Job summary
Who we need
We are seeking a Director to lead our Sherbourne Early Learning Centre (ELC) team in providing exceptional care and education for young children. You will be responsible for the day-to-day operation and administration of the ELC, nurturing a joyful, safe learning environment for children, inspiring and guiding the work of staff, and ensuring compliance with all regulations and legislated standards. Currently, our center has five classrooms - one for infants, two for toddlers, and two for preschoolers - with a total of 62 spaces.
Required Qualifications and Skills
What you bring:
The practical knowledge. You have a diploma or degree in Early Childhood Education and an Early Childhood Management-Leadership certificate. You are a member in good standing with the College of Early Childhood Education. You have experience in an early learning/childcare setting, including experience supporting or directly leading staff, programs, and communications. You have a proven ability to provide and sustain a diverse learning environment that supports the highest program quality, equity, and inclusion for children, staff, and families. You understand and can maintain the confidentiality and security of client-related and agency information.
The pedagogy. You have an in-depth understanding of early child development and pedagogy, knowledge of CCEYA (2014), AQI, ELECT, HDLH Ontario's Pedagogy for the Early Years, and experience with the Licensing Process and AQI program assessment. You possess a current Standard First Aid and CPR (Level C) certification.
The leadership. You are a collaborative leader who understands how to run a business, including financial management skills. You can motivate and evaluate staff and communicate with stakeholders, vendors, and community members. You can manage conflict, negotiate, and influence without authority. You can gain trust and display empathy and patience. You are both proactive and responsive.
The technical skills. You are proficient with MS Office Suite and have used or can get up to speed on the Lillio (formerly HiMama) Child Care App and Dayforce.
The interpersonal skills. You have flexible communication skills, exceptional listening skills and mental attentiveness, and you can focus on the needs of individuals or groups to probe, analyze, synthesize, and create authentic connections and engagement. You prioritize treating everyone equally and have respect and appreciation for individuals and families with diverse backgrounds and experiences.
Required Experience
You have a diploma or degree in Early Childhood Education and an Early Childhood Management-Leadership certificate.
Responsibility
As our new Director, Childcare Early Learning Centre in Toronto, you will:
Ensure compliance. With the support of our Associate Director of Early Learning Centre and Director, Early Years and Child Care Services, you will stay up to date with, implement, and adhere to all regulations and legislated standards, including Ministry of Education Licensing standards, Toronto Children's Services Assessment for Quality Improvement, Toronto Public Health guidelines, and College of Early Childhood Educators Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice.
Create and nurture a safe, healthy, supportive environment for children, staff, and families. You will ensure program quality through pedagogical leadership and collaboration with other CDI Childcare Centre Directors and the cross-functional mental health teams. You will respond effectively to elevated parent concerns and complaints.
Develop effective strategies to engage families and community partners. You will take a diverse and flexible approach to working with families, creating communications, hosting our annual open house, providing feedback, and connecting to other resources as needed.
Provide robust, reflective, and responsive leadership. You will support continuous professional development opportunities for educators. You will inspire and provide support to ensure high performance from your staff. You will recruit, hire, train, supervise, and evaluate assigned staff within the mandate of a Collective Agreement. You will coordinate staff scheduling and coverage as appropriate for service delivery.
Manage operations. You will ensure the safety and financial viability of the Early Learning Centre. You will contribute to policies and procedure development, updates, and staff adherence. You will communicate with the Early Learning Centre's external partners and participate in professional network meetings, conferences, etc. You will monitor enrollment to ensure the site is at capacity and communicate with Toronto Children's Services regarding subsidies, waiting lists, and statistics. You will complete serious occurrence reports as required.
Coordinate with stakeholders. You will order supplies with management approval for equipment in all centre areas and ensure the safe operation and timely repairs of equipment, furnishings, etc. You will work with external catering and cleaning companies.
Compensation and Benefits Offered
Join us.
Fostering positive transformations in mental health for over a century, CDI is a world-class leader trusted in helping children, youth and families through a wide range of evidence-informed services to build lasting change.
At CDI, we prioritize the mental well-being and work-life balance of our teams. We acknowledge the reality of the emotionally demanding work each of us puts in every day. To that end, we strive to create a collaborative, diverse, inclusive, and equitable space where creativity flourish by offering:
Full health and well-being benefits.
Flexible hours in a planned program environment.
A focus on cross-disciplinary collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Ongoing paid professional development opportunities and certifications.
If you want to be part of our vision to make a measurable lifelong impact on the mental health and well-being of children, youth and their families, join us.