The Opportunity

Sipe’s Orchard Home serves 4-5 year old children through two North Carolina Pre-Kindergarten (NCPK) classrooms at its Tyndall Center.

The Director of Early Childhood Education provides strategic and operational leadership for Sipe’s Orchard Home’s licensed North Carolina Pre-K program and other early childhood education initiatives. Reporting to the Executive Director, this leader is responsible for ensuring the delivery of high-quality, developmentally appropriate educational experiences that prepare children for lifelong learning and success.

The Director oversees all aspects of program administration, including curriculum implementation, regulatory compliance, staff supervision, family engagement, budgeting, and continuous quality improvement. This individual serves as the educational leader for the program, fostering a collaborative culture that supports children, families, and staff while advancing the organization’s mission of Preparing Children and Youth for Their Best Futures.

This is a remarkable opportunity for a nurturing and creative leader to join a much-revered 80+ year old organization working toward the mission of preparing children and youth for their best futures.

The Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will have the appropriate professional and personal qualities, skills, and characteristics to accomplish the following:

Program Leadership

• Provide visionary leadership for all early childhood education programs, ensuring alignment with Sipe’s Orchard Home’s mission, strategic priorities, and North Carolina Pre-K standards.
• Lead the ongoing development, implementation, and evaluation of high-quality early childhood programming that supports children’s cognitive, language, physical, social, and emotional development.
• Develop annual program goals, monitor outcomes, and implement continuous quality improvement initiatives.
• Foster a positive, inclusive, and nurturing learning environment where every child can thrive.
• Represent the organization in early childhood education initiatives and community partnerships.

Curriculum and Instruction

• Ensure implementation of developmentally appropriate curriculum aligned with NC Pre-K requirements.
• Oversee lesson planning, classroom observations, instructional coaching, and assessment practices.
• Promote evidence-based instructional strategies and innovative teaching practices that enhance children’s learning experiences.
• Monitor student progress and support teachers in differentiating instruction to meet individual developmental needs.
• Ensure classrooms maintain high standards of safety, quality, and educational excellence.

Staff Leadership and Professional Development

• Recruit, supervise, coach, and evaluate 2 Lead Teachers, 2 assistant teachers, and other program staff as needed. 
• Foster a collaborative, supportive, and accountable team culture grounded in continuous improvement.
• Develop individualized professional growth plans for teaching staff and provide ongoing coaching and mentoring.
• Coordinate required professional development, including compliance with DCDEE regulations.
• Encourage reflective practice and continuous learning across the educational team.

Family and Community Engagement

• Build strong, collaborative relationships with families, recognizing parents and caregivers as essential partners in children’s education.
• Establish systems for effective communication regarding children’s development, classroom activities, and program expectations.
• Develop partnerships with schools, community organizations, and early childhood agencies that strengthen services and expand opportunities for children and families.
• Promote family engagement through educational events, workshops, and volunteer opportunities.

Compliance and Administration

• Ensure full compliance with all DCDEE, licensing, health and safety, and accreditation requirements.
• Maintain accurate program documentation, student records, and regulatory reporting.
• Develop and implement policies and procedures that support operational excellence and regulatory compliance.
• Monitor classroom environments to ensure safe, healthy, and developmentally appropriate learning spaces.
• Lead licensing visits, audits, and quality assurance reviews.

Financial and Operational Management

• Develop and manage the annual program budget in collaboration with organizational leadership.
• Monitor expenditures and allocate resources to maximize program effectiveness.
• Identify opportunities to secure grants, partnerships, and additional funding that support program growth and sustainability.
• Ensure efficient utilization of staff, materials, facilities, and educational resources.

Additionally candidates must meet the following qualifications:

• Level III childcare administrative credential.
• Strong background in curriculum development, teaching, and classroom management.
• Demonstrated success in strategic planning, management, and leadership roles within educational settings.
• Experience in fundraising activities to support program growth and sustainability.
• Excellent public speaking skills to advocate for early childhood education initiatives effectively.
• Supervising experience with a track record of developing high-performing teams of educators.
• Knowledge of budgeting processes and resource management within educational organizations.
• Passion for working with young children and understanding their developmental needs.

Additional Preferred Attributes

• A deep commitment to early childhood education and a belief in every child’s ability to succeed.
• Strong instructional leadership and curriculum expertise.
• Exceptional relationship-building skills with children, families, educators, and community partners.
• The ability to inspire, mentor, and develop high-performing educational teams.
• Excellent organizational, analytical, and problem-solving abilities.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Sound judgment, professionalism, integrity, and emotional intelligence.
• A collaborative leadership style that balances accountability with encouragement.
• Cultural competence and an understanding of trauma-informed educational practices.
• Flexibility, adaptability, and a commitment to continuous improvement.

About the Organization

Our History

For more than 80 years, Sipe’s Orchard Home has been helping children and young adults overcome adversity and build successful, independent futures. Founded in 1943 by Vernon O. and Viola Sipe, the organization has evolved from a traditional children’s home into an innovative nonprofit serving children, youth, and young adults throughout western North Carolina. Guided by its mission of Preparing Children and Youth for Their Best Futures, Sipe’s provides a continuum of programs that equip young people with the education, life skills, relationships, and support needed to thrive.

The North Carolina Pre-K Program serves as the starting point for many children on that journey. Located in the Tyndall Center on the Sipe’s campus, the licensed NC Pre-K program provides high-quality early childhood education for four/five-year-old children, preparing them academically, socially, emotionally, and developmentally for success in kindergarten and beyond. Through developmentally appropriate instruction, strong family partnerships, and a nurturing learning environment, the program helps children build the confidence, curiosity, and foundational skills that support lifelong learning.

The NC Pre-K program is one part of Sipe’s comprehensive continuum of services, which also includes summer enrichment, transitional living, young adult services, workforce readiness, life-skills development, and community partnerships that help remove barriers to long-term success. This integrated approach allows Sipe’s Orchard Home to support children and families at multiple stages of development while remaining focused on lasting outcomes rather than short-term interventions.

Throughout every program, Sipe’s Orchard Home is known for its deeply relational and trauma-informed approach. The organization’s culture emphasizes compassion balanced with accountability, individualized support, long-term relationship building, and collaboration with families and community partners. Staff are united by a shared belief that every child deserves the opportunity to reach their full potential, and that lasting change begins by building strong foundations early in life.

Today, Sipe’s Orchard Home is recognized as a trusted resource throughout Catawba County and the surrounding region. By working collaboratively with schools, behavioral health providers, local governments, and community organizations, Sipe’s helps ensure children and young adults receive the coordinated support they need to build brighter futures. As the director of Early Age Education, you will play an essential role in advancing that mission by providing young learners with a strong educational foundation during one of the most important stages of their development.

Not Your Typical School Administrator Experience

This is more than an administrative position – it’s an opportunity to become part of a mission-driven organization that has been transforming the lives of children and families for more than 80 years. As the Director of Early Age Education in Sipe’s Orchard Home’s NC Pre-K program, you’ll enjoy many of the rewards of teaching administration without many of the challenges often associated with traditional public school settings. Because the program operates within a nonprofit environment, you’ll work in a close-knit, relationship-focused culture where your voice is valued and your contributions directly impact the children and families you serve.

Unlike larger school systems, Sipe’s Orchard Home offers a highly personalized and supportive professional environment. The NC Pre-K program consists of just two classrooms led by two Lead Teachers and two teaching assistants, providing the opportunity to work as part of a small, collaborative team. In your role you will offer individualized coaching, mentorship, and support while partnering with each teacher to establish and achieve professional development goals. This level of accessibility and personalized leadership is uncommon in traditional educational settings and creates an environment where administrators and teachers are known, supported, and empowered to grow professionally. Combined with the resources and stability of an established nonprofit, Sipe’s Orchard Home offers educators the unique opportunity to build strong relationships, innovate in the classroom, and make a lasting difference in the lives of young children during one of the most important stages of their development.

Want to know more? Visit https://www.sipesorchardhome.org/.

Think you are the next Sipe’s Orchard Home Director of Early Age Education?

To apply, scroll to the bottom of this page.  You will see instructions for uploading your compelling cover letter, resume, and salary requirements. Please provide all requested information to be considered. In case of any technical problems, contact talent@armstrongmcguire.com. No phone calls, please, and no applications will be accepted by email or directly from third-party posting sites.

Review of candidates will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled with preference given to applications submitted by July 15th.

This is a full-time leadership position offering a competitive salary in the $45,000 to $50,000 range commensurate with experience and qualifications.

Sipe’s Orchard Home offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support employees personally and professionally, including:

• Employee Assistance Program
• Employer-paid life insurance
• Retirement savings plan
• Professional development assistance
• Paid time off and paid holidays
• Opportunities for ongoing leadership development and continuing education

Sipes Orchard Home seeks a diverse pool of candidates and is committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age.

The Opportunity

The Youth Services Director is a key member of Sipe’s Orchard Home’s leadership team and serves as the Executive Director’s strategic partner in advancing the organization’s mission of Preparing Children and Youth for Their Best Futures. This position provides leadership for the Transitional Living Campus and community-based youth services, overseeing residential programs, case management, regulatory compliance, and program operations while ensuring young people receive the support, guidance, and life skills needed to successfully transition to independent adulthood. The Director plays a critical role in strengthening organizational effectiveness by developing high-performing teams, improving operational systems, using data to drive decision-making, and ensuring programs consistently deliver positive outcomes for youth.

Unlike many residential leadership positions that focus primarily on crisis management or therapeutic services, this role emphasizes helping youth build the practical skills and confidence necessary for lifelong success. Working alongside dedicated staff and community partners, the Youth Services Director supports young people as they pursue education, employment, financial independence, stable housing, and healthy relationships. The ideal candidate is a mature, collaborative leader who balances compassion with accountability, understands the importance of strong professional boundaries, and is committed to empowering youth to take ownership of their futures.

In addition to leading a highly respected youth services program, this position offers a truly unique lifestyle opportunity. The Youth Services Director may reside with their family in a historic home located on the Sipe’s Orchard Home campus—a distinctive benefit that is rarely available in nonprofit leadership positions. Combined with a competitive salary and benefits, and the opportunity to make a lasting impact on the lives of young people, this role offers an exceptional opportunity for a mission-driven leader seeking both professional fulfillment and meaningful community engagement.

The Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will have the appropriate professional and personal qualities, skills, and characteristics to accomplish the following:

Program Leadership

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for Sipe’s Orchard Home’s Transitional Living Campus and community-based youth services, ensuring programs align with the organization’s mission, regulatory requirements, and commitment to helping young people achieve independence.
• Partner closely with the Executive Director as a trusted thought partner in evaluating organizational needs, refining program structure, and strengthening service delivery.
• Lead continuous quality improvement efforts that enhance program effectiveness, operational efficiency, and long-term outcomes for youth.
• Foster a culture that balances compassion, accountability, and high expectations while empowering youth to actively participate in their own growth and success.

Youth Development and Service Delivery

• Ensure high-quality services that prepare youth for successful independent living through life-skills development, educational achievement, employment readiness, financial literacy, healthcare management, and community engagement.
• Promote an approach that meets young people where they are while encouraging increasing responsibility, self-sufficiency, and personal accountability.
• Participate in an on-call weekend rotation.
• Build strong relationships with youth, families, community partners, and service providers to ensure coordinated support and successful transitions into adulthood.
• Maintain a strong understanding of the unique needs of youth transitioning from foster care and other systems of care.

Staff Leadership and Professional Development

• Provide leadership, supervision, coaching, and accountability for cottage advocates/managers, Medicaid Case Managers, and other youth services staff totaling 6-10 direct reports. Currently this position provides direct oversight over the boys’ cottage but this structure may be adjusted in the future.
• Foster a collaborative, mission-driven team culture focused on professional excellence, continuous learning, and exceptional service delivery.
• Develop staff through regular coaching, performance feedback, and individualized professional development plans.
• Work collaboratively with the Executive Director to evaluate staffing structures and organizational capacity as programs continue to evolve.

Operational Excellence and Performance Management

• Ensure effective oversight of program operations, including maximizing occupancy, strengthening intake processes, and maintaining program sustainability.
• Utilize data to monitor performance, identify emerging trends, and proactively address operational challenges before they become barriers to success.
• Develop systems that convert lagging performance indicators into leading indicators that support informed decision-making and continuous improvement.
• Demonstrate sound judgment, excellent professional boundaries, and a solutions-oriented leadership style that promotes accountability throughout the organization.

Compliance and Regulatory Leadership

• Ensure compliance with all accreditations, licensing, Medicaid, Qualified Professional, and regulatory requirements governing residential and community-based youth services.
• Oversee program documentation, quality assurance activities, audits, and regulatory reporting.
• Maintain knowledge of Medicaid Community-Based Services, billing requirements, and applicable state regulations.
• Promote a culture of compliance that supports both high-quality programming and financial sustainability.

Community Partnerships and Mission Advancement

• Build productive partnerships with schools, employers, behavioral health providers, social service agencies, and community organizations that strengthen opportunities for youth.
• Represent Sipe’s Orchard Home with professionalism while serving as an advocate for youth transitioning toward independent adulthood.
• Support organizational initiatives that expand services, strengthen community relationships, and advance Sipe’s long-standing mission of helping young people build brighter futures.

Additionally candidates must meet the following qualifications:

• Master’s degree in a discipline related to human services and four years of progressively responsible experience, including supervisory experience; or a bachelor’s degree in a related field and six years of progressively responsible experience, including two years of supervisory experience.
• Qualified Professional (QP) credential.
• Knowledge of Medicaid Community-Based Services and Medicaid billing.
• Valid North Carolina driver’s license and clean driving record.
• Dependable character and personal qualities as verified through interviews and reference checks, including law enforcement authorities. 
• Ability to perform moderate physical activity at times.
• CPR/First Aid certification.
• Fingerprinting-based check.
• Biennially complete and meet agency and regulatory rules for the following: criminal background check, responsible individual list, sex offender list, NC health and personnel registry, and physical.
• 24 contact hours of training for staff development per calendar year.

Additional Preferred Attributes

• A passion for helping youth overcome adversity and develop the skills and confidence needed to achieve independent adulthood.
• A leadership style that balances compassion with accountability, recognizing that meaningful growth occurs when young people are empowered to take ownership of their futures.
• Exceptional emotional intelligence, sound judgment, and the ability to establish healthy professional boundaries while building trusting relationships.
• A collaborative leadership approach with the ability to serve as a strategic partner to the Executive Director and work effectively across programs and disciplines.
• A strong operational mindset with the ability to improve systems, analyze data, and drive measurable outcomes while maintaining a focus on mission.
• Experience using performance metrics and data to identify trends, solve problems proactively, and continuously improve program effectiveness.
• The ability to inspire, coach, and develop high-performing teams while fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills with youth, staff, families, community partners, and regulatory agencies.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, respond effectively in crisis situations, and maintain attention to detail.
• A flexible, resilient, and solutions-oriented approach in a dynamic environment serving youth with diverse needs.
• High standards of integrity, professionalism, confidentiality, and ethical decision-making.
• An understanding of trauma-informed, strengths-based, and youth-centered practices that promote resilience, hope, and long-term success.
• A commitment to creating an inclusive environment where every young person is treated with dignity, respect, and the belief that they can achieve their full potential.

About the Organization

For more than 80 years, Sipe’s Orchard Home has been helping children, youth, and young adults overcome adversity and build successful, independent futures. Founded in 1943 by Vernon O. and Viola Sipe, the organization has evolved from a traditional children’s home into an innovative nonprofit serving western North Carolina. Guided by its mission of Preparing Children and Youth for Their Best Futures, Sipe’s empowers young people who have experienced abuse, neglect, homelessness, family instability, poverty, or involvement with the foster care system to develop the skills, confidence, and resilience needed to thrive.

Today, Sipe’s is best known for its comprehensive youth services, which focus on helping adolescents and young adults successfully transition to independent adulthood. Through its Transitional Living Program for youth ages 16–21 and Young Adults in Transition services through age 24, Sipe’s provides life-skills development, workforce readiness, educational support, case management, and connections to housing, employment, transportation, and other essential community resources. The organization also offers summer enrichment, and a licensed NC Pre-K program, creating a continuum of services that allows Sipe’s to build lasting relationships with children and young people across multiple stages of development.

Sipe’s Orchard Home is recognized throughout the region for its deeply relational, trauma-informed approach. Rather than simply providing services, staff partner with youth as they work toward meaningful milestones such as graduating from high school, securing employment, learning to manage finances, obtaining a driver’s license, and achieving stable housing. The organization’s culture emphasizes compassion balanced with accountability, individualized support, long-term relationship building, and the belief that lasting success comes from empowering young people to take ownership of their futures. By working collaboratively with schools, behavioral health providers, employers, housing organizations, and community partners, Sipe’s continues to create pathways for young people to break cycles of adversity and build brighter futures.

Want to know more? Visit https://www.sipesorchardhome.org/.

Think you are the next Sipe’s Youth Services Director?

To apply, scroll to the bottom of this page.  You will see instructions for uploading your compelling cover letter, resume, and salary requirements. Please provide all requested information to be considered. In case of any technical problems, contact talent@armstrongmcguire.com. No phone calls, please, and no applications will be accepted by email or directly from third-party posting sites.

Review of candidates will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled with preference given to applications submitted by July 31st.

This is a full-time leadership position offering a competitive salary in the $50,000 to $60,000 range commensurate with experience and qualifications.

Sipe’s Orchard Home offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support employees personally and professionally, including:

• Employee Assistance Program
• Employer-paid life insurance
• Retirement savings plan
• Professional development assistance
• Paid time off and paid holidays
• Opportunities for ongoing leadership development and continuing education

One of the most distinctive and valuable aspects of this opportunity is the option to reside in a historic home located on the Sipe’s Orchard Home campus. This housing benefit is intended for the Youth Services Director and their family, allowing the director to become an integral part of the campus community while providing convenient access to support youth and respond to the occasional needs of the residential program. Participation in the on-site housing arrangement complements the position’s shared on-call responsibilities and reinforces the organization’s relationship-centered approach to serving young people. Occasionally this property may be utilized for the organization’s special events but otherwise is private.

The residence is a 1930s “mini Vanderbilt” style home featuring four beds/baths, multiple living and gathering spaces, three stories including a basement and garage, a fully fenced private backyard, and all utilities included. The home offers ample space for an individual or family, and pets are welcome with responsible ownership. This housing represents a significant component of the overall compensation package and provides an exceptional lifestyle benefit rarely available in comparable nonprofit leadership positions.

Sipes Orchard Home seeks a diverse pool of candidates and is committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age.