CHIEF EDUCATION OFFICER

Essential Functions

• Serves as the Chief Education Officer for the Department
• Oversee early childhood programs and ensures alignment toward kindergarten readiness benchmarks.
• Serves as a full line supervisor
• Liaison with the State Board of Education, Illinois Board of Higher Education, Illinois Community College Board, and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, and other lead education agencies to ensure alignment between early childhood through post-secondary.
• Performs other duties as required or assigned, which are reasonable within the scope of duties enumerated above.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master's degree in business administration, early childhood education, early child development, or similar early childhood field, or a bachelor's degree plus two (2) years of relevant professional experience required.
• Requires four (4) years of progressively responsible administrative experience in a public or business organization.
• Requires two (2) years of experience (in addition to education requirements) working in the field of early childhood policy or programs at the state or local level; experience working with a state or federally funded early childhood program at the state level, in a school district or community-based organization.

Preferred Qualifications

• Three (3) years of professional experience serving as a section head or equivalent for a government agency, entity providing government oversight or similar organization.
• Three (3) years of professional experience developing and implementing policies and procedures.
• Three (3) years of professional experience supervising professional staff.
• One (1) year of professional experience representing a program area or organization with public establishments, service providers, legislators, regulatory agencies, and the public.
• One (1) year of professional experience working with confidential information or sensitive issues.
• Ability to clearly communicate ideas, methods, and principles, both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to develop, implement and evaluate new and revised methods, procedures and performance standards.
• Ability to exercise judgement and discretion in developing, implementing and interpreting departmental policies and procedures.
• Ability to develop and maintain cooperative working relationships.

Conditions of Employment

• Requires the ability to pass a background check.
• Requires the ability to travel in the performance of duties, with overnight stays as appropriate.
• Overtime is a condition of employment, and you may be requested or required/mandated to work overtime including scheduled, unscheduled, or last-minute overtime. This requires the ability to work evenings and weekends.
• Requires the ability to utilize and maintain state issued equipment such as a cell phone, laptop, etc.
  
  The conditions of employment listed here are incorporated and related to any of the job duties as listed in the job description.

About the Agency

The Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC) was signed into law in June of 2024 with the focus of making early childhood education and care services simpler, better and fairer for families with young children across the state. During fiscal years FY25 and FY26, IDEC will be working through transitioning data, programs and services from three state agencies – the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), – to IDEC in order to be fully operational by July 2026.    

Illinois strives to be the best state in the nation to raise a family with young children and IDEC is committed to continue putting children and families center while reducing complexities and finding efficiencies in the system and advancing equity.