Center Director

Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning; Middletown Township (PA); On-site; USD 106,000 - 139,000; Full time

Job summary

Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning seeks a Center Director to lead CHS Middletown’s Early Childhood Education Center, overseeing up to 150 children and a team of about 80 staff. This role drives educational excellence, operations, health services, and family support in alignment with CHS policies.

The Director reports to the Senior Director of Programs and sets a high standard for quality, accessibility, and program impact, ensuring compliance with state requirements and accreditation

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent in Early Childhood Education, Family Relations/Child development, or related field.
• 8 years of experience as an ECE teacher and leader.
• Experience overseeing several operations/departments and leading teams on initiatives.
• Experience in creating, analyzing, and presenting outcome-related reporting to leadership.

Responsibilities

• Supervise and guide center departments to deliver high-quality, child-centered education.
• Establish an inclusive, welcoming center culture through value-led leadership.
• Identify and resolve operational gaps, inefficiencies, and conflicts.
• Lead recruitment, training, benefits, and retention efforts for staff.
• Oversee budgeting, funding, and reporting requirements.
• Collaborate with Central Office to implement strategic plans and goals.

Skills

Leadership

Budgeting

Reporting

Team management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education or related field

Master's degree preferred

Job description

The CHS Center Director is passionate about making a positive impact on the lives of children ages six weeks to 5 years old from under resourced and overburdened backgrounds by providing high-quality early childhood education and care. This individual oversees operations of a state-of-the-art Early Childhood Education Center at Middletown, PA.

Responsibilities of the Center Director include providing leadership and guidance to a team of up to 80 individuals in line with CHS policies, guidelines, and curriculum. They are accountable for ensuring the delivery of a top-tier early childhood and family support program that delivers results for up to 150 CHS children and families. The Center Director manages the day-to-day operations, implementation, and administration of the center, leading scholastic, family success, health services, and operations teams to deliver the CHS mission, vision and values.

As the leader of CHS Middletown, the Center Director reports to the CHS Central Office's Senior Director of Programs. They are expected to exemplify leadership for administrators, teachers, children, and families, setting a national standard for quality early childhood education and guiding staff towards achieving this standard. The salary range for this position is $106,340 to $139,000 per year, based on expertise.

Responsibilities:

• Supervising and guiding the center departments to deliver high quality, child-centered education to children. Department staff include Teachers, Family Success, Health & Safety, Facilities, and additional operations support roles
• Establishing an inclusive, welcoming environment and Center culture through value-inspired leadership for all employees
• Observing and resolving gaps, inefficiencies, and conflicts in the day-to-day operations
• Mediating issues with families and employees
• Providing proper resources for children and employees
• Collaboratively spearheading staff recruitment, hiring, training, benefit, and retention efforts.
• Leading child recruitment, acceptance, and retention efforts alongside the Family Success and Central Office teams
• Implementing policies and procedures to safeguard health and safety of families and employees in compliance with the state requirements (DHS/OCDEL) and NAEYC standards
• Establishing and reinforcing rules of behavior and compliance with procedures
• Ensuring adherence to all CHS policies, procedures, and governance standards
• Creating an effective system of reporting and progress tracking
• Maintaining clear and transparent communications with children, parents, and caregivers and formulating public communications to this audience on major events and issues
• Obtaining necessary approvals, licenses, and accreditations for the Center's operations alongside the Operations Director
• Managing the Center's local community outreach and relationships alongside the Communications Director and Enrollment Director
• Developing and fostering relationships with on-site partners
• Working closely with the Assistant Director to ensure consistent high-quality programming and on track operations
• Supporting the development of Center budget and ensuring that funding, contract, and reporting requirements are met fully
• Building and encouraging a positive and collaborative working environment, showing appreciation and unity of all employee contributions
• Collaborating with CHS Central Office to implement strategic plans and achieve comprehensive outcomes and established implementation goals

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent in Early Childhood Education, Family Relations/Child development, or related field. Master's degree preferred
• 8 years of experience as an ECE teacher and leader
• Significant experience overseeing several operations/departments and workstreams, including leading teams with a successful record of spearheading initiatives
• Experience in creating, analyzing, and presenting outcome-related reporting to leadershipine? Correction: ensure the closing fi tags are correct.