The application deadline is May 2, 2026 at 11:59 pm Pacific.
Best Starts for Kids is hiring an Early Supports Supervisor to lead and support a team responsible for planning, implementing, and continuously improving King County’s Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) program.
Salary range: $123,947.20 to $157,110.10
Job duties
Team Leadership and Supervision
- Supervise and support a team of six staff working to strengthen Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) services across King County.
- Lead a dynamic, collaborative, multilingual, and culturally diverse team grounded in family-centered, strengths-based practices and continuous improvement.
- Foster a team culture rooted in equity, collaboration, learning, and accountability while supporting staff development, reflective supervision, and effective teamwork.
- Support strong coordination and collaboration across the Early Childhood Team to ensure strategies and initiatives are aligned and integrated across the division and the Best Starts for Kids Initiative.
Advancing Equity, Disability Justice, and Family Partnership
- Embed equity, centering racial justice and disability justice, across all work roles, programs, policies, and partnerships.
- Participate in and support the Division’s Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EIB) efforts to strengthen both internal workplace equity and external equity with community partners.
- Lead and support efforts to build strengths-based, culturally responsive relationships with providers, families, and communities, centering the voices and experiences of those most impacted.
- Support and participate in family and community engagement spaces such as the King County Interagency Coordinating Council, Developmental Disabilities board meetings, workgroups, and listening circles.
ESIT Program Leadership and County Lead Agency Responsibilities
- Support King County’s role as the ESIT County Lead Agency by implementing program requirements set by the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) and aligning with the expectations of key funding partners, including Developmental Disabilities Community Services (DDCS) and Best Starts for Kids.
- Work collaboratively with ESIT Team Leads to coordinate program planning, implementation, and system improvements across the local ESIT system.
- Encourage strong relationships and collaboration with current and prospective ESIT providers, community partners, and local, regional, and statewide systems partners.
- Promote inclusive, coordinated services across ESIT providers, including support for children who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing or Blind/Visually Impaired and their families.
Program Strategy and Continuous Improvement
- Support and advance strategic priorities that promote child and family well-being, strengthen family leadership, deepen community partnerships, expand language access, strengthen the early childhood workforce, and improve transitions.
- Contribute to efforts that center Black/African American excellence and improve equity in access, services, and outcomes for infants, toddlers, and families.
- Support improvements in services for families who may face additional barriers, including those living in rural or isolated areas or experiencing early childhood trauma such as hospitalizations, substance exposure, child welfare involvement, housing instability, or domestic and community violence.
- Ensure programs and practices reflect evidence-based and promising practices, while maintaining compliance with federal, state, and county requirements.
Contracts, Fiscal Stewardship, and Data-Informed Work
- Support the team in using qualitative and quantitative data to guide decision-making, program improvement, and evaluation.
- Oversee and support program administration activities, including budget development and monitoring, requests for proposals, contract development and monitoring, invoice approvals, and partnership with fiscal and evaluation teams.
- Develop and implement program policies, procedures, guidance, and technical assistance aligned with funding requirements, program goals, and community needs.
Cross-System Collaboration and Representation
- Collaborate across the division, department, and Best Starts for Kids initiative to advance shared early childhood, racial equity, and disability justice goals.
- Represent the division in multi-agency, cross-jurisdictional, and community meetings and workgroups.
- Serve on the DDECSD Management Team and contribute to strengthening systems, policies, and practices that support both community partners and internal teams.
Other Duties
- Perform other related duties as assigned.
Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills
- Demonstrated commitment to equity, racial justice, disability justice, and social justice, including understanding how place, race, policy, and systems inequities impact marginalized communities.
- A combination of at least six years of education and/or experience in early supports for children with developmental delays or disabilities and their families, or a related field. This must include at least three years leading a project, program, or initiative serving children prenatal through age three with developmental delays or disabilities and their families.
- At least two years of supervisory or management experience supporting staff or teams within Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT), early learning, developmental disabilities, or a related field.
- Experience fostering a healthy and collaborative workplace culture that supports individual staff growth while building a strong and effective team.
- Experience interpreting and applying complex state and federal program requirements and supporting continuous improvement efforts.
- Knowledge of systems that serve young children and families, including systems supporting children with developmental delays or disabilities.
- Ability to identify intersecting issues, consider multiple perspectives, and build collaborative solutions that advance equity and improve systems.
- Strong organizational and time management skills, including the ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and respond to changing needs.
- Demonstrated ability to build collaborative relationships with families, service providers, community partners, co-workers, and funders with diverse perspectives and experiences.
- Experience supporting and honoring the home cultures and languages of children and families.
- Experience facilitating participatory meetings and supporting group learning using adult learning approaches.
- Strong communication skills, including the ability to translate complex information to support decision-making through written materials, presentations, visuals, and data.
- Ability to travel throughout King County in a timely manner.
Desired Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills
- Bicultural and/or bilingual skills are strongly preferred.
- 5 years’ experience working within the Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) system, either as a direct service provider or in program administration at an ESIT agency.
- Experience working within King County’s Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) system.
Best Starts for Kids
Building on the deep knowledge, connections, and skills within King County communities, and backed by what science and research tells us about human development, the Best Starts for Kids King County initiative meets children and families with the right services at the right time. The first Best Starts for Kids levy, approved by King County voters in 2015, reached 490,000 of King County’s youngest children and their families and 40,000 youth and young adults, catalyzing strong starts in a child’s earliest years, and sustaining those gains through to adulthood. In August 2021, King County voters chose to renew the levy with over 62% approval for another six years. The plan for the second Best Starts for Kids levy will maintain current Best Starts for Kids investments in promotion, prevention, and early intervention, while deepening our investments to address critical needs in our community. View the Best Starts for Kids Implementation Plan: 2022 – 2027.
