Early Childhood Program Manager

The Organization

Arlington Thrive, founded in 1975 as a volunteer initiative, has grown into a cornerstone of Arlington County’s social safety net. Our mission is to provide integrated support to neighbors in need so they can build the capacity to be stable, secure, and thrive in their community. For over 50 years, we have responded to crises with compassion and agility while creating pathways to long-term stability. What began as a modest effort distributing emergency funds has evolved into an equity-centered organization recognized for innovation and impact. Today, we prevent homelessness, preserve stability, and foster resilience by offering rapid emergency financial assistance and supportive services—such as affordable childcare access—to more than 1,000 households annually, touching over 50,000 families since our founding.

Early Childhood Program

Established in 2022, Arlington Thrive’s Early Childhood Program tackles the persistent barrier of affordable childcare—a challenge that prevents many families from achieving economic stability. In response, we help families navigate complex subsidy systems and provide gap funding to ensure access to high-quality care. The program also strengthens the local childcare workforce through a Child Development Associate (CDA) credentialing cohort, enabling providers to enhance their skills and increase earning potential. Last fiscal year, we supported 25 childcare professionals in earning their CDA. As of June 2025, 43% of Arlington children receiving Virginia’s state childcare subsidy were placed through Arlington Thrive, totaling 167 children in quality care settings. Additionally, we distributed over 160 Wee Thrive baby boxes—packed with essential health and wellness items—and delivered critical parenting education to 80 families on topics including safe sleep, car seat safety, and infant nutrition.

Position Overview

The Early Childhood Program Manager leads Arlington Thrive’s Early Childhood Program, a growing portfolio designed to support families with young children and strengthen the early childhood workforce. Program areas include: Affordable Childcare, Baby Box Program,

Educational Workshops, and the Child Development Associate Workforce Program.

This role combines direct service, partnership development, and program leadership. While not a formal supervisor, the Program Manager provides supervision of the Project Coordinator and Early Childhood Intern when those staff are working on Early Childhood Program tasks. This position is supervised by the Director of Programs.

This is an excellent opportunity for a people-centered professional who wants to shape programs, build partnerships, and make a tangible difference for families.

Key Responsibilities

Connecting Families to Childcare Resources

• Refers client families to childcare resources in Arlington, both center-based and home-based.
• Maintains knowledge of different childcare providers in Arlington and their respective eligibility, fee and documentation requirements.
• Assists clients at designated childcare providers to complete intake paperwork and documents to confirm eligibility for the childcare subsidy.
• Assesses other client needs and refers clients to appropriate agencies for any needed services to promote family stability.
• Conducts consistent follow-up with clients to ensure that the requested assistance is provided.
• Documents all interactions with and on behalf of clients, and uploads supporting documentation in database and in SharePoint as requested.

Coordination with Childcare Providers

• Works with Thrive leadership to identify childcare centers and home-based child care providers who do not currently accept the childcare subsidy and advocate to cover fees beyond what the subsidy covers such as family copays or special fees assessed to clients during the year.
• Meets with the designated providers to identify their barriers to accepting the childcare subsidy and create solutions, including assisting families in completing subsidy paperwork to receive and maintain the childcare subsidy payments, and offering payment of fees beyond what the childcare subsidy will cover.
• Stays in regular communication with the designated childcare providers to confirm child enrollment and attendance and to problem-solve any issues that arise with the childcare subsidy.
• Coordinates the payment of childcare fees for children placed at partner centers.
• Coordinates provision of health and safety supplies for low-income children in need as requested.
• Coordinates enrollment and payment for enrichment activities for children at partner centers.

Baby Box Program

• In consultation with supervisor, plans and coordinates distribution of Baby Boxes (boxes of infant supplies including bottles, pacifiers, bibs, teethers, clothing, lotion, etc.)
• Orders supplies and bins for Baby Boxes.
• With staff or interns, stuffs Baby Boxes with appropriate supplies.
• Participates with volunteer groups for box stuffing events.

Educational Workshops

• As funding allows coordinates workshops on infant nutrition, car seat safety and safe sleep with free or low-cost training providers.
• With staff, identifies free or low-cost locations for the workshops.
• With staff, registers participants for workshops
• Facilitates providing feeding supplies, car seats or portable cribs as appropriate to workshop participants.

Child Development Associate Workforce Program

• Identify and negotiate hiring of contractor to provide Child Development Associate training to 20 individuals in a cohort once or twice a year, depending on funding and staff capacity.
• With staff, handle registration for courses, develop program expectations for participants, and provision of laptops to participants.
• Monitor contractor’s implementation of the training curriculum and track attendance.
• Coordinate payment of participant training completion stipends and certificates of completion.
• With Thrive team, plan and coordinate graduation for each cohort.

Data Management

• Collects data to measure project outcomes in Apricot database and Monday.com project boards.
• Enters data in database and Monday.com and generates regular project reports.

Community Engagement

• Assists in sharing and publicizing the results of the project with community partners.
• Attends early childhood-related meetings in Arlington as appropriate and as requested.

Required Experience/Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in early childhood, education or human services
• 3+ years working in the human services or education field
• Knowledge of childcare needs and solutions for lower-income families
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills
• Possesses situational awareness, problem solving skills, empathy, and emotional resilience
• Strong motivation and the ability to work independently or on a team as necessary
• Ability to interact with a diverse population of clients in terms of age, economic status, and cultural background
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint)
• Experience using a database (Ex: Apricot)

Compensation:

Salary range: $60,000-$65,000

Comprehensive and Competitive benefits package includes:

• Health, dental and vision insurance, short term disability and life insurance
• Generous paid time off ( vacation, sick leave and holidays)
• 403b Retirement plan

Arlington Thrive is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, pregnancy, childbirth, physical disability, mental disability, age, military status, protected veteran status, marital status, registered domestic partner or civil union status, gender (including sex stereotyping and gender identity or expression), medical condition (including, but not limited to, cancer related or HIV/AIDS related), genetic information, or sexual orientation in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws.

• Health, dental and vision insurance, short term disability and life insurance
• Generous paid time off ( vacation, sick leave and holidays)
• 403b Retirement plan

English Speaking (native or fully fluent)