Associate Vice President of Early Education

Job Description

Job Description:\n\nBenefits:\n\n 403(b)\n Competitive salary\n Dental insurance\n Employee discounts\n Free food & snacks\n Health insurance\n Opportunity for advancement\n Paid time off\n Parental leave\n Savings bank\n Training & development\n Vision insurance\n Wellness resources\n\nJOB TITLE: Associate Vice President of Early Education \nFLSA STATUS: Exempt, Full-time, 40 hrs/week \nSHIFT: Monday – Friday (Saturdays & Sundays on occasion for professional development/events); varied hours between 6:30am-6:00pm, flexibility required to meet the demands of this leadership position.\nSUPERVISOR: Chief Executive Officer \nLOCATION: Pottstown, PA\n\nWHO WE ARE:\n\nYWCA Tri-County Area is on a mission to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace justice, freedom, and dignity for all. YW serves more than 3,000 people annually in Montgomery, Chester, and Berks counties as a leader in advocating for girls, women, and families. YW’s quality programs and services focus on education, designed to build individual, family, and community success: early childhood education; Youth Education & Prevention Programs that include enrichment, STEM Education, and recreation; adult education and English as a Second Language; workforce development; Foster Grandparent Program; and holistic wraparound services. Mission-based advocacy efforts raise awareness, offer issue education, and build social capital around women's empowerment, racial and social justice, and safe and healthy communities.\n\nYWCA Tri-County Area is an Equal Opportunity Employer offering competitive salaries and benefit packages.\n\nWHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:\n\nThe Associate Vice President of Early Education is a senior leadership position responsible for driving the strategic growth, sustainability, innovation, and long-term vision of YWCA Tri-County Area's Early Education portfolio. Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, this position provides executive leadership for the organization's Early Education strategy, systems development, program expansion, partnership cultivation, revenue diversification, and operational scalability.\n\n \n\nThe Associate Vice President provides oversight and strategic direction for all Early Education programs, services, initiatives, and related educational enterprises that support children, families, and educators across the organization. This includes ensuring alignment of age-based educational programs, innovative service models, and emerging opportunities with the YWCA's mission, strategic priorities, and commitment to high-quality educational outcomes.\n\n \n\nUnlike positions primarily responsible for day-to-day center operations, the Associate Vice President focuses on enterprise-level leadership by identifying opportunities for growth, strengthening organizational infrastructure, advancing innovation, securing new funding opportunities, and positioning the organization as a regional leader in high-quality Early Education services. The role is responsible for building organizational capacity, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and ensuring the long-term sustainability and impact of all Early Education offerings.\n\n \n\nWhile the position serves as the primary strategist for the future of YWCA's Early Education division, it is also expected to maintain a strong connection to program delivery and the needs of the team. The Associate Vice President leads with a servant-leadership mindset and provides direct support to classrooms, educators, and students when operational needs arise. This role is expected to actively engage alongside team members as needed, helping to strengthen program quality, support staff, and ensure exceptional experiences for children and families.\n\n \n\nThe Associate Vice President serves as the primary architect of YWCA's Early Education vision and leads initiatives designed to expand impact, increase sustainability, strengthen outcomes for children and families, and position the organization for future growth and innovation across all Early Education programs and enterprises.\n \nWHAT YOU’LL BE DOING (Includes, but not limited to):\nStrategic Leadership & Organizational Growth\n\n Develop and lead the organization's long-term Early Education strategy.\n Identify opportunities for expansion, innovation, and new service delivery models.\n Create and implement growth plans aligned with YWCA strategic priorities.\n Lead market analysis and assess emerging opportunities within the early Education sector.\n Establish measurable goals and performance indicators for organizational growth.\nSystems Development & Operational Excellence\n\n Evaluate and strengthen systems that support scalability and sustainability.\n Lead process improvement initiatives across the Early Education division.\n Develop infrastructure that supports effective growth and program expansion.\n Partner with center leadership to improve operational efficiencies.\n Champion data-informed decision making and performance management systems.\n Provide strategic oversight of enrollment systems and practices, ensuring processes support full-capacity enrollment goals, data integrity, compliance requirements, and an exceptional family experience.\n Serve as the executive liaison for facilities, operations, technology, and organizational infrastructure needs impacting Early Education programs, ensuring operational systems effectively support program delivery and growth.\nFinancial Sustainability & Revenue Development\n\n Identify opportunities to diversify revenue streams.\n Support development of grant strategies, public funding opportunities, and partnership investments.\n Collaborate with finance and executive leadership to develop sustainability plans.\n Analyze financial trends and growth opportunities across the Early Education portfolio.\n Support business planning for expansion and innovation initiatives.\n Provide executive oversight of the Early Education annual operating budget, partnering with Finance and center leadership to monitor financial performance, enrollment-driven revenue, and long-term sustainability.\n Review and approve payroll processes and controls, ensuring accuracy, accountability, and alignment with organizational policies and budget expectations.\nPartnerships & Community Impact\n\n Develop strategic partnerships with school districts, funders, government agencies, community organizations, and higher education institutions.\n Represent YWCA in regional, state, and community early Education initiatives.\n Strengthen organizational visibility and community engagement.\n Identify opportunities to increase access to high-quality early Education services.\n Serve as an advocate for children, families, and the advancement of early Education programs.\nLeadership & Organizational Development\n\n Supervise the Managing Director of Early Education.\n Provide executive coaching and leadership support to the Early Education leadership team.\n Build leadership capacity and succession planning strategies.\n Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, continuous improvement, and mission impact.\n Align Early Education initiatives with organizational goals and strategic priorities.\n Provide executive oversight of enrollment management functions, including enrollment strategy, capacity planning, waitlist management, and performance monitoring across Early Education programs.\nInnovation & Expansion\n\n Research emerging trends and best practices in early childhood education.\n Evaluate potential new programs, service lines, and geographic expansion opportunities.\n Lead implementation of approved growth initiatives.\n Develop strategic recommendations for executive leadership and the Board of Directors.\n Position the organization as a leader in innovative early Education services.\nReporting & Governance\n\n Prepare and present regular reports, recommendations, and performance updates to executive leadership and the Board of Directors regarding Early Education operations, growth initiatives, financial performance, and strategic outcomes.\n Monitor key performance indicators related to enrollment, financial sustainability, compliance, staffing, and program quality, ensuring leadership has accurate and timely information for decision-making.\nWHAT YOU’LL BRING TO THE POSITION\n\n Understanding of YW3CA mission, goals, and objectives and strong commitment to integrate mission objectives into daily practices in the center.\n A high degree of technical literacy, including the ability to navigate complex Microsoft Office tasks and adapt quickly to new organizational software.\n Strong interpersonal skills as demonstrated by compassionate, courteous, cordial, cooperative, and professional interaction with diverse groups of co-workers, families, and members of the community. \n Knowledge of the concepts and practices associated with early childhood education, including but not limited to:\n \n Child development (birth through school age)\n Early education social emotional best practices.\n Basic classroom management procedures\n \n Highly organized results-oriented thinker with ability to implement processes independently. \n Proactive attitude and initiative with a strong desire for continued growth and Education.\n High level of cultural competence and sensitivity toward community-specific issues, utilizing an empowering approach to build strong, supportive relationships with individuals and families from diverse backgrounds.\n Familiarity with Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Regulations (a plus).\n Familiarity with Keystone STARS and Conscious Discipline social emotional curriculum (a plus).\n Ability to work independently with a high level of energy and contribute as part of a larger team.\n Strong commitment to the mission and values of YW3CA.\n Strong spelling, grammar, and organizational skills.\nOther Position Factors\n\nThe other position factors described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential tasks of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. \n\n Requirements include:\n \n The ability to take frequent walks, use hands and fingers, handle objects, tools, or controls, talk to and hear voices at many levels.\n The ability to kneel, bend, squat or crawl and stand for periods of time in both indoor and outdoor environments.\n A specific vision ability including the ability to see up close and up to a certain distance, to see colors, have peripheral vision and depth perception. \n The ability to lift 50 pounds.\n The ability to sit on the floor and/or ground outside to be actively involved with the children. \n \n Position may require occasional trips to attend conferences, seminars, and meetings.\n Position may require stepping into classroom to cover breaks and work in ratio to maintain compliance with the center license and funding requirements.\n May require working non-traditional hours based on operational needs. \nEducation & Experience:\nMinimum Qualifications:\n\n Master's degree in Early Childhood Education, Educational Leadership, Public Administration, Nonprofit Management, Business Administration, Human Services, or a related field (preferred). Bachelor’s degree in related field accepted.\n PA Director’s credential (required).\n Minimum seven (7) years of progressively responsible leadership experience.\n Minimum five (5) years leading organizational strategy, program growth, operations, or system-level initiatives.\n Experience with corporate-owned and/or franchise-operated early childhood education organizations strongly preferred.\n Demonstrated experience managing complex budgets, organizational change, and strategic planning.\nPreferred Qualifications:\n\n Experience leading multi-site early Education operations or large-scale educational initiatives.\n Experience developing new programs, partnerships, or organizational growth strategies.\n Experience securing public funding, grants, contracts, or other revenue-generating opportunities.\n Experience working within nonprofit, educational, or human service organizations.\nAdditional Requirements:\n\n Strong understanding of early childhood education systems, public funding structures, and regulatory environments.\n Exceptional relationship-building, communication, and leadership skills.\n Successful completion of all required background clearances.\n Current Health Assessment and TB screening.\n Valid driver's license and reliable transportation.\nEqual Opportunity Employer\n\nYWCA Tri-County Area is an equal opportunity employer and it is our policy that employees and applicants will not be subjected to unlawful discrimination or harassment based on race, col-or, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran’s status, marital status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, or any other basis prohibited by applicable state, federal or local laws.\n\n \n\nAccordingly, YWCA Tri-County Area will hire, train, and promote individuals in accordance with this Equal Employment Opportunity Policy; make decisions according to the principle of equal opportunity by imposing only bona fide occupational qualification requirements for employment opportunities; and administer all personnel practices and programs (including, but not limited to, compensation, benefits, transfers, and training) in accordance with this Equal Employment Opportunity Policy.\n\n \n\nYWCA Tri-County Area is interested in every qualified candidate who is eligible to work in the United States. Unfortunately, YWCA Tri-County Area is unable to sponsor employment for international candidates at this time.