What does a Center Director do?
A center director is responsible for ensuring and maintaining the efficiency of child care facilities. Their role is to conduct various assessments, ensure that all aspects adhere to federal requirements, develop programs and supplemental activities in collaboration with child care experts, recruit and hire an efficient workforce, and train staff for professional development. Furthermore, a center director is also responsible for managing budgets, handling issues, meeting parents or guardians to discuss the scope of programs or any other concerns, and implementing policies and regulations.
Center director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real center director resumes:
- Manage programs provide by SDE, DMH, DHS.
- Design, implement and manage day-to-day operation of the 21st CCLC grant support afterschool program.
- Manage daily operations of NAEYC accredit childcare center.
- Manage daily operation for a family-own business with responsibility for sales, production, and administrative functions including payroll.
- Manage delivery of quality early childhood education programs by establishing an environment of learning and maintaining the integrity of the programs.
- Lead a staff of 76 FTE's.
- Assure all Medicare guidelines are follow.
- Develop weekly menus under USDA guidelines.
- Advertise and run after school and summer programs.
- Hire, supervise, and mentor paid nursery attendants.
- Direct the preschool portion of the annual VBS and special events.
- Supervise services department and service coordination departments as authorized by the NYC EIP contract.
- Secure volunteers to aid the planning process for both VBS and other parish wide opportunities.
- Develop, schedule, and deliver necessary administrative and clinical training in compliance with state and HIPAA regulations.
- Save the life of a young infant who suddenly stop breathing through using CPR and reactionary problem solving skills.
Center director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 12% of Center Directors are proficient in Customer Service, Oversight, and Proficiency Testing. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Interpersonal skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Center Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 12%
Created a vendor performance scorecard measuring account management responsiveness, customer service quality and delivery, and customer satisfaction.
- Oversight, 8%
Provided oversight of curriculum planning and implementation; ensuring compliance with DC and federal requirements/standards.
- Proficiency Testing, 6%
Conducted needs-assessment, placement and proficiency testing on all incoming adult and juvenile applicants.
- Center Management, 6%
Worked conjointly with the Network Operations Center Management team to facilitate smooth operations.
- State Regulations, 6%
Developed and maintained a viable volunteer program, incorporating health and convictions documentation in accordance with state regulations.
- Federal Regulations, 6%
Provide training and technical assistance to center staff concerning overall program operations, federal regulations, and state licensing requirements
Most center directors use their skills in "customer service," "oversight," and "proficiency testing" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential center director responsibilities here:
Business skills. The most essential soft skill for a center director to carry out their responsibilities is business skills. This skill is important for the role because "preschool and childcare center directors manage childcare centers and need to be able to operate the business effectively." Additionally, a center director resume shows how their duties depend on business skills: "managed daily operation for a family-owned business with responsibility for sales, production, and administrative functions including payroll. "
Interpersonal skills. Many center director duties rely on interpersonal skills. "preschool and childcare center directors must be able to develop relationships with parents, children, and staff.," so a center director will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways center director responsibilities rely on interpersonal skills: "provide superior customer service using creativity, responsiveness, and strong interpersonal skills while meeting management and business objectives. "
Organizational skills. This is an important skill for center directors to perform their duties. For an example of how center director responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "directors need to maintain clear records about children and staff." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a center director: "developed and maintained strong working relationships with parents, state authorities, community organizational contacts and internal staff. ".
Leadership skills. center director responsibilities often require "leadership skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "preschool and childcare center directors need leadership skills to supervise staff and inspire diligence." This resume example shows what center directors do with leadership skills on a typical day: "provide organizational leadership as project lead for caretime/kronos, the scheduling and payroll system for over 1000 nurses. "
Communication skills. Another common skill required for center director responsibilities is "communication skills." This skill comes up in the duties of center directors all the time, as "directors inform parents and staff about the children’s progress." An excerpt from a real center director resume shows how this skill is central to what a center director does: "maintained communication with established clients to ensure successful business development and to promote client and employee retention through exemplary customer service. "
The three companies that hire the most center directors are:
- KinderCare Education255 center directors jobs
- Octapharma Plasma82 center directors jobs
- CSL Plasma64 center directors jobs
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Compare different center directors
Center director vs. Daycare manager
An assistant center manager is in charge of overseeing the practices and operations in a facility, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities typically revolve around performing administrative support tasks such as managing budgets and schedules, producing progress reports, processing documents, answering calls and correspondence, maintaining records of transactions, updating databases, and assessing the performance of the workforce to ensure client satisfaction. Furthermore, it is essential to implement the company's policies and regulations to maintain a safe and productive work environment for everyone.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a center director are more likely to require skills like "oversight," "proficiency testing," "center management," and "federal regulations." On the other hand, a job as a daycare manager requires skills like "direct care," "front desk," "allergies," and "safety regulations." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Daycare managers tend to reach lower levels of education than center directors. In fact, daycare managers are 15.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.4% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Center director vs. Assistant center manager
A parent educator is an individual who specializes in tutoring parents on skills to help them raise children who are healthy and well-rounded. You will help parents learn the skills they may need to raise children who are healthy emotionally, psychologically, and physically. Parent educators can work as social workers employed by a public agency, in schools and childcare centers, or can be self-employed counselors who specialize in child care and parenting skills.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, center director responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "customer service," "oversight," "proficiency testing," and "state regulations." Meanwhile, an assistant center manager has duties that require skills in areas such as "data entry," "loss prevention," "hr," and "cleanliness." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Assistant center managers earn lower levels of education than center directors in general. They're 10.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Center director vs. Early childhood services director
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a center director is likely to be skilled in "customer service," "proficiency testing," "center management," and "federal regulations," while a typical early childhood services director is skilled in "pre-k," "education programs," "childhood program," and "child development."
Early childhood services directors typically earn higher educational levels compared to center directors. Specifically, they're 7.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Center director vs. Parent educator
Types of center director
Updated January 8, 2025
