Director of Early Childhood Policy

Children’s Action Alliance is in search of a dynamic and civically active individual to join our team, with responsibilities including:

• Leading the early childhood aspects of CAA’s legislative agenda, focusing on critical issues such as child care, family supports for young children and early childhood education.
• Managing and providing staffing for the Arizona Early Childhood Alliance, a coalition comprising 55 statewide organizations that advocate for unified public policy on early childhood issues in Arizona.
• Advocating for policies and administrative changes directly with state and local elected officials, their staff, agency personnel, in collaboration with local and national stakeholders and funders, to enhance access to quality child care and early childhood opportunities.

The ideal candidate will possess a passion for this work and demonstrate direct experience and knowledge with:

• The state legislative process and engaging in state agency level advocacy, including rule-making, internal policy, and procedure development.
• The existing Arizona early childhood system, its gaps, programs, and services for young children and their families, as well as knowledge of local, state, and federal funding streams and oversight mechanisms for early childhood systems.
• Current research on early childhood growth and development.
• Proficiency in coalition management.

About Children’s Action Alliance:

Children's Action Alliance (CAA) a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, strives to create an Arizona where

all children and families thrive.  CAA advocates for the well-being of more than 1.6 million Arizona children and their families at the state capitol and in the community.  Since 1988, CAA works with elected officials, community partners, and coalitions to protect Arizona’s ability to meet the education, health care, and human services needs of vulnerable children and families. For more information visit azchildren.org and follow CAA on Twitter and Facebook.

Potential policy areas that this position may address include:

• Supports for families with infants and toddlers.  
• Early childhood growth and development, adverse childhood experiences and early intervention services.  
• Health care access and services for young children and their families.
• Quality, access and affordability of child care and preschool.
• Full day kindergarten, and kindergarten development assessments.
• Transition to kindergarten and early grade learning.
• Early literacy development and third grade reading comprehension.

Responsibilities:

• Analyze state legislation; consider and propose recommendations; track bills, committees, and other legislative activity during the legislative session.    
• Develop and implement strategic recommendations for community-level and state-wide action steps to improve access to, and quality of, Early Childhood services.
• Increase public awareness of children’s issues through the media, public events, publications, and issue campaigns.
• Manage and maintain the daily operations of a diverse statewide Alliance of early childhood system partners working together to provide a unified voice at the state legislature providing informed messages and credible resources that help policy makers create positive change for our children.
• Conduct data and policy research on early childhood growth and development for children ages 0-8 including but not limited to: brain development, early intervention, high quality early childhood programs and experiences, early literacy, children’s health, and support for families with young children to create fact sheets, policy briefs, communications materials, and presentations.
• Identify and secure additional grant funding for Early Childhood systems advocacy and projects; manage relationships with funders, oversee grant budgets, reports, and other grant administrative functions. 
• Network with national colleagues and experts to stay current on research and emerging issues in policy and practice around the country.
• Provide leadership and collaborations with the Early Childhood Community in the state; develop working relationships with Early Childhood state and community leaders.

 The right candidate will have a bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent related work experience and five years of relevant experience, in addition to:

• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) and the ability to communicate data findings and issues to external audiences.  
• Ability to translate data findings and research into specific policy recommendations.     
• Experience working in coalitions and the ability to work in a team environment with diverse allies. 
• Strategic thinking and flexible and collaborative workstyle, with a focus on authentic community engagement.     
• Ability to balance the needs of partners, diverse stakeholders, and communities.
• Experience analyzing data.  
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite applications.  
• Bilingual speakers preferred.
• Experience building diverse and effective alliances and coalitions, particularly with staff and leaders from grassroots community organizations.
• Experience working on regional or state-level advocacy campaigns, electoral campaigns, or running coalition efforts. 
• Knowledge of the federal legislative process is desirable.

Compensation:

The starting salary range is $75,000 to $85,000 (salary adjustment may be applied based on experience and qualifications). Major medical and dental insurance, life insurance, tuition reimbursement, matching retirement contribution. Competitive leave policies for vacation, sick leave, personal leave, and earned sabbatical.

Location:

CAA operates a hybrid (office and home) working system and provides employees with the resources to work effectively from the CAA office in Phoenix or remote locations with the expectation to work in the office two days per week. For that reason, we are looking for a candidate who resides in the metro Phoenix area.

To Apply:

Only candidates who send cover letter, resume, and salary requirements to hr@azchildren.org will be considered.  Additionally, please indicate the platform/site you found the posting.

Children’s Action Alliance and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, sex, ancestry, citizenship status, mental or physical disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, veteran status, or military status. CAA strongly encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including people of color, LGBTQ identified people, gender-nonconforming people, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and people who speak a language in addition to English. CAA will always make hiring decisions based on merit and qualifications of the applicants and the needs of the organization.

Generous medical, dental, and vision insurance, life insurance, employee assistance program, tuition reimbursement, and matching retirement contribution. Competitive leave policies for vacation, sick leave, personal leave and earned sabbatical.