Child Development Associate Program Officer

Child Development Associate Program Officer

Salary

$95,000.00 Annually

Location

DSU Main Campus, 1200 N Dupont Highway, Dover

Job Type

Professional

Job Number

2026-00469

Division

CHESS

Department

CHESS - Early Childhood Innovation Center

Opening Date

09/15/2026

• Description
• Benefits
• Questions

General Description of the Position

The Early Childhood Innovation Center (ECIC) serves as Delaware's hub for strengthening the early childhood workforce by increasing access to credentials, higher education, and career pathways. The ECIC works collaboratively with the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE), institutions of higher education, school districts, early childhood programs, and community partners to build a highly qualified and sustainable early childhood workforce.

Reporting to the Executive Director and serving as a member of the ECIC Leadership Team, the Child Development Associate (CDA) Programs Officer provides active, day-to-day leadership for the ECIC's statewide CDA programs. The officer is accountable for consistent program implementation, coaching quality, cohort delivery, educator progress, credential completion, staff performance, partner coordination, and continuous improvement.

The CDA Programs Officer directly supervises the CDA Coordinator and CDA Coaches. The CDA Coordinator serves as the senior day-to-day implementation lead for the CDA team, coordinating routine coach activities, participant monitoring, implementation follow-through, and first-level program guidance. The officer works through and supports the coordinator while retaining responsibility for formal supervision, performance management, higher-level decisions, and overall program outcomes.

The position also leads programmatic partnerships with Delaware Teacher Academy Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, school districts, institutions of higher education, and other education and workforce partners to strengthen early childhood career pathways and expand the future educator pipeline.

Essential Functions & Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

1. CDA Program Leadership and Implementation

• Translate ECIC priorities, grant requirements, funder guidance, and approved program models into coordinated CDA implementation plans with clear assignments, timelines, deliverables, service standards, and performance measures.
• Direct the statewide implementation of CDA coaching, cohort models, portfolio preparation, credential-readiness supports, and related workforce initiatives, ensuring services are consistent, participant-centered, equitable, and aligned with approved guidance.
• Maintain a thorough understanding of educator participation, cohort activity, coach caseloads, participant progress, service timelines, credential milestones, unresolved barriers, staffing capacity, partner commitments, and required next steps through regular management information and recommendations provided by the CDA Coordinator and coaches.
• Make timely programmatic decisions, resolve implementation barriers, and become directly involved when delayed work, inconsistent service, an unresolved participant matter, a staffing concern, or a significant program risk requires officer-level action.
• Work through the CDA Coordinator to monitor whether coaches deliver prepared curricula, resources, and instructional materials with fidelity and use approved Practice-Based Coaching strategies appropriately; review findings together and provide direction when improvements or corrective action are needed.
• Coordinate with the Executive Director on program priorities, significant changes, escalated concerns, funder expectations, and matters requiring executive approval or cross-program alignment.

2. Staff Leadership, Supervision, and Accountability

• Directly supervise, coach, support, and evaluate the CDA Coordinator and 10 CDA Coaches and maintain responsibility for establishing performance expectations, completing evaluations, addressing performance concerns, making workload decisions, and ensuring overall program effectiveness.
• Recognize and utilize the CDA Coordinator as the senior day-to-day implementation lead for the CDA team, with delegated leadership responsibility for coordinating routine coach activity, cohort schedules, caseload assignments, participant monitoring, team communication, documentation follow-through, and initial problem-solving.
• Establish clear roles, workplans, caseload expectations, deadlines, decision-making authority, documentation standards, communication requirements, and performance measures for the CDA Coordinator and coaches, ensuring the coordinator has meaningful authority to organize and move routine work forward.
• Provide regular direction, coaching, feedback, professional learning, and support while requiring staff to take ownership, make appropriate decisions, bring forward solutions, and complete assigned work accurately and on time.
• Provide individual supervision to the CDA Coordinator and coaches and lead strategic, performance, and decision-focused team discussions, while assigning the CDA Coordinator to lead routine implementation meetings, case reviews, coach coordination, and follow-up.
• Ensure the CDA Coordinator conducts routine calibration activities, reviews coach records and caseloads, monitors participant communication and work products, and provides initial implementation feedback; conduct periodic or targeted observations and reviews to validate quality, coach staff, and address concerns requiring supervisory authority.
• Monitor staffing and workload capacity and establish coverage, redistribute assignments, cross-train staff, or provide direct assistance when vacancies, absences, enrollment volume, or major deadlines threaten service delivery.
• Foster a collaborative, accountable, solutions-focused culture that supports professional growth, shared learning, innovation, accuracy, responsiveness, and continuous improvement.

3. Coaching Quality, Cohort Fidelity, and Participant Progress

• Partner with and provide direction to the CDA Coordinator in developing and maintaining coaching protocols, cohort facilitation standards, routine quality-assurance practices, implementation guidance, and monitoring tools; review and approve significant standards and ensure they produce consistent educator experiences across coaches, cohorts, and locations.
• Provide oversight and support to the CDA Coordinator in monitoring educator engagement, attendance, portfolio progress, required documentation, credential-readiness milestones, assessment preparation, completion, withdrawals, and unresolved barriers, and ensure coaches complete timely participant follow-up.
• Review management summaries and recommendations developed by the CDA Coordinator using observations, participant feedback, case reviews, coach documentation, program data, and credential outcomes; identify systemic concerns and direct improvement or corrective-action strategies.
• Ensure participant concerns and exceptions are addressed consistently at the appropriate staff level, provide guidance on complex or escalated cases, and elevate high-risk or organization-level matters to the Executive Director when necessary.
• Ensure CDA services are accessible and responsive to educators across Delaware and that program practices support populations historically excluded from credential and career-advancement opportunities.

4. Teacher Academy CTE and Career-Pathway Partnerships

• Develop and maintain active partnerships with Delaware Teacher Academy CTE programs, school districts, institutions of higher education, apprenticeship partners, employers, and workforce organizations to strengthen the early childhood educator pipeline.
• Work with partners to expand awareness of early childhood careers and create clear transitions from secondary education into CDA programs, postsecondary education, apprenticeships, and employment.
• Direct and coordinate programmatic outreach, presentations, career-exploration activities, and collaborative initiatives that increase student interest and participation while assigning appropriate preparation and follow-up responsibilities to staff.
• Identify opportunities to align Teacher Academy CTE programming and educator-preparation pathways with ECIC initiatives, credential requirements, credit-for-prior-learning opportunities, and statewide workforce priorities.
• Document partner commitments, communicate decisions and next steps, monitor follow-through, and elevate systemic or high-risk barriers requiring executive involvement.

5. Program Guidance and Cross-Functional Coordination

• Set expectations and provide final programmatic review for CDA guidance, participant-facing procedures, coaching protocols, cohort standards, escalation practices, and implementation tools, while assigning the CDA Coordinator and appropriate staff to develop, maintain, implement, and recommend improvements to these materials.
• Ensure program guidance and implementation align with DDOE priorities, approved program models, grant requirements, funding expectations, credentialing standards, and ECIC commitments.
• Collaborate with the Operations Officer before implementing changes that affect budgets, staffing actions, contracts, purchasing, payments, applications, technology, data systems, records management, administrative workflows, or University requirements. The Operations Officer retains ownership of organization-wide operational policies, procedures, systems, and related administrative processes.
• Ensure the CDA team provides complete, accurate, and timely programmatic information and documentation needed by Operations for fiscal administration, personnel actions, agreements, purchasing, reporting, and other required processes.
• Review the programmatic portions of agreements, scopes of work, reports, and related documents while Operations manages associated fiscal, contractual, administrative, and University processes.

6. Data, Reporting, Compliance, and Continuous Improvement

• Define the program measures and management information needed to oversee participation, caseloads, service delivery, educator progress, coaching quality, cohort fidelity, credential completion, partner performance, and participant outcomes.
• Establish expectations for the CDA Coordinator's routine monitoring of dashboards, participant records, coach documentation, reports, and source information, and work with the coordinator to identify and address trends, inequities, service gaps, workload concerns, implementation risks, performance issues, and recommended actions.
• Review, strengthen, and approve programmatic updates, reports, recommendations, presentations, and corrective-action plans prepared by the CDA Coordinator or other assigned staff, and personally prepare or contribute to items requiring officer-level analysis or communication.
• Ensure the CDA Coordinator and coaches maintain complete, accurate, consistent, confidential, and monitoring-ready program records and participant information, and coordinate organization-wide data-system or records-process needs with Operations.
• Lead continuous-improvement efforts by testing changes, monitoring results, sharing findings, and ensuring improvements are consistently adopted by the CDA team.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

The candidate must possess the following knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodations:

• Strong knowledge of Delaware's early childhood education system, workforce-development initiatives, educator-preparation pathways, and the needs of the early childhood workforce.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the CDA credentialing process, adult-learning principles, coaching and mentoring practices, Practice-Based Coaching, portfolio development, credential readiness, and participant support.
• Knowledge of Delaware Teacher Academy CTE programs, educator career pathways, apprenticeships, postsecondary options, and credit-for-prior-learning opportunities.
• Demonstrated ability to supervise professional staff, establish clear expectations, delegate effectively, coach and develop employees, evaluate performance, address concerns, support staff ownership, and ensure responsibilities and expected results are achieved.
• Knowledge of instructional quality, curriculum implementation, facilitation techniques, coaching calibration, quality assurance, and continuous quality-improvement practices.
• Ability to lead a statewide program and move complex priorities from planning through implementation, monitoring, correction, and completion.
• Ability to ensure consistent implementation across multiple coaches, cohorts, service models, and locations while responding appropriately to participant and regional needs.
• Experience developing program guidance, implementation plans, coaching protocols, participant-facing procedures, quality standards, monitoring tools, and performance measures.
• Ability to analyze program and participant data, identify risks and trends, evaluate effectiveness, and make timely evidence-informed decisions.
• Strong project-management, organizational, strategic-planning, problem-solving, and follow-through skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
• Ability to build and maintain collaborative partnerships across education, government, higher education, workforce, and community organizations.
• Excellent written, verbal, facilitation, presentation, meeting-leadership, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Demonstrated commitment to equity, inclusion, culturally responsive practice, and service to diverse populations and communities historically excluded from pathways to advancement.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, project-management platforms, virtual meeting tools, learning-management systems, and program data systems.

Qualification Standards

Education: master's degree in early childhood education, educational leadership, curriculum and instruction, adult education, workforce development, or a closely related field is preferred.

Experience: minimum of five years of progressively responsible professional experience in early childhood education (birth through Pre-K), including teaching, program leadership, workforce development, educator preparation, adult learning, coaching, or a combination of these areas is preferred.

A minimum of three years of experience directly supervising professional employees in early childhood education, education, workforce development, or a closely related setting is preferred.

EEO Statement

Delaware State University is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The University does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, religion, age, national origin, color, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship or disability, veteran or military status, gender identity or genetic information. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. The University is committed to the policy of equal employment opportunity in recruitment, hiring, career advancement, and all other employment practices.

Equal opportunity employer/program and "auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.

We offer a complete benefits package to full-time employees including health care, dental, vision, retirement, deferred compensation plans, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, long-term disability, holidays, vacation, and sick leave.

To learn more details, visit the Delaware State University Benefits Page and the State of Delaware benefits page.

01

Do you have at least five years of progressively responsible professional experience in early childhood education, including teaching, program leadership, workforce development, educator preparation, adult learning, coaching, or a combination of these areas?

• Yes
• No

02

Do you have at least three years of experience directly supervising professional employees in early childhood education, education, workforce development, or a closely related setting?

• Yes
• No

03

Do you have experience implementing multi-site or statewide programs, managing complex projects and deliverables, monitoring program quality, and using data to support continuous improvement?

• Yes
• No

Required Question

Employer Delaware State University

Address 1200 N. Dupont HWY

Dover, Delaware, 19901

Phone (302) 857-6261

Website https://www.desu.edu/about/administration/human-resources