Director

A Step Ahead Daycare; Omaha (NE); On-site; USD 75,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive Salary

Comprehensive Health Insurance

401(k) Retirement Plan

Generous PTO

Childcare Discounts

Leadership Development

Job summary

A Step Ahead Child Care & Education Center is seeking a Site Director to lead a center in the Omaha Metro area. You will drive program quality, coach teachers, and ensure safe, compliant operations while partnering closely with families and the executive team.

The role demands a calm, relational, and highly organized leader with 3+ years in ECE leadership and a relevant degree, committed to Nebraska licensing standards and center-wide excellence.

Qualifications

• 3+ years in leadership or lead classroom management in a licensed early childhood education setting (required).
• Licensing: Must meet Nebraska DHHS Director licensing qualifications and background check requirements.
• Education: Associate or Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, Elementary Education, or related field (preferred).

Responsibilities

• Drive classroom excellence and curriculum momentum across every room.
• Coach lead teachers with weekly 1-on-1 check-ins and classroom walk-throughs.
• Model emotional composure and co-regulation during peak moments.
• Host tours and build strong family partnerships and trust.
• Own roster integrity, classroom ratios, staff scheduling, and licensing compliance.

Skills

Leadership

Staff Coaching

Child Guidance

Parent Communication

Roster Management

Education

Associate or Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education

Tools

Scheduling Tools

Roster Platforms

Daily Management Software

Job description

Site Director – Early Childhood Education & Center Leadership

Location: Omaha Metro

Position Type: Full-Time

Organization: A Step Ahead Child Care & Education Center

About A Step Ahead

At A Step Ahead, we believe early childhood education isn’t just a service or a daycare holding pen—it is a vital educational calling. Our Site Directors are mission-driven operators and culture champions who set the tone for excellence, composure, and genuine human connection across our centers every single day.

We are seeking a confident, relational, and operationally rigorous leader to join our collaborative network of Directors across four locations. As Site Director, you are the operational and cultural heartbeat of your center. You won’t lead on an island—you will work shoulder-to-shoulder with our executive leadership and director peer group, meeting regularly to align standards, solve challenges, and raise the bar for early childhood education in Nebraska.

Our Core Values

• All People Matter: We are radically “for” people. We believe in children, honor families, and actively see the potential in our team members.
• Growth: We continually develop our gifts, skills, and leadership capacity.
• Positive Mental Attitude: We bring great energy, steady optimism, and purposeful presence to work every day.
• Unselfishness: We put our team, children, and families before ourselves.
• Integrity: We keep our word, hold uncompromising safety baselines, and do what is right even when unmonitored.
• Servant Leadership: We lead through support, mentorship, and giving what we have received.

What You’ll Lead & Own

1. Classroom Excellence & Curriculum Momentum

• Drive developmental momentum across every room, ensuring environments are purposeful, developmentally rich, and immaculately maintained.
• Coach and model elite classroom habits: 360-degree zone awareness ('withitness'), physical room geometry with zero blind spots, and smooth, orderly transitions (free play to clean-up, meals to naptime).
• Guide teachers in effective lesson planning, student observation, and developmental tracking so children stay actively engaged rather than passively supervised.

2. Staff Coaching, Mentorship & Orchestration

• Serve as the daily field coach for lead teachers and aides, holding structured weekly 1-on-1 check-ins and frequent classroom walk-throughs.
• Train lead teachers to actively orchestrate their assistants—assigning clear operational zones and micro-responsibilities rather than working in silos.
• Instill a culture of constructive feedback, emotional steadiness, and professional career progression.

3. Emotional Composure & Co-Regulation

• Champion emotionally responsive care across the building. Model how to lower vocal pitch and project physiological calm during peak sensory overload or behavioral meltdowns.
• Support teachers in real time during tough classroom moments, ensuring guidance is rooted in safety, empathy, and de-escalation rather than reactive discipline.

4. High-Trust Family Partnership & Tour Conversions

• Act as the welcoming, professional face of the center, building genuine long-term trust with current and prospective families.
• Host compelling, warm tours that showcase our educational standards, curriculum intentionality, and community culture.
• Handle sensitive parent inquiries, incident follow-ups, and developmental questions with absolute ownership, proactive communication, and de-escalation.

5. Operational Rigor, Compliance & Ratios

• Own roster integrity, classroom ratios, and staff scheduling, ensuring zero compromise on Nebraska state licensing standards and child safety protocols.
• Partner with the central leadership team to manage labor budgets, optimize center utilization, and lead conversion efforts from initial inquiry to enrollment.

Who You Are

• A Balanced Leader: You possess high relational warmth paired with firm operational discipline. You love child development, but you are also energized by clear processes, clean rosters, and hitting organizational targets.
• Physiologically Steady: You do not match chaos with chaos. When noise levels peak or competing priorities collide, your voice stays calm, your mind stays clear, and you triage with poise.
• An Autonomous Problem-Solver: You don't wait for administrative direction to fix a bottleneck. You see gaps on the floor, step in to assist teammates, and close operational loops before being asked.
• A Standard-Setter: You believe early childhood education deserves the highest professional dignity, and you inspect what you expect with consistency and grace.

Qualifications

• Experience: 3+ years of leadership or lead classroom management experience in a licensed early childhood education setting (required).
• Licensing: Must meet or exceed Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Director licensing qualifications and background check requirements.
• Education: Associate or Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, Elementary Education, or related field (preferred).
• Skills: Demonstrated mastery in child guidance techniques, active supervision/ratio compliance, staff scheduling, roster management, and parent communication.
• Operational Literacy: Comfortable navigating modern scheduling tools, digital roster platforms, and daily management software.

What We Offer (Compensation & Benefits)

At A Step Ahead, we invest heavily in the people who build our culture. We offer a competitive executive package designed to support your health, family, and long-term future:

• Competitive Salary: Commensurate with experience and center scope.
• Comprehensive Health Insurance: Group medical coverage to keep you and your family healthy.
• 401(k) Retirement Plan: Dedicated retirement savings plan to invest in your long-term financial growth.
• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO): Accrued vacation, sick time, and recognized paid holidays.
• Childcare Discounts: Significant tuition discounts for your own children enrolled at our centers.
• Leadership Development: Structured peer mentorship, executive coaching, and ongoing career advancement pathways across our multi‑center network.