| | As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem solving skills and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.
UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty. All of which has allowed the UW to be nationally recognized as a “Great College to Work For” for six consecutive years.
The University of Washington (UW) is proud to be one of the nation’s premier educational and research institutions. Our people are the most important asset in our pursuit of achieving excellence in education, research, and community service. Our staff not only enjoy outstanding benefits and professional growth opportunities, but also an environment noted for diversity, community involvement, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits, and natural beauty.
Cultivate Learning fosters the quality that makes access to learning meaningful. Backed by the University of Washington, our research-powered innovations and hands-on partnerships create a fertile environment for smarter teaching and learning. We advance opportunity by lowering barriers to entering the profession and guiding educators to success. And we identify the building blocks of quality along with the path to use them – in Washington State and across the country. Every child deserves to flourish from a foundation of quality learning. This core belief drives our work to provide talented learning professionals the support they need to build that foundation. At Cultivate Learning, we translate insight into learning opportunity.
At Cultivate Learning, we are champions of service and align with partners and initiatives that foster positive outcomes for children, families, and educators. We commit to equity by working to remove systemic oppression and institutional racism, so each community member can reach their full potential. We build environments of belonging and diversity where we communicate openly, support each other, and value the contributions of all identities. We practice innovation and quality by actively seeking creative ideas from multiple perspectives to evolve and inform the resources we develop.
Cultivate Learning has an outstanding opportunity for a Professional Development Project Manager. Reporting to the Director of Professional Learning and Coaching, the Professional Development Project Manager serves as a key link between Early Achievers Technical Assistance Specialists/Coaches, and the Cultivate Learning Professional Learning & Coaching team; ensuring a shared understanding of projects to support professional development in Washington including the Early Achievers standard areas and essential teaching practices. This position will be responsible for delivering instruction, trainings, and will also be a super user for our Coaching Companion tool which will aide in facilitating trainings associated with this platform. This position will be key in developing high quality and relevant professional development materials and tools, will be a part of the strategic planning process to ensure that statewide systems usage and trainings are well organized and on target, and will also serve as a technical assistant for statewide infrastructure support.
Additionally, this role will manage deadlines and ensure that grant deliverables are completed on time and in accordance with those outlined by the Senior Director of Cultivate Learning, and the Department of Children, Youth and Families. The Project Manager will collaborate closely with Cultivate Learning content developers and oversee all aspects of projects including: create project plans and timelines, track milestones and set deadlines, assign responsibilities and monitor and summarize progress of project, prepare reports on project status, manage stakeholder review processes and respond to needs of the multiple units (e,g, content, media, research, etc.) that are working on the professional development projects.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
In support of this effort, the Professional Development Project Manager duties will include, but are not limited to, the following:
Coaching Companion Training and Material Development:
•Deliver regular instruction and training in the use of Coaching Companion to support professional development and virtual data collection in Early Achievers.
•Develop train the trainer models for delivery of instruction and training.
•In partnership with Coaching Companion team, curate and deliver Coaching Companion materials and tools for professional development activities.
•In partnership with Coaching Companion team, facilitate strategic planning for system wide technical training and dissemination of Coaching Companion professional development materials throughout Washington and with other partner states.
•Maintain familiarity on research assessments/scales as assigned in order to facilitate high quality coaching support, trainings, and material development based on former and current assessment practices in Early Achievers. Develop and implement various professional development products for Coaching Companion aligned with the Coaching Competencies, professional development trainings, materials, and webinars related to specialized content areas in Early Achievers. Responsibilities include serving as a regional leader while representing Cultivate Learning in local professional development oversight and implementation, promoting and supporting the use of the Coaching Companion, coordinating support to coaches in partnership with Child Care Aware (CCA) of WA, Department of Children, Youth and Families and cross-sector partners.
•Work with Coaching Companion team to become a super-user and able to provide technical assistance to stakeholders and key partners on the use of Coaching Companion to support Early Achievers.
•Support coordination between partners on building technical assistance infrastructure across Washington to support providers with Coaching Companion use.
•Coordinate with partnering external agencies (Child Care Aware of Washington, Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program) and the Director of Professional Development and Coaching and Coach Support Team Lead to create an annual schedule for trainings and professional development, and oversee all associated projects through to completion.
•Develop, in partnership with the Director of Professional Learning and Coaching, a system of tracking state approved trainer status, MERIT trainings for Cultivate Learning and using data to plan for future training needs, while also providing regular high-level reporting as requested. Oversee, participate in the design, and develop large scale trainings for Coaching Companion, and support the development of communities of practice(s) among Early Achievers coaches and providers.
•Coordinate with partner agencies to project future training needs for Early Achievers coaches, TAS, and other related staff. Support facilitation of trainings and assist in supporting set-up and scheduling of training events.
•Provide support and coordination for Early Achievers Institutes including coordination of content related presentations.
•Develop tools and training materials (i.e. FAQ's, Tip Sheets, Scoring Forms, specific video exemplars) to enhance training and reliability efforts.
•Demonstrate understanding of the rationale behind QRIS standards and local and state requirements for early care and education programs serving young children, including HS/ECEAP performance standards and WAC.
•Develop and implement of gathering frequently asked questions and answers and sharing with the Early Achievers field through webinars, direct trainings, and online formats.
•Other duties as assigned.
Project Management & Tracking:
•Work hands-on as a project manager, co-owning various projects with Professional Learning and Coaching team, to define project scope by articulating stakeholders’ needs, formulating strategies, and developing proposals, including timelines and deliverables, and seeing through the successful delivery of Professional Learning and Coaching team projects.
•Work with project leads to launch project kick-off meetings and develop timelines
•Oversee the creation and implementation of transparent project timelines, deliverables, roles and responsibilities with proven tracking systems, and ensure that all projects are delivered on-time, within scope and budget.
•Coordinate with other units to ensure all aspects of each project are accounted, develop realistic and achievable project plans, and review/acquire plan approval from the project team. Develop the work structure and responsibility matrix based on an analysis of project processes and quality management requirements, assign projects appropriately.
•Track project requirements and ensure requirements are clear to prevent confusion or scope creep.
•Establish version control guidelines.
•Support production processes including copyediting, media, design, and translation. Ensure that projects have been copyedited, meet branding and accessibility standards.
•Manage changes to the project scope, project schedule and project costs using appropriate verification techniques. Communicate regularly with stakeholders, project leads and leadership teams about project status and foreseeable issues.
•Create and maintain comprehensive project documentation.
•Support internal staff on the trainer approval process and workforce registry for all professional development, and support workforce development through the management of STARS credit.
•Bridge the gaps among Professional Development Specialist, and Program Managers in understanding the deliverables, timelines and stakeholder contributions.
Stakeholder Engagement:
•Develop comprehensive project plans to be shared with external partners, and communicate assignments, deliverables, due dates, roles and responsibilities.
•Represent Cultivate Learning professional while also maintaining effective relationships with stakeholders and partners.
•Attend conferences and training as required to maintain proficiency.
•Develop spreadsheets, diagrams and process maps to document needs in collaboration with partners.
•Support various units by overseeing focus groups, trainings and meetings with external partners to review professional development products and publicize training opportunities. Facilitate group decision making, manage time effectively, and foster a productive and collaborative teamwork environment.
•Speak to diverse audiences in a language and manner that connects with their interests while explaining in clear terms Cultivate Learning’s work and mission.
REQUIREMENTS:
• Bachelor's degree, with significant coursework in early childhood education and care, child development and learning, to include 3 years of relevant work experience.
• Experience training and working to coordinate multiple organizations on shared projects.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment.
• Experience with data entry, working with databases, paperwork management, and working within project deadlines.
• Ability to track complex projects and to ensure their timely completion.
• Ability to work with people of various racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Experience with word processing/editing program, including Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel
• Willingness to travel
• Demonstrate understanding of the rationale behind QRIS Standards and local and state requirements for early care and education programs serving young children.
Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.
Training and Proficiency requirements:
• Meet and maintain set reliability criteria on all assigned assessment instruments.
• Demonstrate understanding of the rationale behind QRIS Standards and local and state requirements for early care and education programs serving young children.
• Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.
DESIRED:
• Master’s degree
• Bilingual (preferred English and Spanish or English and Somali)
Application Process:
The application process for UW positions may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed. |
