Youth Development Program Director Jobs in Texas

The YMCA of Greater Houston Youth Development Site Director supports the work of the Y, a leading nonprofit committed to strengthening community through youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility.

The Youth Development Site Director provides direction for the program and staff and implements school-age enrichment program curriculum. Provides a quality experience to children and parents that focuses on youth development, including the YMCA core values: honesty, respect, responsibility, caring, and faith. Responsible for ensuring the safety and well-being of children and leading age-appropriate activities and appropriately monitoring children's behavior in care.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
1. Site Management: Serve as the designated Texas Childcare Licensing Site Director, ensuring compliance with all YMCA Houston and state regulations and standards. Oversee daily site operations to ensure a safe, nurturing, and enriching environment for all children. Maintains program spaces and equipment, coordinates the setup and breakdown of activity areas, and ensures all required postings and compliance materials are displayed. Organizes the delivery and distribution of snacks, supplies, and program documents to support day to day operations. Maintains compliance binders, including TRS, CCL, accommodations, and other required documentation, ensuring accuracy and readiness for audits.
2. Supervision and Safety: Ensures the safety, supervision, and security of children and staff at the site. Monitors children's behavior and engagement, conducts regular headcounts, and maintains accurate attendance records. Monitor the children's activities to ensure they engage in safe and age-appropriate behaviors. Responds promptly and appropriately to emergencies in alignment with YMCA policies. Operates the site in a way that supports maintaining a minimum TRS 3-Star rating and achieving zero high-level CCL citations, qualifying the program as a model site for training future Site Leads and Counselors.
3. Behavior Management: Implement positive behavior management techniques to promote a respectful and inclusive environment. Address behavioral issues calmly and constructively, following YMCA and licensing guidelines.
4. Program & Policy Compliance: Conduct regular safety drills and ongoing compliance checks /inspections to ensure compliance with licensing requirements and YMCA policies. Ensure required postings are on display. Follow all organizational policies and procedures, including those related to health and safety, child protection, and confidentiality. Maintain a clean and developmentally appropriate program environment, adhering to sanitation and safety standards. Report any concerns or issues to Program Director promptly.
5. Program Planning and Implementation: Leads the delivery of age-appropriate activities, engaging activities, including structured and unstructured activities as outlined in YMCA approved curriculum. Encourage and facilitate positive social interactions among children. Adapt activities to meet the diverse needs and interests of all children. Evaluate program effectiveness and make adjustments as necessary.
6. Parent and Community Engagement: Communicate regularly with parents regarding their child's progress, behavior, and any concerns. Address parent inquiries and concerns promptly and professionally. Represents the YMCA professionally at PTO meetings, school events, and other campus functions. Promotes YMCA programs during campus, YMCA, and community events and assists with distributing recruitment flyers to families.
7. Administrative Duties: Maintain accurate enrollment and attendance records, including sign-in sheets and daily rosters. Coordinates bulletin boards and flyer displays to ensure consistent program communication. Supports data collection efforts, including surveys and evaluations, and assists with gathering impact stories and images for grants and reports. Supports photo and video collection to enhance social media storytelling and highlight program impact. Assist with managing collections and making updates to family profiles
8. Program Growth and Retention: Assist with on-site youth and staff recruitment, which includes flyer distribution and in-person engagement. Supports staff referral efforts and helps develop strategies that strengthen enrollment and retention. Monitors daily attendance patterns and identifies participants at risk due to outstanding balances.
9. Program Quality: Plan and implements lesson/activity plans curriculum that includes both formal and informal play within the center and outdoors in adherence to Y program model, curriculum and quality standards. Implements and monitors the YMCA Youth Program Quality (YPQ) process, using observational data to evaluate program success and guide continuous improvements.
10. Child Abuse Prevention: Reports suspicious and inappropriate behaviors and policy violations. Follows mandated abuse and incident reporting requirements. Ensures youth are properly signed in and signed out, ensures only authorized adults are allowed in the facility, etc. Adheres to policies related to boundaries with each child. Ensures unused rooms and closets remain locked; routinely monitors high-risk locations (bathrooms), etc.

YMCA COMPETENCIES (YOUTH DEVELOPMENT LEADER)
Collaboration: Creates sustainable relationships within the Y and with other organizations in service to the community

Communication & Influence: Listens and expresses self effectively and in a way that engages, inspires, and builds commitment to the Y's cause

Developing Self & Others: Develops self and supports others (e.g., staff, volunteers, members, program participants), both formally and informally, to achieve their highest potential

Functional Expertise: Executes superior technical skills for the role

Inclusion: Values all people for their unique talents, and takes an active role in promoting practices that support diversity, inclusion, and global work, as well as cultural competence

Program/Project Management: Ensures program or project goals are met and intended impact occurs

QUALIFICATIONS
1. Must be at least 21 years of age.
2. High school diploma or general education degree (GED) required. Must have a minimum of 70 clock hours of training in child or youth development, recreational leadership, or management. Two (2) college courses are equivalent to 100 clock hours. Minimum Standard #744.1017.
3. Minimum of two (2) years of experience working with youth at a licensed facility, church, school, or equivalent setting.
4. Eligible to be listed as a qualified caregiver for Texas Child Care Licensing.
5. CPR, First Aid, AED certifications, and Child Abuse prevention trainings.
6. Ability to plan, organize, and implement age-appropriate/developmentally appropriate program activities.
7. Experience working with diverse populations.
8. Supervisory experience preferred.
9. Current record of tuberculosis examination and/or current local health department regulations, examinations, and/or immunization as required by the local or State Department of Health.
10. Pass a local/state background and FBI fingerprinting check.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
This position does not have direct reports.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE
High school diploma or general education degree (GED) with demonstrated interest in the welfare of children; prior childcare or babysitting experience is preferred.

LANGUAGE SKILLS
Ability to read and comprehend simple instructions, short correspondence, and memos. Ability to write simple correspondence. Ability to effectively present information in one-on-one and small group situations to customers, clients, and other employees of the organization.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS
Ability to add and subtract two-digit numbers and to multiply and divide with 10's and 100's. Ability to perform these operations using units of American money and weight measurement, volume, and distance.

REASONING ABILITY
Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out simple one- or two-step instructions. Ability to deal with standardized situations with only occasional or no variables.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the essential and marginal functions the employee may be required to maintain physical condition necessary for adequate physical performance including light to moderate lifting (up to 25 lbs with occasional lifting of up to 50 lbs.); bending, stooping, kneeling, crawling, climbing; standing, walking, pushing, pulling, reaching, balancing, and crouching; use of hands and fingers, handle or feel; reach; speak and hear, use close and distant vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perceptions, and ability to adjust focus; must utilize auditory, sensory abilities constantly on the job site.

WORK ENVIRONMENT
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Work is performed in a primarily indoor environment during the AfterSchool; some exposure to the outdoor environment occurs; this may include exposure to weather conditions such as heat or cold during summer or winter events. Exposure to noise, cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, sweat, spills, and messes within the facility.

Some physical requirements of a day camp position could be endurance including prolonged standing, some bending, stooping, walking long distances, hiking, getting into the pool, climbing, and stretching; requires eye-hand coordination and manual dexterity to manipulate outdoor equipment and camp activities; requires normal range of hearing and eyesight to record, prepare, and communicate appropriate camper activities/programs and the ability to lift up to 50 lbs; willing to work in a camp setting and work irregular hours with limited or simple equipment and facilities; and with daily exposure to the sun, heat, and animals such as bugs, etc.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

WORK SCHEDULE
Before/After School: Part-time, typically Monday-Friday, morning shift 6:30 am - 8:30 am, afternoon shift 2:30 pm - 6:30 pm (start and end time may vary). Program runs concurrently with the ISD calendar.

Camp: Typically Monday-Friday, 6:30 am - 6:30 pm with a morning, afternoon, and evening shift option (start and end time may vary). Camps run concurrently with ISD calendar breaks. Position will default to a Youth Development Counselor during Camp Seasons unless employee applies for an alternative position.

Must be available to attend and participate in family nights, program activities, staff meetings, and staff trainings. Details will be provided in advance.

TRAVEL
Travel is primarily to an assigned site/camp; however, there are occasions when travel to other locations. Primary work location may change due to regional needs.

OTHER DUTIES
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

The YMCA of Greater Houston provides Equal Employment Opportunities for employment to all employees and applicants, including disability and protected veteran status.