Early Literacy Strategist

Trying Together; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 48,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation package

Opportunities for professional growth

Job summary

Trying Together in Pittsburgh is seeking an Early Literacy Strategist to create and manage equitable opportunities for early literacy development for children and caregivers in Allegheny County. You will coordinate with Buzzword Pittsburgh and County Family Centers to deliver engaging content and events that boost vocabulary and literacy skills.

You will report to the Director of The Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center, work from Homewood, and partner with community organizations to

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Education, Early Childhood Education, or related field.
• Deep knowledge of reading, writing, and literacy development.
• Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills.
• Experience building relationships with diverse groups.
• Strong organizational abilities.
• Teaching certification or reading certification preferred.
• Experience in an early learning program is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Practice equity in daily decisions and seek input from affected people.
• Build a culture of belonging and inclusive meeting norms.
• Improve practices that cause harm and propose improvements.
• Serve as liaison between Buzzword Pittsburgh and Allegheny County Family Centers.
• Coordinate monthly Buzzword Pittsburgh events to foster literacy development.
• Represent Trying Together on regional early literacy teams.
• Build relationships with early learning programs to coordinate professional growth.
• Collaborate with community partners to promote literacy resources.
• Track impact with the Data & Research team.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication

Problem solving

Collaboration

Organizational skills

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Education or related field

Teaching/Reading certification preferred

Job description

Position: Early Literacy Strategist

Full-Time | Salary Range: $48,000 - $52,000

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 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 Early Literacy Strategist will create, manage, and provide equitable opportunities for early literacy development and learning for young children and their caregivers in Allegheny County. Through Buzzword Pittsburgh, the Early Literacy Strategist will manage the collaboration between community partners and Allegheny County Family Centers to provide engaging activities, content, and events that enable young children to learn new words. Additionally, the Early Literacy Strategist will look for existing and new opportunities for collaboration to assist young children with building their literacy skills, families with supporting these skills, and educators with introducing and reinforcing them. This individual will be an employee of Trying Together, work out of Homewood, and report to the Director of The Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center.

Responsibilities

• Practice equity in daily decisions. Apply an equity lens to goals, planning, materials, outreach/enrollment, communications, follow-through and partnerships and seek input from people most affected by decisions.
• Build a culture of belonging. Use inclusive meeting norms, invite under-represented perspectives, offer constructive feedback, and address harm respectfully.
• Improve practices that cause harm. Flag practices, processes, and/or policies that undermine the dignity, safety, or equitable treatment of children, families, educators; propose and help implement and evaluate improvements.
• Serve as the liaison between Buzzword Pittsburgh community partners and Allegheny County Family Centers to manage, create, and distribute word-themed early literacy content.
• Coordinate monthly in-person Buzzword Pittsburgh events that enable opportunities for early literacy development and learning, and positive parent-child interaction.
• Represent Trying Together on the Western Pennsylvania Early Literacy Team and similar early literacy projects that support children, families, and early learning programs.
• Build relationships with early learning programs and providers and work with the Trying Together Quality Initiatives team to coordinate and offer professional growth opportunities that meet the early literacy interests and needs of the children and families in the region.
• Build relationships with community partners who provide early literacy resources, programs, and services to co-create, manage, and promote these to all children, families, and educators in Allegheny County.
• Evaluate development and learning monthly by working with the Trying Together Data & Research team to document and track impact.
• Consistently use the NeonCRM platform to build relationships with constituents, record data that measures project performance, and to support continuous quality improvement in the organization's resources and services.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Education, Early Childhood Education, or related field.
• Deep knowledge of reading, writing, and literacy development.
• Strong interpersonal skills such as communication, problem-solving, conflict management, and collaboration.
• Experience with building productive relationships with diverse individuals and groups.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Teaching Certificate, Reading Certification, or License preferred.
• Experience within an early learning program setting is a plus.

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).

Benefits

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