Senior Program Officer, ECE
THE COMPANY
The Low Income Investment Fund is a non-profit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that mobilizes capital and partners to achieve opportunity, equity and wellbeing for people and communities. LIIF innovates financial solutions to create more equitable outcomes for all by building and preserving affordable homes, quality educational opportunities from early childhood through higher education, health clinics, healthy food retail and community facilities. In this way, LIIF provides a bridge between private capital markets and communities. LIIF’s headquarters is in San Francisco and has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, and Washington D.C.
REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS:
This position reports to the Program Manager, Early Care and Education Program and collaborates with the broader Early Care and Education and LIIF teams.
JOB SUMMARY:
The Senior Program Officer, Early Care and Education, plays a critical role in implementing initiatives that strengthen and expand licensed child care supply by providing technical assistance, training, and project support to early care and education providers. Working closely with Family Child Care providers and Child Care Centers, the Senior Program Officer helps providers navigate licensing requirements, improve facilities, and strengthen operational practices that support program stability and growth. Through relationship-based coaching, site visits, and group trainings, the Senior Program Officer supports providers in creating safe, high-quality learning environments and increasing access to early learning opportunities for children and families. The role also includes helping providers build foundational financial practices and connecting them to capital and small business resources when appropriate to support long-term sustainability. This position works closely with public agencies, community partners, and financial institutions to ensure providers receive coordinated support and that programs contribute to measurable improvements in child care access, particularly in underserved communities. This role is ideal for a mission-driven, organized, and collaborative professional dedicated to improving outcomes for children and families.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Facilities Grant Management & Technical Assistance
- Provide individualized technical assistance to licensed Family Child Care homes and Child Care Centers across Los Angeles County.
- Manage full expansion grant lifecycle including application intake, due diligence, contracting, disbursement, and closeout.
- Support providers in navigating licensing requirements, health and safety standards, and facilities readiness for expansion.
- Assist providers in completing repair, renovation, or facilities improvement projects that enhance licensed capacity.
- Guide providers in strengthening operational practices, including budgeting, recordkeeping, cash flow tracking, and long-term business sustainability planning.
- Maintain real-time tracking systems to monitor pipeline activity, award status, project timelines, and budgets.
- Conduct virtual and in-person site visits to assess needs, identify barriers, document progress, and ensure compliance with program milestones.
- Support communications and outreach to ensure grant opportunities are equitably distributed across diverse provider communities and underrepresented populations.
Training and Capacity Building
- Support providers in establishing core financial management practices, including budgeting, cash-flow tracking, basic recordkeeping, and separation of business and personal finances (particularly for Family Child Care providers).
- Connect providers to capital access programs, lending partners, or small business resources when appropriate to support facilities improvements or business sustainability.
- Develop and lead trainings or workshops on facility best practices, physical environments for young children, financial literacy, business sustainability, and operational resilience.
- Create and disseminate resource guides, tip sheets, and planning tools tailored to early childhood programs.
Data, Evaluation, and Continuous Improvement
- Support data collection and evaluation efforts by tracking key data points, outcomes and contributing to program learning and reporting.
- Contribute to reports for funders, internal leadership, and external stakeholders on program outcomes and success stories.
- Identify areas for process improvement, propose enhancements to internal systems, and participate in cross-team learning sessions.
Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration
- Coordinate with internal LIIF teams and external partners to connect providers to additional support, including facilities funding, business coaching, or community-based resources aligned with their needs.
- Partner with local government departments, including but not limited, Community Care Licensing, local Fire, Building, and Planning Departments, affordable housing developers, and other emergency financial assistance providers, to align development strategies.
- Participate in outreach and community engagement efforts to increase awareness of available supports for child care providers.
Other Duties as Assigned:
- Support the overall mission and work of the ECE team as needed.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s degree in Early Care and Education, Architecture, Planning, Operations, Business Administration, Public Administration, Finance, or a related field.
- Minimum of 2-3 years experience in Early Care and Education (ECE), California child care licensing, and community-based program implementation.
- Bilingual Spanish preferred.
- Strong organization and project management skills.
- Ability to work independently while managing multiple priorities.
- Training and business technical assistance experience for child care providers or small businesses.
- Knowledge or willingness to learn about planning and building codes for child care and community facilities.
- Understanding of facilities construction, management, project planning, and cost estimation.
- Strong collaboration skills with diverse stakeholders in public and private sectors.
- Excellent communication skills (bilingual preferred).
- Willingness to travel throughout Los Angeles County for site visits and occasional evening/weekend work.
- Proficiency in cloud-based systems and databases (Salesforce experience a plus).
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
LIIF offers a hybrid work environment with flexibility to balance in-office and remote work. However, all employees are expected to work on-site at least two (2) days per week. Regular travel within Los Angeles County is required for site visits and community meetings. The successful candidate may also be expected to travel occasionally for conferences, meetings, or other Company sponsored events.
All Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. In accordance with LIIF's policies, we provide reasonable accommodations, absent undue hardship, to qualified individuals who cannot get vaccinated against COVID-19 because of sincerely held religious or medical reasons. If you believe you need an accommodation from the vaccination mandate required by this policy, please notify our Human Resources Department.
HOW TO APPLY:
Please apply with Resume and Cover Letter via our recruitment portal: Recruitment (adp.com)
Notice to Third Party Recruitment Agencies:
Please note that Low Income Investment Fund does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of an executed Recruitment Services Agreement, there will be no obligation to any referral compensation or recruiter fee.
In the event a recruiter or agency submits a resume or candidate without an agreement Low Income Investment Fund shall explicitly reserve the right to pursue and hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted to hiring managers, shall be deemed the property of Low Income Investment Fund.
We do not accept unsolicited phone calls. Only candidates being considered for a position will be contacted.
LIIF, an EOE (Equal Opportunity Employer), believes that diversity ensures excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or national origin. Candidates of diverse backgrounds and with diverse experience are strongly encouraged to apply for this position.
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