Executive Director of Child Care Operations Director of Department of Education

About the role

The Maryland State Department of Education is seeking an Executive Director (ED) of the Child Care Operations Bureau (CCOB) to provide statewide leadership, strategic direction, and operational oversight for Maryland's Child Care Licensing (CCL) and Child Care Scholarship (CCS) programs.

Responsibilities

• Provides statewide executive leadership for CCOB to ensure unified, consistent implementation of licensing and scholarship operations.
• Leads Bureau participation in statewide initiatives including the CCDF State Plan, Preschool Development Grant (PDG), Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, COMAR modernization, and HB 477 alignment.
• Develops annual Bureau and Branch workplans with KPIs tied to inspection timeliness, licensing throughput, provider capacity-building, scholarship processing timelines, payment accuracy, and customer service.
• Directs the use of evidence-based operational practices such as risk-based monitoring, efficient licensing pathways, and improved provider business supports.
• Ensures coordinated work across CCRCs and Local Early Childhood Advisory Councils (LECACs) to assess local child care needs, support provider start-up and expansion, and strengthen early childhood infrastructure.
• Oversees operational and fiscal management of CCOB contracts, grants, procurements, and vendor relationships with strong internal controls.
• Led data-driven continuous improvement initiatives using Lean processes, human-centered design, and real-time feedback from staff and providers.
• Ensures compliance with state laws, federal regulations, fiscal policies, audit requirements, and proactive risk management.
• Leads the statewide restructuring of the Child Care Licensing system, designing and implementing a modern dual-director model to support health and safety inspections, compliance, provider capacity-building, technical assistance, and root-cause resolution for non-compliance.
• Leads statewide communication on child care licensing, CCS, regulatory changes, and operational updates.

Minimum Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in Public Administration, Business Administration, Education, Early Childhood Education, Human Services, Community Engagement, Social Work, Public Policy, Organizational Leadership, or a related field.
• Experience: Five (5) years of progressively responsible management experience in early childhood education, childcare administration, human services, regulatory operations, public administration, or a related field - and - At least five (5) years of senior-level leadership experience overseeing multiple programs, divisions, or operational units with responsibility for strategic planning, policy implementation, fiscal management, and workforce supervision.

Benefits

Further instructions for applying are provided, including the need for a complete online application and professional resume demonstrating the qualifications for the position.