Department Manager

Position: Department Manager; Family Access

Reports To: Director of Family Access

Hiring Salary Range: $70,000.00-$80,278.00

FLSA Status: Non-Exempt/Exempt

AGENCY SUMMARY:

BrightSpark Early Learning Services has been at the forefront of the early learning landscape for over 30 years, ensuring that all children have equitable access to safe, engaging, and positive early learning experiences that promote school readiness and lifetime success. With a staff of over 140 and a budget of $50 million (99% publicly funded), BrightSpark Early Learning Services offers a comprehensive range of services for families and childcare providers, enabling them to support the development and well-being of our children in turn.

• 
  This position does require travel in King and Pierce Counties.
• This position includes occasional work commitments in the evenings and weekends.
• This is a grant-funded position.

OPPORTUNITY:

BrightSpark Early Learning Services is seeking a strategic and compassionate leader to serve as the Department Manager, overseeing our Subsidy Programs and the Child Care Aware of Washington (CCA of WA) Family Center. This vital role is responsible for supervising the program leads of both teams and ensuring the delivery of high-quality, equitable services to families.

Reporting to the Director of Early Learning, the Department Manager will provide day-to-day leadership, drive operational excellence, and support program alignment and innovation. This position plays a key role in advancing BrightSpark’s mission to nurture child-centered, antiracist early learning communities, with a strong focus on expanding access to childcare for families experiencing economic hardship or instability.

The ideal candidate is a skilled people leader and systems thinker who thrives in collaborative environments and is deeply committed to racial and social equity. They bring a blend of strategic oversight and hands-on support, with the ability to guide teams through change, uphold accountability, and foster a culture of growth and learning.

Responsibilities:

Specific responsibilities of the Department Manager, Family Access role include, but may not be limited to:

• Directly supervise and support the leads of the Subsidy Programs and the CCA of WA Family Center, providing coaching, feedback, and performance management.
• Foster a collaborative team culture grounded in BrightSpark’s mission, racial equity values, and trauma-informed practices.
• Serve as a strategic thought partner to the Director of Early Learning and cross-functional peers.
• Ensure program compliance with local, county, and state funding requirements, contracts, and performance metrics.
• Monitor and analyze program data to drive continuous improvement, service accessibility, and operational efficiency.
• Oversee and manage the budgets for the Subsidy Programs and the Child Care Aware of Washington Family Center, ensuring resources are aligned with program goals and contractual requirements.
• Monitor monthly expenditures, track budget performance, and prepare regular budget status reports for the Director of Early Learning.
• Partner with the program Director to develop annual budgets, forecast spending, and identify opportunities for cost efficiencies and reallocation to support evolving program needs.
• Ensure compliance with funding regulations, including allowable costs and documentation standards, and collaborate with Finance to address variances or adjustments.
• Support grant and contract proposals by providing budget input, historical data, and projections to inform funding decisions. Identify trends, challenges, and solutions across programs to support families more effectively.
• Lead cross-program alignment and integration efforts to streamline family access to services.
• Participate in strategic planning and contribute to agency-wide initiatives related to early learning, family support, and systems navigation.
• Develop and implement internal workflows, standard operating procedures, and quality assurance systems.
• Support lead staff with onboarding, training, and ongoing professional development for their respective teams.
• Create a supportive and accountable team environment with strong communication and staff engagement.
• Represent BrightSpark with funders, partner agencies, and community stakeholders, particularly in coalitions and workgroups addressing family economic stability and early learning access.
• Support community engagement and outreach strategies to ensure services reach historically underserved populations.
• Lead contract reporting and documentation processes in collaboration with leads and the compliance team.
• Ensure accurate and timely submission of required reports to funders and agency leadership.
• Embed racial equity into team supervision, service delivery, and program design.
• Help identify and address systemic barriers to child care access for families experiencing homelessness,
• Other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS:

• A combination of experience, education, and/or professional development in delivering adequate support for families with community-based partners, stakeholders, and customers.
• Experience with outcomes-based direct services and data-informed decisions.
• Experience using and evaluating resource or benefits databases for clients, navigating complex systems to find information for families, and/or connecting families with childcare options.
• Ability to identify and learn current platforms and applications that families use to stay connected to issues that are important to them.
• Strong proficiency with the Microsoft Office suite and with database searches such as Salesforce; ability to use technology to research family resources; and comfortable learning new platforms, software, and apps.
• Strong group facilitation skills, both in person and virtually.
• Demonstrated ability to build effective collaborative working relationships with stakeholders and external partner organizations.
• Ability to work with people of all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

• Expertise in child development, early childhood mental health, trauma-informed practices, and/or family case management.
• Excellent supervisory skills that focus on reflective practice, racial equity, and building a culture of continuous improvement.
• Management of complex public and private grants and contracts, including outcomes, deliverables, reporting, and compliance.
• Ability to create and track budgets and revenue sources, and exercise reliable judgment about spending decisions.
• Experience with data management, including collecting, managing, and analyzing data, and putting together reports.
• Ability to utilize qualitative and quantitative data and analysis, using tools and perspectives rooted in equity, to develop program goals and outcomes.
• Demonstrated experience in building trust with individuals from a variety of diverse backgrounds and income levels.
• Excellent agenda-building and facilitation skills that skillfully bring forth and navigate differing perspectives and find common ground with which to move forward.
• Deep understanding of structural and institutional racism and experience keeping equity at the fore in decision-making.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to communicate clearly and kindly with internal and external stakeholders, whether in person, in writing, over the phone, or virtually.
• Proven ability to develop collaborative relationships and partnerships with a focus on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color-led organizations and communities.
• Experience and confidence working with a variety of software, such as the full MS Office suite (including strong Excel skills), OneDrive, SharePoint, Salesforce, CaseWorthy, and MS Teams. Skill utilizing databases as a user (report pulling, etc.) is strongly preferred.
• Proven ability to provide leadership within a team environment.
• View work with a sense of possibility, see challenges as opportunities for creative problem-solving, and work to find innovative solutions.
• Ability to work independently, exercise sound judgment, and assume responsibility for the completion of tasks.
• Flexibility to work occasional evening and weekend hours; Valid Washington driver’s license, insurance, and a reliable vehicle at their disposal.

Competencies:

• Core Competencies -
  • Mission-driven: Demonstrates commitment to the mission and values of the organization.
  • Equity mindset: Demonstrates the values of anti-racism; fosters an inclusive environment that facilitates diversity.
  • Communication: Uses skillful written and oral communication with internal staff, teams, and community served; demonstrates empathy and listening.
  • Adaptability: Adapts and responds to change; proactively seeks opportunities to be supportive of change that serves our mission
  • Ownership and quality of work: Manages own work and work of teams when relevant, ensuring delivery of successful outcomes.
• Leadership Competencies -
  • Decision-making: Structures and facilitates decision-making processes; makes decisions responsibly to improve organizational health and impact; gathers and weighs all sorts of data (qualitative, quantitative, historical, etc.)
  • Supports the development and motivation of others: Actively supports the development and motivation of others to maximize individual, team, and agency impact.
  • Continuous-improvement mindset: Identifies strategies to improve the organization’s impact; sets the course and drives implementation.

COMPENSATION:

• Hiring Salary Range: $70,000.00-$80,278.00
• FLSA Status: Non-Exempt/Exempt
• This is a full-time salaried position requiring work during BrightSpark Early Learning Services Business hours, Monday through Friday from 8:30 am-5 pm, and requires a willingness to work some evenings and weekends.

BrightSpark will determine the specific salary for the successful candidate based on factors, including but not limited to budget availability, prior experience, skills, and education as they relate to the position’s qualifications and internal racial equity. The posted salary range reflects just one component of our total compensation package.

Other components of the total compensation package may include participation in group life, health, and dental insurance, retirement plan, wellness program(s), paid time off, and paid holidays.

BENEFITS:

BrightSpark Early Learning Services’ benefits package includes employer-paid top-tier medical, dental, and vision insurance plans for employees, 21 days of PTO per year in addition to 11 paid holidays, 3 paid floating holidays, birthday holiday, and one week-long office closure at year-end, Refresh Fridays in July (BrightSpark Early Learning Services Closure Days), flexible work environment, employer-paid life insurance, short-term disability/illness leave accrual, and 401k with 3% employer match.

WORK LOCATION:

• This position is a Hybrid
• Employees of BrightSpark Early Learning Services in all types of work positions (hybrid, Community, etc.) must attend training, meetings, events, or other work commitments at various BrightSpark Early Learning Services office locations or off-site locations in Washington State, including New Employee Orientation in Kent, Washington.

EQUAL EQUITY EMPLOYER:

BrightSpark Early Learning Services is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity among its staff. We strongly encourage people of color, immigrants and refugees, people from the LGBTQ community, people with disabilities, and people from other historically marginalized groups to apply.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & QUESTIONS

• To learn more about BrightSpark Early Learning Services, please visit BrightSpark.org
• BrightSpark Early Learning Services is a grant-funded nonprofit organization. This position, along with all others, is contingent upon grant funding being in place and may end upon the expiration of the funding.