Early Learning Talent Development Manager

Description

We are hiring in Lake County, IL.

Start Early Lake County provides high-quality care, best-in-class education, and a stimulating learning environment to children from birth to five years old. As a program that serves low-income families, Start Early’s research-based program helps children develop the literacy, language, early math, and social-emotional skills they need to succeed in kindergarten and beyond.

We are recruiting individuals who want to join us in this mission and share a commitment to our core values of appreciation & respect, empowerment, diversity, excellence, learning, and communication.

The Lake County Early Learning Centers are in a start-up phase of transitioning to the Educare Lake County School Building in 2027. The Educare School will be a state-of-the-art, full-day, year-round school serving approximately 200 children from birth to five years of age. Building on the program foundations of Early Head Start and Head Start, the Educare Lake County School will promote school readiness by implementing effective programming aimed at preventing the achievement gap from taking root in the early years.

The Early Learning Talent Development Manager will ensure that all Lake County staff, interns, and volunteers are equipped to deliver effective and high-quality early learning programming for children and families consistent with Start Early’s program design, the Educare model, and Head Start. The Early Learning Talent Development Manager is responsible for co-creating and fostering a culture of life‑long learning and continuous improvement by developing and implementing systems for embedded professional development at Educare Lake County and the Lake County Early Learning Centers.

The Early Learning Talent Development Manager will manage the full cycle of training programs, including needs assessment, instructional design, facilitation, and evaluation of results compared with intended program outcomes. This position will also partner closely with People & Culture and school leadership to build relationships with community organizations and institutions of higher learning to build and train an early childhood workforce pipeline of future educators.

• Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of onboarding, professional development, and coaching systems for all Lake County staff, interns, contracted staff, and volunteers.
• Foster a culture of continuous learning, reflective practice, peer collaboration, and ongoing career development.
• Strengthen embedded coaching practices by building supervisor capacity and aligning coaching approaches across roles.
• Support supervisors and staff in developing annual individual professional development plans.
• Provide ongoing technical assistance, coaching, and guidance to supervisors and staff, including training on adult learning strategies and coaching best practices.
• Identify, select, and support implementation of professional development resources, curricula, and learning platforms.

• Ensure onboarding, professional development, and coaching systems meet or exceed all applicable federal, state, and local requirements, including Head Start Program Performance Standards and state licensing regulations.
• Create an ongoing monitoring plan for professional development and staff qualifications.
• Monitor, track, and report training, credential, and professional development data to support internal reviews and monitoring processes.
• Stay current on changes to regulations and best practices and proactively communicate implementation guidance to leadership and staff.
• Support hiring and credential verification processes, including documentation required for compliance and Policy Council processes.

• Partner with People & Culture, school leadership, and the Early Learning Network to align professional development systems across programs.
• Assist with hiring processes, including interviewing key staff and reviewing candidate…