Early Childhood Capacity Coach - Somali/English Speaking

To support the full potential for every child, Think Small commits to championing policies and practices of equity that empower a just, inclusive, and equitable care and education system for children in their crucial early years.

The Child Care Capacity Coach offers outreach and early childhood supports to individuals interested in opening a licensed child care programs or expand the capacity of an existing program in the counties of Anoka, Hennepin, Ramsey, and Washington. Efforts will include a focus on serving historically underserved clients and new American clients and builds strong partnerships with early childhood educators, which supports intentional and culturally-affirming high quality practices and positive early childhood outcomes.

This position will provide leadership, utilize data, community engagement, business supports and other technical assistance to increase the supply of available high quality child care in Minnesota.

ORGANIZATION SUMMARY

Think Small, Minnesota's leader in early learning, is dedicated to advancing early childhood care and education. We are still committed to the principles that gave rise to our organization nearly 50 years ago - that the quality of a child's early experiences greatly influences his or her success later in life and that there is much that can be done to improve the quality of early childhood settings to optimize a child's development.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide leadership and direction for efforts to increase the supply of available high quality child care.
• Identify and recruit potential clients interested in opening a new child care business.
• Offer technical assistance to interested clients focused on navigating Minnesota's child care licensing process. This includes both licensed family child care licensing and child care center licensing processes.
• Participate in the development and implementation of culturally relevant early childhood services
• Collaborate with internal Think Small staff and other partner agencies including, but not limited to county licensing staff, Child Care Aware of Minnesota agencies, First Children's Finance and the Department of Human Services.
• Appropriately document coaching and technical assistance activities in approved platforms.
• Support clients through a variety of professional development services, utilizing adult learning best practices
• Represent Think Small at community events and meetings

REQUIREMENTS

• Fluency in Somali and English (speaking, reading and writing)

• Minimum requirements: Step 2 on the Minnesota Early Childhood Career Lattice , which states High School Diploma or GED and 25 hours of Achieve approved training hours with 8,320 hours (4 years) of direct child care work experience
• Preferred requirements: Step 5 on the Minnesota Early Childhood Career Lattice , which states a High School Diploma or GED and 120 hours of Achieve approved training hours with 4,160 hours (2 years) of direct child care experience

• Demonstrated cultural competence with Somali community
• Working knowledge of basic Microsoft Office programs (Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel)
• This position will require metro area travel
• There are occasional requirements to lift over 20 pounds
• Valid driver's license, reliable personal vehicle and proof of insurance is required for metro area travel
• Some evening and weekend hours required

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• This position is available immediately
• Wage hiring range: $45,500 to $55,000

BENEFITS

• Comprehensive benefits package includes medical, dental, short- and long-term disability, life, vision, pet, critical illness, and long-term care insurance.
• Medical and dependent care flex spending accounts, Health Savings Account (HS), legal and ID protection plans.
• Pre-tax and ROTH 401k with employer match.
• Generous paid time off: 23 days of sick/vacation time earned the first year PLUS 9 scheduled holidays and 4 floating holidays for those whose needs don't conform to the federal holiday calendar.
• 6 weeks paid parent leave and infants-at-work program (available after 1 year of employment)

Join us in our mission to make a difference in the community and the lives of young children. If you have a passion and desire to drive organizational success, we encourage you to apply.

Think Small is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer.