Director of Brilliant Baby

About Oakland Promise

The Oakland Promise is available to young learners (from newborns to college  students) and their families who reside in Oakland. OP offers every child financial  resources, educational programming, mentorship, and a supportive community to  help them and their families to seek out and thrive in higher education and the career  of their choosing. The mission of the Oakland Promise is to engage the Oakland  community to advance equity and economic mobility through cradle to college and  career achievement. The Oakland Promise includes four programs: Brilliant Baby,  Kindergarten to College (K2C), College Access, and College Completion. Our program  strategies touch the lives of children and families in early childhood (ages 0-5),  elementary, middle and high school; and culminate in multi-year scholarships and  support for students in college. 

Brilliant Baby is the early childhood program of the Oakland Promise. Brilliant Baby  supports families with new babies who are Medi-Cal eligible, for the purpose of  advancing children’s early learning and healthy development, improving families’  financial wellbeing, and reinforcing an early expectation of college and career success  for all children. The program helps parents set up a 529 College Savings Accounts  seeded by Oakland Promise with $500 for their babies before their first birthday.  Through this early investment in their child’s education, our goal is to support parents’  sense of optimism and determination about their baby’s college future. With the goal  of mitigating the negative impacts of parental financial stress on children, Brilliant  Babies offers Financial Coaching services which includes the opportunity to work 1:1  with a financial coach, workshops and stipends to help parents achieve their financial  goals and improve their financial well-being.

To support parents’ role as their children’s first teacher and ensure they have the information they need to make informed choices about school for their children, Brilliant Baby increases access to high quality early learning content for parents while  their children are ages 0-5. To build a community of support around and among BB  families and reinforce parents’ college expectations for their children, Brilliant Baby  promotes awareness of the Oakland Promise Brilliant Baby College Savings Accounts,  connects parents to resources, and creates opportunities for parents to build  relationships with one another. Brilliant Baby has a $1.6M program budget, six in house staff and seven contracted financial coaches. To date the program has  established college savings accounts for more than 900 infants and growth goals are  set as part of the Oakland Promise Strategic Plan.

Position 

The Oakland Promise, an Oakland-based non-profit organization, is seeking an  outstanding and exceptional Director of its Brilliant Baby program. This executive  team member is charged with the responsibility for all strategic and operational  aspects of the Brilliant Baby program. Under the direct supervision of the Chief  Executive Officer, the Brilliant Baby Director formulates, implements, evaluates and  communicates all aspects of the Brilliant Baby program. The Director will be  responsible for the operations of the Brilliant Baby program including delivery of  services and resources to families, leadership of the program staff and contractors,  relationships with external partners, communications about the program, evaluation  of service quality and impact, oversight of two randomized control trial evaluations of  the program, cross program collaboration and integration within Oakland Promise.

Duties & Responsibilities 

A successful Director of Brilliant Baby will have the ability to:  

• Provide strategic leadership to the Brilliant Baby program.  
• Work with an exceptional team and be a creative thinker and a problem solver  with a systems perspective.
• Set Brilliant Baby program goals objectives, and ensure alignment of program strategies and staff work plans to ensure progress per FY22-25 Strategic Plan.
• Monitor progress and impact of Brilliant Baby program; Set priorities for administrative data gathering and oversee analysis.
• Develop and maintain external partnerships in the early childhood, financial capability and college savings account fields as needed to meet program objectives.
• Supervise and support BB staff, set work plans, complete performance reviews,  and troubleshoot challenges.
• Manage all Brilliant Baby contracts collaborating with external service providers.
• Support and/or lead cross program collaborations within Oakland Promise.
• Prepare and manage a $1.6M program budget.
• Review and approve all program related payments.
• Work closely with the Development Team in regards to fundraising, including seeking new  funding sources, maintaining Brilliant Baby funder relationships, and assisting in the writing of grants and grant reports.
• Provide guidance to the Brilliant Baby randomized control trial (RCT) evaluations regarding program impact.
• Represent Brilliant Baby and Oakland Promise more broadly to external  stakeholders and the media; present at conferences, panels, and other forums.
• Generate written communications about Brilliant Baby .
• Represent OP in the CSA and financial capability fields.
• Represent OP in the Early Childhood field.
• Other duties as required.

Qualifications 

The successful candidate will have:

• Any combination of training/education and experience equivalent to a  masters/graduate degree from an accredited college/university with an  emphasis in public administration, nonprofit management, education, or  related field.
• 5-10 years of successful experience in nonprofit management, program  implementation and/or oversight.
• Exemplary communication skills and demonstrated ability to write and present orally.
• Experience supervising diverse staff, building team buy in. 
• Demonstrated strategic thinking and organizational skills needed to develop  and execute strategic plans. 
• Experience setting up program operations systems, including piloting,  assessing and improving systems.
• Knowledge of and experience related to early childhood development,  parenting, financial capability, and/or asset-building through child/college  savings accounts. 
• Strong interpersonal skills as demonstrated by the ability to establish and  maintain effective relationships with people both inside and outside of the  organization  
• Commitment to supporting a diverse, inclusive, transparent, and equity centered organization.
• Preferably, experience managing a budget of at least $1 million.
• Preferably, experience in fundraising and funder relationships.

To apply:

Send a single PDF (NOT a Microsoft Word document) of a resume and thoughtful cover letter to [email protected] with “Director of Brilliant Baby – [Your Name]” in the subject line. Please use your last name and first initial as the filename of your PDF containing your resume and cover letter.

*Your application will not be reviewed without a resume and cover letter. 

Failure to follow these instructions may delay the review of your application. Applications will be reviewed immediately, and candidates with the best fit will be contacted for interviews. Unfortunately, the volume of applications will prevent us from responding to all applications received.

Oakland Promise is an equal opportunity employer. Oakland Promise is committed to providing a work environment free of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and disrespectful or other unprofessional conduct based on sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), sex stereotype, race, religion (including religious dress and grooming practices), color, gender (including gender identity, gender expression, and transgender), national origin (including language use restrictions and possession of a driver’s license issued under Vehicle Code section 12801.9), ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, registered domestic partner status, age, sexual orientation, military, and veteran status or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law or ordinance or regulation. It also prohibits discrimination, harassment, disrespectful or unprofessional conduct based on the perception that anyone has any of those characteristics, or is associated with a person who has or is perceived as having any of those characteristics.