals of FCF. The CPO leads two key functions Program Development & Innovation and Policy & Systems. Program Development and Innovation includes development of the programs and services offered by FCF, professional development and support for implementation staff, impact evaluation and continuous improvement and innovation of those programs and services. Policy and Systems includes FCF’s consulting offerings to public sector leaders implementing and improving early care and education systems as well as FCF’s role as a key national voice and expert on early childhood systems. The CPO is a thought leader and a self-starter. This individual will possess highly developed program development, evaluation and policy skills and be creative, curious, innovative, and possess a continuous improvement mindset.

Purpose

The Chief Program Officer (CPO) will serve as a critical member of the executive management team. In collaboration with the CEO and Executive Team, the CPO will

• articulate and implement the strategic vision and leadership of FCF,
• supervise operations of FCF’s Central Office Programs Team, National Systems Team, and National Consulting Team and monitor financial performance, program management, human resources planning, and manage relationships of each division,
• and enhance the structure of the organization by staying abreast of developments in the early care and education finance sector.

Key Performance Responsibilities

Product and Program Management

• Strengthens FCF programs through standardization, cross-organization alignment, evaluation, and effective communication; standardizes components of FCF program delivery and evaluation in alignment with the FCF logic model.
• Positions FCF as a national expert regarding strategies and systems that support child care business; serves as internal child care business SME for the organization.
• Directly supervises the Central Office Programs Team and National Systems and National Consulting Division Directors; develops a high-performance team culture focused on leadership, accountability, continuous learning, collaboration, and goal achievement.
• Leads cross-sharing of innovative programmatic advances and champions adoption and implementation across FCF divisions.
• Analyzes appropriate data to inform the programmatic and operational decision-making process.
• Develops and manages FCF’s intellectual property and leads the development of internal subject matter experts (SMEs).
• Optimizes products, services, and programs to continuously improve FCF’s customer and client experience.
• Collaborates with Chief States Officer and Programs Team to implement programs, services, and products with fidelity.
• Collaborates with Chief Advancement Officer and Advancement Team to support fund development and communications efforts to ensure Division Directors will meet resource development goals.
• Collaborates with the Chief Financial Officer and Finance Team to operationalize divisional financial information to monitor programmatic operations to ensure sound fiscal and system management.
• Collaborates with Chief Executive Officer and Chief States Officer to expand the number of FCF State Offices; works closely with the Executive Team to plan for the successful launch of new State Office and manage the growth of operations.

Leadership

• Promotes collaborative relationships between FCF divisions, ensuring the expectations of clients, customers, partners, funders, and other stakeholders are consistently met.
• Serves as a connector between clients, customers, partners, and funders and FCF’s resources, such as funding, expertise, relationships, and best practices, to build capacity for continuous success.
• Represents FCF on relevant committees and task forces and at speaking engagements, conference panels, and national events.
• Develops and maintains a diverse effective organization through the selection, training, compensation, review, and motivation of National Division Directors.
• Develops and maintains a program for high-performance standards and sound employee relations at all levels of the organization.
• Provides input into the strategic planning process.
• Provides positive guidance and direction to direct reports, assisting them in their professional development.
• Leads and implements major organizational initiatives as directed by the CEO.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent experience, with a preferred emphasis on business management, nonprofit administration, or early childhood education.
• Minimum of seven (7) years of increasingly progressive work experience demonstrating competency in nonprofit administration, business management, or program management.
• Knowledge of child care and early education sector; experience in the business and finance side of child care is required.
• Excellent interpersonal, management, verbal, and written communication skills

• Demonstrated experience in program planning, development, facilitation, and evaluation.
• Demonstrated knowledge of community and economic development.
• Knowledge of current service trends and emerging models of early care and education.
• Competence in financial management, budgeting, planning, and goal setting.
• Familiarity with FCF’s Theory of Change, and a positive orientation to change and new ways of doing business, including the ability to innovate and implement continuous improvements.
• Proven track record of monitoring, managing, and analyzing program data and outcomes.
• A systems thinker that can maintain a big-picture focus while attending to detail.

Knowledge, Skills and Ability

• Excellent writing skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to promote a positive image of FCF and position FCF as a key resource in the field of early care and education.
• Demonstrated maturity, good judgement, and emotional intelligence.
• Ability to think conceptually, portray good analytical skills, and assertiveness to manage the scope of responsibilities.
• Ability to handle multiple demands and priorities and achieve organizational objectives.
• Ability to be flexible and work collaboratively with a diverse FCF staff, clients, customers, partners, and stakeholders.
• Open to learning, accepting positive and constructive feedback.
• Energetic, enthusiastic, with a can-do attitude.

Work Conditions

• Must be able to work on the computer for extended periods of time.
• Must be able to travel when needed.

Additional Notes

This job description represents the major functions of the position but is not intended to be all-inclusive. This position interacts with members of the Executive Team and Board of Directors in performing duties deemed necessary for FCF’s success.

Benefits

Our benefits package includes five (5) medical plans, two (2) dental plans, a vision plan, basic life coverage of $50,000, short-term and long-term disability insurance, nine (9) holidays, personal holidays (pro-rated based on hire date), 160 hours of paid time off in the first year, and partial paid family medical leave. Allowable travel costs are reimbursed. Flexible work environment.

First Children’s Finance honors candidates’ time and effort in job-seeking by providing transparency regarding compensation. Creating transparency regarding salary information reduces the gender pay gap, and eliminates salary negotiation, which rarely benefits people of color or women. It is a value of our organization to support equitable hiring practices

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To Apply Click the Link: FCF – Chief Program Officer

First Children’s Finance is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.