POSITION: Program Director, LightHouse Little Learners Early Childhood Program
REPORTS TO: Vice-President of Programs
STATUS: Full-Time Exempt
APPLICATION DEADLINE: specific date to follow
JOB PURPOSE:
LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, headquartered in downtown San Francisco, is looking for a Full-time Program Director for the LightHouse Little Learners Early Childhood Program.
This position reports to the Vice-President of Programs and provides leadership and expertise to the organization’s early childhood program, while supervising a team of Early Childhood Blind and Low Vision Specialists in northern and central California. The program serves families of young children (birth to six years of age) who are blind, have low vision, have neurological visual impairment, are deafblind, or whose developmental delays may include blindness or low vision.
The Program Director is the primary liaison to community service partners and provides oversight for service contracts and the contract billing process. The Program Director monitors program compliance with local, state, and federal requirements, such as Mandated Reporter, HIPAA and FERPA data privacy laws. Additionally, the Program Director arranges for and provides professional development and support for all program staff and is a member of the LightHouse Director-level administrative team.
This role has primary responsibility for coordinating outreach to community partners to maximize the number of families served and to increase the extent and intensity of services to area families and children.
Diversity and Inclusion: LightHouse intentionally and actively works to minimize barriers to employment faced by many marginalized groups. As a result, we welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds and abilities, including but not limited to applicants who possess various disabilities, racial and ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientation, gender identities, and ages.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Education or equivalent:
- Masters and/or credential: Teacher of the Visually Impaired from an accredited college or university or
- Orientation and Mobility Specialist Certification from an accredited college or university
Experience:
- Extensive direct experience in blindness and low vision and early childhood education.
- Minimum of five years’ experience working with children who are blind or who have low vision or whose developmental delays include blindness or low vision (birth to six years of age) and their families
- Minimum of five years of effective supervisory and/or management experience
- Prior experience with home-based service delivery to families of young children
Other:
- Preferred computer skills are experience with Calendaring, Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, Outlook, as well as other Software Applications, such as Salesforce, ADP, Zoom tele-conference; and including facility with encrypted data communication systems
- Willingness to be fingerprinted and complete a background check, including a Livescan
- Willingness to complete a TB test
- Strong organization and prioritization/time management skills that ensure timely completion of weekly tasks and long-term projects
- Positive attitude and strong work ethic
- Creative problem-solving skills
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities and demands
- Strong public speaking skills
- Valid California Driver’s License or the California REAL ID
- Facility with driving and/or navigating public transportation, as well as use of navigation systems to arrive safely at multiple destinations
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Commitment to follow and implement COVID-19 protocols, as required, including proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), social distancing and hand-washing techniques
- Must be able to change locations and move periodically throughout the day
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:
Although every effort has been made to make this list as comprehensive as possible, the person filling this position may be expected to perform other related duties and activities.
To fulfill the responsibilities of the LightHouse Little Learners Early Childhood Program, the Program Director will:
Program Administration:
- Carry out essential elements of the program, in support of best practices for families of young children served by LightHouse Little Learners, and in support of the child’s optimal development and growth toward independence
- Work with their supervisor and CEO to develop and implement the LightHouse Little Learners program budget
- Provide supervision and direction for program staff, including Program Assistant and Early Childhood Blind and Low Vision Specialists, and implement the annual Performance Review process
- Provide mentoring and guidance and set goals for Regional Coordinators. These are Early Childhood Blind and Low Vision Specialists who are designated to provide leadership to direct Regional Coordinators to ensure optimal program efficiencies and utilization.
- Develop, schedule, and lead as well as set agenda for LLL Staff Meetings; participate in LightHouse Admin and All Staff Meetings
- Facilitate distribution of annual LLL Family Survey and data analysis for purpose of program evaluation, as well as report results to internal and external stakeholders, including families, LightHouse organization and vendor agencies
- Develop and implement LLL strategic goals and initiatives in keeping with LightHouse strategic plan and for the purpose of growing and enriching services for client families and their young children
- In collaboration with LightHouse departments, contribute to Human Resources functions, such as recruitment, hiring, and staff engagement
- Promote LightHouse Little Learners Program, as an element of child-find efforts in northern and central California communities
- Monitor and maintain program compliance with state and federal mandates, such as Mandated Report requirements and information privacy protection laws, such as HIPAA and FERPA
- Keep abreast of state and federal policy and legislation, and implement changes to the program, as appropriate or required
- Fulfill Grievance Procedure requirements whereby the Regional Center expects that the Lighthouse Little Learners Program has a grievance process in place. The LightHouse has a grievance policy established by the Rehabilitation Services team
Professional Development:
- Establish an effective, innovative professional development and mentoring program to meet the needs of LLL Staff. This will be accomplished by drawing on expertise in the fields of early childhood education for children who are blind or have low vision from specialists in infant and family mental health, higher education vision impairment and Orientation and Mobility teacher training programs, pediatric ophthalmologists, and neurologists, and subject matter experts with lived experience in blindness, among others
- Monitor and contribute to best practices in the field of early childhood blindness and low vision, while systematically integrating new and effective approaches within LightHouse Little Learners Program
- Collaborate with LightHouse departments to share information and resources, engage community members and develop exemplary multidisciplinary child and family services
Represent LightHouse Little Learners on Local, Regional, State and National Levels
- Schedule and participate in regular family education sessions for the purpose of sharing expertise and building community among staff and families
- Foster strong working relationships with community health and education partners to facilitate communication and family access to services and resources
- Maintain regular communication with vendor partners such as Regional Centers, Local Education Agencies (LEA) and County Health Organizations (MediCal Administrative Activities (MAA) to create robust referral sources and accurate billing procedures
- Contribute to planning and execution of family and community events
- Participate in local, regional, state, and national collaboratives focused on best practices in early childhood blind and low vision services, including International Preschool Seminar, APH Leadership Conference, Future Reflections, CTEBVI and Babies Count Registry of Early Childhood Visual Impairment
- Report any incidents/accidents according to LightHouse incident reporting procedures and protocols
WORKING CONDITIONS:
- Works in a well-lighted, ventilated home or headquarters office area
- Works at events including indoor and outdoor environments including occasional overnight stays at Enchanted Hills Camp
- Sitting, moving periodically during working hours
- Works and communicates with a variety of individuals: adults, children, volunteers, interns, etc.
- Attends and participates in professional development opportunities related to job responsibilities
- Attends all Lighthouse all-staff events and, with the permission of their supervisor, optional Lighthouse blindness learning events
- Travels to family homes and community sites by a variety of modes of transportation: private and public transportation, and is willing to implement personal safety precautions
LightHouse is an equal opportunity employer. The Lighthouse’s Equal Opportunity statement can be found here: https://lighthouse-sf.org/about/careers/
Compensation: Depending on Experience; “industry competitive”
HOW TO APPLY:
Please include a cover letter and résumé as Word attachments (no PDFs please), to hr@lighthouse-sf.org, including the job title in the subject line. We will not consider videos or hyperlinks to online profiles. Due to time constraints, we will only respond to complete submissions in which there is serious interest, thanks for your understanding.
