Childcare Director Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a childcare director. You can use our job description template in this article to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a childcare director.
Who is a Childcare Director?
A Childcare Director is responsible for supervising the daily operations of a childcare center. They are saddled with the responsibility of guaranteeing that children are receiving the best care and attention that they need at the center. This often demands that they develop and execute policies and procedures to ensure the safety, health, and also wellness of the children. Childcare directors are also responsible for hiring and training staff, performing administrative tasks, and also managing the payroll of an organization. They ensure a conducive learning educational environment for young children, draft curricula, manage teaching staff, coordinate teachers, and also communicate with parents to guarantee the center’s image.
A childcare director trains childcare workers and also ensures that the facilities and employees conform to childcare regulations. Their main responsibility is to organize parent information and dietary restrictions or medical conditions for each child. They also reach out to parents when the child becomes ill and collect payment from the parents. They also oversee the implementation of safety procedures such as installing security cameras and also automatic locking doors to facilitate a safe working environment for the children.
On a typical day, the main responsibility of a Child Care Director is to be at their facility about an hour early and meet with their workers. The next step they take is to answer their emails. The size of the facility is very much important, child care directors may demand their team to set up activities or set out the morning snacks before the children to work. They exchange pleasantries with families to determine who will pick up their child at a particular time. In the course of their day, childcare directors remain on the site and they provide a link to help childcare workers carry out their activities and also perform their clerical work.
At the pick-up, they ensure that parents follow the stipulated guidelines to ensure that each child leaves with their parent or a particular adult. Before they close, they ensure that their team makes a thorough clean-up and also makes supplies of what they need to order.
One of the qualities a childcare director needs to have is that he must be someone that loves working with children and have a passion for seeing them succeed. They must have a natural tendency to lead which allows them to supervise facility operations and delegate responsibilities among their staff members. Child Care Directors must also possess the ability to maintain a calm spirit and be patient even during difficult moments. If a Child Care Director works for a chain of childcare facilities, they must submit under someone at the corporate level. If a Child Care Director owns a facility, they must report to a state, local, or even local child care board to ensure that they comply with laws and regulations.
Child Care Director Job Description
Below are the childcare director job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The following are the duties and responsibilities of a Child Care Director:
- Training and supervising staff members to ensure they have the skills needed to effectively care for children
- Conserving communication with parents regarding their child’s progress, development, behavioral issues, and any relevant topics
- Organizing with teachers, counselors, therapists, and other professionals who work with children, as well as other staff members, to ensure proper care of children
- Organizing finances and maintaining records, such as payroll records, budgets, and inventory of supplies and equipment
- Evaluating applications for employment and interviewing candidates to ensure that they meet job requirements
- Performing staff meetings to inform employees about changes in policies or procedures
- Performing interviews of applicants and hiring new staff members needed
- Assuring that children are safe while in the daycare center’s care by enforcing rules and regulations and conducting regular inspections of the facility and children’s belongings
- Identifying children to identify any behavioral concerns or challenges to refer them to other professionals for evaluation and treatment.
- Assessing and purchasing materials, equipment, and supplies
- Finalizing ongoing training and courses to remain up to date on daycare standards and procedures
- Disseminating and meeting with parents regarding their children and the center’s policies
- Managing and supervising the budget and accounts and also ensuring that a center remains profitable
- Formulating and facilitating market and communications plans
Qualifications
- Associate’s or bachelor’s degree in a related field
- A degree in Early Childhood Education and also experience in the field is also an added advantage
- Licensure is required
- Accept local, state, and federal laws governing childcare
- Outstanding written and verbal communication skills
- Powerful leadership and interpersonal skills
- Terrific organizational, problem-solving, and time-management skills
- Friendly and approachable demeanor
- Retain a professional appearance, attitude, and work at all times.
Essential Skills
- Business Management: A Child Care Director is responsible for running all the operations of a childcare facility from drafting the budget to setting up the security business. He is also detail-oriented and very organized. They need to keep abreast with federal, state, and also local daycare laws. These rules cannot be violated. They need to follow it as expected.
- Excellent Communication Skills: Working in a childcare facility may not be very easy, the childcare director must be an excellent communicator. He or she must know how to interact with staff or childcare workers, give parents updates about the wellness of the children and also write newsletters. Effective communication can help you build trust with others and ensure that everyone flows on the same page.
- First Aid: Childcare directors must possess good knowledge of child safety management and also have updated information on first aid protocol. He or she must be able to administer first aid to children if they sustain injuries in the childcare facility. He also conveys safety tips to students on how they can be safe.
- Good crisis management: The childcare facility is a very busy place and different issues can spring up. A childcare director must have good management crises abilities to be able to remain calm and very composed in situations. He must possess strong problem-solving skills to ensure that orderliness is carried out in the camp. For instance, if a staff or childcare worker is sick and cannot be available at work. The director must immediately look for a replacement for the staff. Directors need to also solve problems that spring up within the facility such as when a parent complains about a particular child or when there is a piece of equipment that needs to be repaired.
- Leadership Experience: The Childcare Director is the manager of the childcare facility and he or she is responsible for training childcare workers, especially newly recruited staff about the rudiments of the job. He or she must also be able to motivate and resolve conflicts which is very much integral to his job responsibility. Leadership skills are also displayed by the childcare director during sessions of meetings in which he or she presides.
- Classroom Experience: A childcare director is very much responsible for handling teaching staff, they must understand how to handle a group of children and also comprehend the development of children. They must know how to establish a classroom structure and flow freely with students. Most childcare directors started their careers as childcare workers, they are very much familiar with the classroom management system.
- Time management: time management refers to the ability to plan and implement tasks at a particular time. Childcare directors often have responsibilities such as supervising the daily activities of childcare in a facility, managing childcare workers, and also supervising and executing the budget. Possessing strong management skills can help the director to meet up with deadlines and also run the childcare facility smoothly.
How to become a Child Care Director
- Earn the Basic Education
To become a Childcare Director, you need to acquire a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education or a relevant field. These programs will nurture you about child development, child psychology, child nutrition, child health, and other topics. Earning this degree will also help you harness some salient skills that a childcare director needs to have to have a successful career. Most employers will give preference to someone with a bachelor’s degree because they are very much qualified to handle children.
- Get the Necessary Experience
Childcare Directors usually receive training on the job scene. The best way to kick start your career as a childcare director is to start with entry-level jobs such as a childcare worker or a preschool teacher, this will give you experience on how to handle children. The training can also involve shadowing a childcare director or a teacher in a childcare facility. This training can also take a duration of time because a childcare director is a managerial position. Most professionals start their careers as lead teachers and it took several years before they became employed as childcare directors.
- Get Certified and Licensed
Childcare directors need to earn a certification before working at a childcare facility. Each state has its name for diverse positions. They can be called daycare attendants, childcare providers, and many more. They need to also get licensed to be able to practice their career legally. To get licensed, you must check your state and local requirements for licensure. They need to get certified in First Aid and CPR, this will make it very easy for them to get state licensure.
- Draft Your Resume
A childcare director’s resume should focus on their work history of job experience. Their work history should highlight their knowledge and experience of how they worked as childcare staff. For instance, a child care director candidate can possess previous work experience as a Daycare Receptionist, Child care Coordinator, and also Child Care Worker. They need to possess the required experience in how to run a childcare facility.
Your resume should also highlight your qualification in early childhood education degree and also your certification in first aid and CPR. Your resume should also showcase the relevant skills you possess.
Where to work as a Childcare Director
A Childcare Director can work in diverse settings such as public and private schools, Head Start programs, childcare centers, childcare facilities, and also family childcare homes. Their typical work schedule is full time but they can work part-time and this depends on the establishment. Most directors work for more than 40 hours per week and they can work in the evenings and weekends. Childcare directors work in an office environment but they spend most of their time interacting with childcare workers, parents, and children. They update their knowledge by traveling to attend conferences and also training sessions. They work under the supervision of the school administrator or principal.
Childcare Director Salary Scale
The Salary of a Childcare director varies across different countries and they are:
- In the United States, The average childcare director’s salary in the USA is $40,000 per year or $19.23 per hour. Entry-level positions start their career at $33,150 per year while most competent workers make up to $55,000 per year. The average childcare director salary in Washington is $48,625 per year or $23.38 per hour. Entry-level positions start their career at $38,639 per year while most experienced workers make up to $60,129 per year. The average childcare director’s salary in California is $53,607 per year or $25.77 per hour. Entry-level positions start their career at $39,000 per year while most competent workers make up to $90,000 per year.
- In the United Kingdom, The average childcare manager’s salary in the United Kingdom is £33,386 per year or £17.12 per hour. Entry-level positions start their career at £26,966 per year while most professional workers make up to £43,000 per year.
- In Canada, The average childcare director’s salary in Canada is $53,325 per year or $27.35 per hour. Entry-level positions start their career at $42,500 per year, while most competent workers make up to $75,397 per year.
- In Australia, The average childcare center director salary in Australia is $95,000 per year or $48.72 per hour. Entry-level positions start their career at $85,000 per year, while most competent workers make up to $103,000 per year.
- In India, The average salary for a Child Care Center Director in India is ₹975000.
