National Technical Assistance Resource Liaison- REMOTE

ICF’s Early Education Services Line of Business seeks a National Technical Assistance (TA) Liaison to work as part of the Child Care State Capacity Building Center (SCBC) team. The SCBC has three priorities: 1) to ensure the effectiveness of programs implemented under the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), 2) to improve the quality and supply of infant-toddler services, and 3) to advance the development of early childhood (EC) systems. The National TA Resource Liaison position will focus on building collaborative relationships with national TA partners to support the development of EC systems across the county.

This position is home based with up to 25% travel required to provide technical assistance and to attend related conferences and meetings.

Technical assistance (TA) is defined as both onsite and off-site activities, such as consultation, meeting/conference presentation and facilitation, support of peer-to-peer opportunities, information gathering, review of materials, participation in and leadership for work groups, strategic planning, and training design and delivery in a wide range of CCDF content areas including early education policy and systems building efforts.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and maintain positive, results-oriented relationships with federal and state early childhood agencies and partner organizations, Child Care Technical Assistance Network (CCTAN) partners and other stakeholders.
• Participate in the Data Coordination Team within SCBC to promote and build capacity for data-informed TA.
• Participate in SCBC Leadership Team and work closely with the Project Director and Deputy Director to lead key project deliverables related to collaboration and coordination of TA services.
• Support Office of Child Care (OCC) designated priorities and special projects, including development of TA materials, reports, and quick turnaround data calls.
• Assess significant TA efforts being conducted across all OCC TA centers through participation with the Needs Assessment.
• Lead the communication of the Needs Assessment with CCTAN partners, working with the Needs Assessment lead to help communicate the work with OCC.
• Develop briefings, other reports, and related materials based on these assessments to share with federal senior leadership. This includes working with TA partners to develop and distribute a biweekly TA updates reDport.
• Communicate federal priorities and directives to all OCC TA center leadership.
• Convene regular meetings with OCC TA center leadership to promote communication, collaboration, and cohesion across centers in support of federal priorities.
• Stay abreast of the latest trends, research, tools, and resources that support federal leadership, early childhood system building and the activities of the SCBC.
• Engage in collaborative strategic planning and implementation of efforts for early childhood system building.
• Develop and facilitate peer linkages between CCTAN, external partners, OCC, and others as relevant to the system building goals and desired outcomes.
• Lead teams for the content coordination of OCC national meetings, CCTAN All Hands, etc.
• Participate in national workgroups and task forces as assigned. This may include leading and coordinating workgroups and task forces.
• Participate in presentations at national meetings and conferences.
• Proactively contribute to the overall systems building and leadership resource strategy for SCBC.
• Participate in, and often lead, regular SCBC team meetings and calls.
• Participate in business development activities as needed.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, public policy, public administration, or management
• 12+ years of relevant experience to include:
  • Content knowledge related to CCDF requirements, including child care consumer education, child care licensing, subsidy programs, quality rating and improvement systems, Head Start, State prekindergarten, and other early childhood programs and initiatives, including core knowledge of key federal early childhood law, policy, and regulation.
  • Providing training and technical assistance in the field of early education, preferably to state leaders and their partners.
  • Collaboration and partnership experience across ECE systems, including state and federal stakeholders.

• Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain effective relationships in support of program objectives.
  • Development of early education materials and high-quality written products, such as TA tools, presentations, handouts, issue briefs, reports, etc.
  • Project management experience that includes leading a team of senior professionals and complex deliverables.
  • Design and coordination of content for national meetings, conferences, or events.
  • Working with state agencies or partnering organizations specific to early childhood policy development and program implementation.
  • Conference planning, meeting facilitation, facilitating partnerships and collaborations.

Preferred Skills:

• Master’s degree in early childhood education, public policy, public administration, or management.
• Experience with early childhood systems building in relevant topical areas.
• Experience with state, territory, and federal partnerships.
• Experience working with multiple stakeholder groups as a participant, content advisor and technical assistance provider.
• Experience as an early childhood consultant, facilitator, and coach.
• Proficient in MS Office Applications (Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel, Teams) and strong comfort with a wide range of technologies including Smartsheet, Zoom or other virtual meeting platforms.

Professional Skills:

• Excellent verbal, interpersonal, and written communication skills.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.
• Ability to be a team player and multi-task in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated outstanding level of professionalism in providing state and their partners’ team support, including ability to exercise good judgment, discretion, tact, and diplomacy.
• Sound business ethics, including the protection of proprietary and confidential information.
• Ability to apply detailed knowledge of organizational procedures to make independent decisions and serve as a credible resource for a senior management team.
• Ability to work with all levels of internal staff, as well as outside clients and vendors.
• Ability to be flexible to handle multiple priorities and to work limited overtime as necessary.

Working at ICF

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Pay Range - There are multiple factors that are considered in determining final pay for a position, including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and competencies that align to the specified role, geographic location, education and certifications as well as contract provisions regarding labor categories that are specific to the position. The pay range for this position is: