Assistant Director The Learning Experience Graham

Assistant Director — The Learning Experience, Graham WA

We're hiring an Assistant Director to run daily operations and welcome new families at our Graham, WA center — keeping the center safe, welcoming, and tour-ready for every child and family who walks through our doors. Your top priorities are welcoming every prospective family with the same care we give our enrolled families, keeping the center tour-ready, and running operations to TLE standards every day.

What You'll Own

• Welcoming new families : Respond to every new inquiry within the same business day, schedule tours quickly, and personally conduct tours that reflect the heart of TLE. Follow up with care on every family until they're enrolled or have decided what's right for them. The tour isn't a sales pitch — it's an extension of the experience their child will have here.
• Tour-ready, every day: The center is presentation-ready from open to close — clean classrooms, organized rooms, brand-standard displays, no clutter — because every family deserves to see TLE at its best the first time they walk in
• Child safety (non-negotiable): Maintain proper ratios at all times, unobstructed door and window sightlines, secure drop-off and pick-up, and full TLE safety standards. Safety is never traded for convenience.
• Daily operations: Schedules, ratios, classroom coverage, supply organization, and box/inventory management
• TLE brand standards: Daily walkthroughs against SOP — room organization, safety visibility, curriculum boards, parent-facing displays — full compliance, not 80%
• Teacher & support staff coaching: Coach teachers, cook, and breakers to grow in their roles. Hold a monthly 1:1 with every staff member (more often when needed) to recognize strong performance, coach on areas to improve, and surface what they need to do their job well. Hold every staff member to clear standards on curriculum execution, classroom routines, and daily expectations through documented coaching and consistent follow-through.
• Cleanliness accountability (train and inspect, don't do): Train staff on cleaning standards for kitchen, classrooms, bathrooms, common areas, and outdoor space. Observe, inspect, and hold each person accountable to their assigned cleaning duties. Your job is to make sure everyone does theirs — not to do it for them.
• Maintenance: Own the maintenance issue log; nothing lingers
• Scheduling & labor: Build weekly schedules that maintain ratios while keeping labor in line with budget; manage floater coverage so no day operates short-staffed
• Hiring & performance: Screen candidates, onboard new hires, document performance issues, and conduct termination conversations when needed, directly and with respect — hire right, fire fast

DCYF Qualifications (Required at Start)

Candidate must be approvable as a WA Assistant Director per WAC from day one of hire. At a minimum:

• ECE State Certificate or equivalent verified in MERIT, or a documented and credible plan to complete within the required timeline
• Active MERIT registration (Washington's electronic workforce registry)
• Cleared DCYF background check through the Background Check Central Unit
• Preservice requirements complete or in progress per WAC

Because our Center Director on file must be DCYF-approved at all times, the Assistant Director qualifications are non-negotiable at hire.

What Else We're Looking For

• Large center experience is required — you've worked at a center with 100+ enrolled children, multiple classrooms across age groups, and a team of 15+ staff. Small in-home or single-classroom experience alone is not a fit.
• 2+ years in childcare or early education; Assistant Director or lead teacher experience strongly preferred
• Track record of welcoming families and helping them feel at home from the first call to the first day
• Comfortable on the phone, on email, and in person with prospective families — warm, fast, and genuinely interested in who they are
• Comfortable scheduling staff, reading a labor report, and adjusting on the fly
• Coaching mindset — develops staff through clear standards and direct feedback, not by doing their job for them
• Willing to hold teachers, cook, and support staff accountable directly — including hard conversations and terminations
• Direct communicator — tells ownership and the Director what's actually happening, early, not after problems become crises
• Organized, detail-oriented, and walks the floor — not a desk manager

Schedule

• Flexible weekday schedule built around center operating hours and family touchpoints
• Some early mornings or later afternoons required to be present for tours and to connect with families at drop-off and pick-up
• Center is closed weekends

Compensation

• Competitive hourly or salaried pay based on experience
• Performance bonus tied to the health of the center — family experience, operational excellence, and welcoming more families into our community — gated by full compliance with child safety, TLE brand standards, and DCYF licensing
• PTO, professional development, and childcare discount