Program Manager

Breathe Project; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); Hybrid; USD 55,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

The Early Excellence Project is seeking a detail-oriented Program Manager to oversee recruitment, enrollment, coaching caseloads, and calendar management for Southwestern Pennsylvania's child care providers. You will coordinate with coaches, partners, and leadership to ensure timely delivery of coaching cycles and compliance with program timelines.

This role requires strong organizational skills, proactive communication, and the ability to manage multiple cohorts, with travel around the SWPA

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a related field.
• 3+ years of program coordination/management, nonprofit/education preferred.
• Ability to manage multiple deadlines with minimal supervision.
• Strong written and verbal communication; proficient with Office and Google Workspace; comfortable with Zoom, Monday.com, and Mighty Networks.
• Willingness to travel throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania and obtain required clearances.

Responsibilities

• Lead recruitment of new providers and manage enrollment targets.
• Carry an assigned caseload and co-develop individualized action plans with providers.
• Coordinate program calendar, sessions, and onboarding logistics.
• Provide regular written updates to leadership and stakeholders.
• Track engagement and progress toward program goals; log activities in the system of record.

Skills

Program coordination

Communication

Organization

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Office

Google Workspace

Zoom

Monday.com

Mighty Networks

CRM / project management platform

Job description

The Early Excellence Project (EEP) strengthens the business capacity of child care providers across Southwestern Pennsylvania so that high quality early learning environments remain open, stable, and financially sound. The Program Manager is central to that work.

EEP programs run on an academic year model with quarterly coaching cycles, serving multiple provider cohorts with differing participation requirements. Delivery is carried out by Coach Consultants, a Content and Curriculum Lead, and partner organizations that facilitate group coaching. The Program Manager is the operational center of that system, holding the program calendar, the enrollment pipeline, the participation record, and the communication loop that keeps providers, coaches, and partners moving together. The Program Manager also carries an assigned coaching caseload, working directly with providers on their individual business goals.

The Program Manager reports to the Executive Director and coordinates closely with the Special Projects Coordinator, Coach Consultants, the Content and Curriculum Lead, consultants, and partner organizations. This is a role for someone who is organized, proactive, comfortable owning deadlines, and genuinely motivated by the success of child care providers and the children and families they serve.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Provider Recruitment and Enrollment

• Lead recruitment of new providers using the organization’s recruitment strategy, including weekly outreach targets, a segmented prospect list, and contingency outreach when targets lag.
• Conduct recruitment across the funder designated catchment areas and screen prospective sites against eligibility criteria, including site size and site leader decision making authority.
• Distribute recruitment materials and the provider registration link, and manage the inquiries that outreach generates.
• Administer registration and intake, including monitoring submissions, following up on incomplete intake, and managing late registrations against the recruitment close date.
• Maintain an accurate recruitment tracker documenting contacts, follow ups, and confirmed providers in a format leadership can read without explanation.

Provider Coaching and Caseload Management

• Carry an assigned caseload of providers, delivering individual coaching sessions at the established cadence and session volume for the program year.
• Co-develop each provider’s individualized action plan from intake data, confirming and correcting it with the provider and settling goals by the close of the first session.
• Coach providers across the program’s focus areas of capacity, staffing, and enrollment, translating each into specific, stepwise goals with defined milestones and dates rather than broad intentions.
• Guide providers toward catalytic use of funds, pressing past what was purchased to what the spending made possible and what funding it now positions them to pursue.
• Complete post session reflections and case notes in the system of record within the required window, log all provider communication, and capture evidence of progress toward each action plan goal.

Communication with Leadership, Providers, and Partners

• Deliver regular written updates to the Executive Director and executive leadership team covering recruitment, curriculum planning, barriers, and recommended next steps.
• Draft and send provider and partner communications accurately, on brand, and on time, including cohort specific participation requirements so providers and coaches receive consistent instruction.
• Coordinate with partner organizations that facilitate group coaching on scheduling, session access, materials, and attendance.
• Ensure providers receive session agendas, assignments, and meeting details with adequate advance notice, and notify providers of grant, scholarship, and funding opportunities as they arise.
• Respond to communications within one business day and raise barriers and risks early, paired with a proposed solution.

Program Calendar, Curriculum Mapping, and Session Logistics

• Build and maintain the master program calendar across quarterly coaching cycles, applying the alternating month cadence and identifying holiday and closure weeks in advance.
• Coordinate individual coaching schedules submitted by Coach Consultants, confirm them against expected session volume, and flag gaps or clustering before a quarter begins.
• Create, test, and distribute virtual meeting links, calendar invitations, and session materials so facilitators and coaches have what they need in advance.
• Draft synchronous and asynchronous work and activities for providers that align with session content and are responsive to provider needs and skill level.
• Coordinate logistics for the annual in person provider onboarding session and optional in person workshops, including location, timing, confirmations, and makeup sessions.

Provider Engagement, Participation, and Retention

• Own provider engagement monitoring across all cohorts, drawing on participation and communication data supplied by Coach Consultants and the program platforms.
• Uphold the standard that no provider goes three months without contact from EEP, and initiate outreach when a provider approaches that threshold.
• Maintain the provider inactivity and disengagement protocol, including the definition of inactivity, the outreach sequence, and the escalation point.
• Track participation against program completion thresholds tied to provider incentives, and identify providers at risk early enough to intervene through makeup and alternate participation options.
• Ensure every provider touchpoint is logged in the organization’s system of record so engagement history is visible and tracked rather than held in individual inboxes.

Platform and Program Infrastructure

• Support setup, configuration, and ongoing management of the Mighty Networks platform, including structure, groups, and content placement across separate cohort spaces.
• Support administration of the organization’s project management and CRM platform, including provider records, communication logs, board structure, and user access.
• Monitor timely and complete entry of case notes, session records, and communication logs by the coaching team, and follow up when entries are outstanding.
• Support development of provider materials, including content drafting, assembly, brand alignment, and readiness for distribution.
• Serve as a first point of contact for provider questions about platform access and program navigation.

Data, Documentation, and Continuous Improvement

• Maintain accurate program records, attendance data, and provider files in accordance with organizational and funder requirements.
• Collect and review monthly coaching reports on schedule, follow up on missing submissions, and synthesize themes for leadership.
• Run periodic participation audits confirming each enrolled provider has been served within the expected window, and track progress toward action plan goal minimums and incentive eligibility.
• Contribute program data, narrative content, and documented success stories to grant reports and funder deliverables.
• Gather provider feedback and document processes so program operations are repeatable and transferable.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, human services, business, public administration, nonprofit management, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience.
• Three or more years of program coordination, program management, or comparable experience, preferably in a nonprofit, education, or community based setting, including direct experience coaching, advising, or providing technical assistance to adults.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent deadlines with minimal supervision, and to maintain program calendars, participation records, or case tracking systems accurately.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, proficiency with Microsoft Office and Google Workspace, and comfort learning platforms such as Zoom, Monday.com, and Mighty Networks.
• Reliable transportation and willingness to travel throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania, with occasional evening or weekend work, and the ability to obtain all clearances required for work in and around early learning settings.

Preferred

• Experience working with or within child care programs, home based providers, or the early learning system in Pennsylvania.
• Familiarity with small business operations, including budgeting, enrollment, and staffing.
• Experience coaching small business owners or child care operators on business operations, and familiarity with goal setting or action planning frameworks.
• Experience administering a CRM or project management platform, and supporting grant funded programs and their reporting requirements.

CORE COMPETENCIES

• Ownership. Takes responsibility for outcomes, not just tasks, and follows through without reminders.
• Organization. Builds and maintains systems that keep complex, multi part work on schedule.
• Relationship building. Earns the trust of providers and partners and communicates with warmth and professionalism.
• Attentiveness to engagement. Notices when a provider goes quiet and acts on it before it becomes a completion problem.
• Judgment and adaptability. Knows what to esc…

WORK ENVIRONMENT AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

This position operates in a hybrid environment combining remote work, office based work, and travel to provider sites and community locations. It requires the ability to communicate effectively by phone, video, and in person, and to travel independently throughout the service area. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.

The Early Excellence Project is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. We actively encourage applications from candidates whose backgrounds reflect the communities we serve.