Early Childhood Education Specialist

Job Overview:

The Early Childhood Education Specialist is responsible for providing educational programming for infants, toddlers, and children under the age of 5 as well as ensuring their welfare and safety. Parents of engaged children will be active in integrated English language instruction for English language learners and/or receiving resettlement and economic empowerment services from on-site IRC programs. This role will assist in preparing newly arrived families with children with the knowledge they will need to be successful upon entering the public school system. The Early Childhood Education Specialist will provide supportive behaviors with children in the program and work to promote child development best-practices with parents. The program expects that both adult and child participants will have basic to intermediate English language proficiency and communicating through Interpreters will be required for certain activities.

This position will be starting at part-time, 18.75 hours per week, with the possibility of increased hours in the future, and will report to the Adult Education Instruction & Curriculum Coordinator. While some activities for this position will include online meetings and virtual or hybrid sessions, this role will be primarily in-person, at the IRC Atlanta main office, with early childhood programming offered mornings, Monday through Friday.

Major Responsibilities:

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Oversee child-watch activities
  • Care for and actively engage with infants, toddlers, and children participating in the program.
  • Plan and deliver age-appropriate activities and lessons.
  • Work with parents to develop at-home positive early childhood education practices.
  • Maintain a safe and sanitary environment for children, including daily set-up and clean-up activities
  • Utilize and delegate tasks to community volunteers as childcare assistants.
• Facilitate SafeCare coaching sessions and programming to participating families
  • Plan and prepare sessions for parents and children around quality parenting practices.
  • Communicate with families and schedule weekly sessions.
  • Coordinate with interpretation and program partners as needed.
• Assist with record-keeping and data collection to support program administration and compliance with programmatic requirements. Ensure documentation of all participants (children and parents) through program activities.
• Maintain a positive learning environment. Facilitate student learning activities that build cultural and community knowledge and encourage collaboration and positive peer support.
• Maintain open and effective communication with adult education team members. Report regularly on program goals, client attendance, learning activities, student progress and any problems or concerns with clients or program.
• Actively participate in regularly scheduled staff meetings and professional development opportunities.

Job Requirements:

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• Completion of a certificate as a Child Development Associate or in early childhood education or a related certificate is required.
• Certified in CPR / First Aid is desired.

Work Experience:

• Prior childcare experience or experience in early childhood education required.
• Relevant professional experience in education and/or human services strongly preferred.
• Experience working with immigrants or refugees preferred.

Demonstrated Skills & Competencies:

• Strong desire to support vulnerable individuals and families and enthusiasm for working in a multi-cultural setting.
• Enthusiasm for early childhood education and language learning, with children and their families.
• An understanding of the principles of early childhood development and an ability to adapt to meet the needs of immigrant and refugee families.
• An interest in immigrant and refugee and asylee issues and the resettlement process.
• Strong communication abilities, including the ability to lead groups of students and oversee community volunteers.
• Comfortable working in a cross-cultural environment and with adult and child language learners, sometimes with little or no English proficiency.
• Ability to take initiative, work independently on projects, and follow through on critical tasks.
• Ability to work in a collaborative environment, sometimes co-teaching and sometimes facilitating learning through interpretation.
• Strong time-management skills and comfortability with computer and web-based communication platforms.
• Fluent in English, both spoken and written; proficiency in language(s) spoken by client group is desired.

Working Environment:

• An office workspace with integrated adult classrooms and childcare spaces.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement: In accordance with IRC’s duty to provide and maintain a workplace that is free of known hazards and our commitment to safeguard the health of our employees, clients, and communities, IRC requires new hires to furnish proof of vaccination against COVID-19 in order to be considered for any in-office or hybrid positions. All IRC US offices require full vaccination to attend any in-office functions (e.g., meetings, trainings).

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusivity: IRC is committed to building a diverse organization and a climate of inclusivity. We strongly encourage applications from candidates who can demonstrate that they can contribute to this goal.

Equal Opportunity Employer: We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

US Benefits: We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days depending on role and tenure, medical insurance starting at $120 per month, dental starting at $7 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with immediately vested matching, disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.