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Children Program Director Jobs in Washington, DC

eSimplicity

Program Director

Columbia, MD · On-site

$156K - $187K/yr

... to children, families, and seniors. Our engineers, designers, and strategists cut through ... The Program Director will operate in a transparent, collaborative delivery model with customer ...

The Little Gym

Program Director

Gaithersburg, MD · On-site

$40K - $45K/yr

Programs offer children a Springboard to Life's Adventures by using movement-based learning and ... imaginative play to help build the confidence and skills needed at each stage of childhood. For ...

eSimplicity

Program Director

Columbia, MD · On-site

$187K/yr

... to children, families, and seniors. Our engineers, designers, and strategists cut through ... The Program Director will operate in a transparent, collaborative delivery model with customer ...

eSimplicity

Program Director

Columbia, MD · On-site

$156K - $187K/yr

... to children, families, and seniors. Our engineers, designers, and strategists cut through ... The Program Director will operate in a transparent, collaborative delivery model with customer ...

eSimplicity

Program Director

Columbia, MD · On-site

$156K - $187K/yr

... to children, families, and seniors. Our engineers, designers, and strategists cut through ... The Program Director will operate in a transparent, collaborative delivery model with customer ...

PROGRESSIVE LIFE CENTER

Program Director

Kensington, MD · On-site

$90K - $100K/yr

The Family Preservation program minimizes the risk of children being removed from their family and home. Intensive, in-home services are provided to build upon existing family strengths, minimize ...

Hopkins House

SEEKING PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Alexandria, VA · On-site

Hopkins House, a non-profit learning center for children, youths, and adults, with offices in ... Program Director is responsible for day-to-day management of the ECLI, including recruitment and ...

Hopkins House

SEEKING PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Alexandria, VA · On-site

Hopkins House, a non-profit learning center for children, youths, and adults, with offices in ... Program Director is responsible for day-to-day management of the ECLI, including recruitment and ...

Facets

Director, Adult Only Household

Fairfax, VA · On-site

$70K - $80K/yr

Program Director- Adult Housing Stabilization REPORTS TO: Senior Director of Programs CATEGORY ... FACETS is a non-profit organization that opens doors by helping parents, their children, and ...

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All JobsChildren Program JobsChildren Program Director JobsChildren Program Director Jobs in Washington, DC

Children Program Director information

See Washington, DC salary details

$33.4K

$88.6K

$155.2K

How much do children program director jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 18, 2026, the average yearly pay for children program director in Washington, DC is $88,564.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $60,000.00 and $104,800.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What does a children program director do?

A Children Program Director is responsible for designing, managing, and evaluating programs and activities for children, often within educational, recreational, or community settings. They oversee staff, develop age-appropriate curricula, ensure the safety and well-being of participants, and coordinate with parents and community organizations. Their role involves budgeting, scheduling, and maintaining compliance with relevant regulations to create a positive and enriching environment for children.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a children program director?

To thrive as a Children Program Director, you need a background in education, child development, or a related field, often with a bachelor's degree and experience in program management. Familiarity with curriculum planning tools, child safety regulations, and management software is typically required. Strong leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills help you inspire staff, engage families, and respond effectively to challenges. These competencies are essential for creating enriching, safe, and effective programs that support children's growth and well-being.

What are some common challenges faced by a children program director, and how can they be effectively managed?

Children Program Directors often face challenges such as balancing diverse needs of children, managing staff, and ensuring program compliance with safety and educational standards. Effective management involves maintaining clear communication with team members, staying updated on best practices in child development, and fostering strong relationships with parents and community partners. Proactively addressing staff training and seeking regular feedback can also help create a positive, adaptable program environment.

What is the difference between Children Program Director vs Children Activities Coordinator?

Children Program DirectorChildren Activities Coordinator
Develops and oversees overall program strategies and policiesPlans and executes specific activities and events for children
Requires higher-level management skills and experienceFocuses on day-to-day activity coordination
Typically holds a bachelor's degree in education, recreation, or related fieldMay require similar certifications but less managerial experience
Works in community centers, schools, or religious organizationsWorks in similar environments, often under supervision

The Children Program Director focuses on strategic planning and program management, while the Children Activities Coordinator handles the execution of specific activities. Both roles require relevant certifications and work in similar settings, but the director has broader responsibilities and leadership duties.

How to become a children program director?

To become a children program director, candidates typically need a bachelor's degree in education, child development, or a related field, along with experience working with children and in program management. Relevant skills include leadership, communication, and organizational abilities, and some positions may require certifications such as CPR or first aid. Gaining experience through volunteering or entry-level roles in youth programs can also be beneficial.

What are the most commonly searched types of Children Program jobs in Washington, DC?

The most popular types of Children Program jobs in Washington, DC are:

What are popular job titles related to Children Program Director jobs in Washington, DC?

For Children Program Director jobs in Washington, DC, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Children Program Director jobs in Washington, DC look for?

The top searched job categories for Children Program Director jobs in Washington, DC are:

Children Program Director jobs near you

Program Director

eSimplicity

Columbia, MD • On-site

$156K - $187K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Re-posted 10 days ago

Job description

Description:

About Us

eSimplicity is a modern digital services company that partners with government agencies to improve the lives and protect the well-being of all Americans, from veterans and service members to children, families, and seniors. Our engineers, designers, and strategists cut through complexity to create intuitive products and services that equip federal agencies with solutions to courageously transform today for a better tomorrow.


Position overview

The Program Director will provide executive leadership for eSimplicity’s support of a large-scale federal data and analytics modernization program. The program includes mission-critical production services and long-horizon modernization across cloud platform operations, governed data assets, analytics products, public-facing reporting, APIs, user support, documentation, and AI-enabled capabilities.

This role is responsible for overall program performance, strategic alignment with the customer, contract and budget governance, stakeholder escalation, and delivery health. The Program Director will operate in a transparent, collaborative delivery model with customer product owners, contracting stakeholders, security and privacy stakeholders, data owners, product teams, and partner organizations. This role is ideal for a candidate who thrives in a dynamic environment and is adept at navigating a complex, evolving program that must simultaneously sustain production operations and drive long-horizon modernization across a multi-year period of performance.


Responsibilities

  • Provide executive accountability for program performance, strategic alignment, contract and budget governance, stakeholder escalation, and overall delivery health.
  • Lead an integrated, multi-team delivery model that maintains coverage across platform foundations, cloud operations, security, data supply chain, metadata, governed data asset operations, analytics experience, dashboard governance, public-facing products, AI and advanced platform enablement, external exchange, APIs, partner integrations, user success, documentation, and change management.
  • Maintain a highly collaborative operating model that gives customer personnel continuous visibility into code, documentation, backlogs, metrics, dashboards, risks, decisions, and operational status in approved systems of record.
  • Oversee program deliverables and management artifacts, including roadmap and PI Planning packages, monthly status, risk, and performance reporting, quality inputs, staffing and retention information, transition-in and transition-out readiness, and continuity planning.
  • Provide leadership over applicable coverage areas, including cross-cutting program leadership, architecture coordination, product management, engineering operations, data operations, support operations, domain expertise, and enterprise stakeholder engagement.
  • Promote reuse, portability, documentation quality, customer ownership of artifacts, and sustainable operations across code, infrastructure, analytics products, runbooks, AI configurations, metadata, service guides, and transition materials.
  • Serve as the primary interface to client leadership, product owners, and security stakeholders, cloud and platform partners, product teams, and directed policy or operations groups owning stakeholder escalation and maintaining a collaborative, responsive, and trusting relationship.
  • Collaborate with government partners on the strategic direction of the program, confirming alignment with agency data strategy imperatives and measurable progress toward program goals.
  • Ensure program management practices make outcomes measurable across service reliability, data quality, delivery flow, engineering health, security and compliance, user success, analytics adoption, cost transparency, AI services, AIOps, and metadata maturity.
  • Foster a badge-less culture of innovation and continuous improvement, driving cross-functional team success and coordinating across related programs and platform teams.


Requirements:

Required qualifications

  • 10+ years in IT consulting, with significant agile project/program management experience in the federal government space.
  • All candidates must pass public trust clearance through the U.S. Federal Government. This requires candidates to either be U.S. citizens or pass clearance through the Foreign National Government System which will require that candidates have lived within the United States for at least 3 out of the previous 5 years, have a valid and non-expired passport from their country of birth and appropriate VISA/work permit documentation
  • Bachelor’s degree
  • Demonstrated ability to lead large, complex, multi-team cloud data, analytics, platform, or digital services programs in close partnership with Government or enterprise stakeholders.
  • Experience providing executive-level program governance, stakeholder escalation, risk management, delivery transparency, performance reporting, and budget or contract oversight.
  • Deep understanding of CMS policies, regulations, and security and privacy expectations, with direct experience in Medicaid, CHIP, or comparable federal data and reporting programs.
  • Strong grasp of program financials, staffing, and subcontract management, with a track record of maintaining budget integrity and operational excellence.
  • Ability to lead teams operating through SAFe Agile or comparable multi-team agile delivery models, including PI Planning, cross-team coordination, backlog transparency, demos, retrospectives, and continuous improvement.
  • Working understanding of cloud operations, DevSecOps, data engineering, metadata maturity, business intelligence and analytics, public-facing reporting, API services, AI governance, user support, documentation, and change management.
  • Ability to oversee delivery in customer-approved systems of record for work management, source control, documentation, collaboration, dashboarding, observability, and reporting.
  • Knowledge of federal security, privacy, accessibility, data-use, and Government data-rights expectations applicable to systems handling sensitive Government information.
  • Ability to comply with customer-specific security, privacy, accessibility, quality, training, and data-handling requirements for assigned systems and data.

Preferred qualifications

  • Experience supporting federal, public sector, healthcare, or other regulated data, analytics, oversight, reporting, or public transparency programs.
  • Experience leading enterprise data platform, governed self-service analytics, public dashboard, API, AI/ML, or cloud modernization programs.
  • Familiarity with modern cloud platforms, data platforms, data catalogs, infrastructure-as-code tools, source control, work management tools, collaboration platforms, BI tools, identity services, observability platforms, and security tooling.
  • Experience with cost management, continuity planning, transition-in and transition-out activities, joint operating agreements, and cross-vendor or cross-program coordination.
  • Preferred certifications may include PMP, PgMP, SAFe Lean Portfolio Management, SAFe Release Train Engineer, SAFe Agilist, FinOps, cloud, data governance, or security certifications.

Working Environment:
eSimplicity supports a remote work environment operating within the Eastern time zone so we can work with and respond to our government clients. Expected hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern unless otherwise directed by manager.

Occasional travel for training and project meetings. It is estimated to be less than 5% per year.


Benefits:
eSimplicity offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401(k) retirement benefits, paid time off, paid holidays, life and disability insurance, and additional wellness and employee support programs. Eligibility may vary based on employment status and applicable plan terms.


Reasonable Accommodation:
eSimplicity is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities during the application and hiring process. Applicants who need assistance or an accommodation should contact Human Resources.

Equal Employment Opportunity:
eSimplicity is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.