WCWPDS Program Manager - Early Childhood Education

About the role

WCWPDS-UWM provides professional development to child welfare staff in Milwaukee; foster, adoptive and congregate care staff statewide; and home visitors statewide. Beginning in 2026, WCWPDS will also oversee a significant portion of training and development for childcare and early education professionals statewide. This position leads collaborative efforts focused on creating and maintaining quality professional development for childcare and early childhood education practitioners across Wisconsin. This work involves close collaboration with WCWPDS-UWM leadership, the leadership of the Division of Early Childhood Education (DECE) in the Department of Children and Families (DCF), and childcare leaders and practitioners aimed at developing, coordinating and assuring quality curriculum, instruction, trainer development, stakeholder engagement, and a range of recordkeeping and reporting responsibilities.

Key responsibilities

• Curriculum and instructor development (50%):
  • In close collaboration with WCWPDS-UWM, DCF, and practitioner subject matter specialists, plan and oversee cyclical curriculum revisions
  • Create and direct process for identifying and making revisions needed on an intermittent basis
  • Design and develop curriculum for both instructor-led and asynchronous online learning environments
  • Develop and manage plans for curriculum projects, including timelines, milestones, stakeholder communication, and progress tracking
  • Integrate instructional technologies into training curricula in ways that improve learner engagement and enhance learning effectiveness
  • Plan and oversee instructor preparation, orientation, and ongoing development
  • Design and manage forums for ongoing instructor development (Communities of Practice)
  • Plan and administer ongoing process for observing and giving developmental feedback to instructors
  • Advise WCWPDS-UWM leadership on trainer performance and contracting decisions
  • Develop and administer a system for ensuring fidelity of instruction to curricular and program objectives
• Internal and external stakeholder engagement (25%):
  • Maintain regular communication with childcare and early childhood organizations and practitioners
  • Develop system for routinely collecting feedback on curriculum and instruction from instructors, participants, and other stakeholders
  • Develop collaborations with WCWPDS-UWM staff, UWM faculty and other internal subject matter specialists
  • Coordinate with WCWPDS-UWM administrative staff on scheduling, housing materials/training modules, and generating reports as needed
• Recordkeeping and reporting (25%):
  • In collaboration with WCWPDS-UWM and DCF staff, administrative staff, oversee and ongoing administration of training records and outcomes
  • Oversee records of trainer qualifications and compliance with certification standards
  • Provide regular reports to DCF on training outcomes and forecasts
  • Recommend recordkeeping efficiencies as needed

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood, Adult Education, Curriculum and Instruction, Instructional Design or related social science/humanities discipline from an accredited college or university
• At least 2 years of experience as a practitioner or educator in a childcare, early childhood education, preschool education or child development field

Preferred qualifications

• 1 or more year(s) of experience selecting and using educational technologies to enhance learning and engagement
• 2 or more years of experience collaborating with different professional groups

Pay

$75,000 - $85,000 annual