Neighborhood and Family Engagement Manager

CLASSIFICATION: Exempt 

HOURS AND WORK SCHEDULE: Full-Time. Hours are typically Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM. Occasional evening and weekend hours. 

REPORTS TO: Implementation Director 

SALARY RANGE: $78,396.00 to $84,524.50. Compensation will be based on experience and education. 

SUPERVISES: Family Engagement Lead, Family Engagement Coordinator 

BENEFITS: Ready for School, Ready for Life (Ready Ready) is a Family Forward Certified Workplace by North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation (NCECF) and meets the standards outlined by the Family Forward NC initiative by offering policies and practices that support the health and well-being of North Carolina’s children and families. The benefits package includes health, dental, vision, group life insurance, a 401(k) contribution, paid parental leave, a generous holiday schedule, paid time off, a remote work stipend, and a flexible work schedule. A computer, monitor, docking station, keyboard, mouse, webcam, and printer will be provided. Ready Ready values professional development and offers opportunities for staff to strengthen and further develop their individual skill set. 

ABOUT READY FOR SCHOOL, READY FOR LIFE 

Ready Ready is committed to building a connected, innovative system of care that ensures every child in Guilford County is set up for lifelong learning and success. As a backbone organization, Ready Ready is not a direct service provider, but instead provides strategic and programmatic support to more than 300 community-based organizations, including educators, healthcare providers and social service agencies, serving our youngest children and their families—from prenatal through age 8. 

Ready Ready was born in 2007 from a community effort focused on reducing poverty in Guilford County. In 2018, The Duke Endowment and Blue Meridian Partners joined this effort to promote economic and social mobility. Together, we are creating a long-term, comprehensive, evidence-based approach for systemic change that builds the capacity of community partners and fundamentally improves the lives of children in Guilford County. 

Today, Ready Ready is entering a pivotal and exciting new chapter. Under new leadership, we are moving with renewed focus, innovation, and passion for the future of Guilford County and the state. We are building on strong momentum, expanding our reach, and deepening our impact. With clarity of vision and commitment, we are strengthening the collective system that connects families to the right services at the right time, using data to inform decisions, and measuring outcomes to ensure lasting impact. 

We are excited to expand our team with mission-driven individuals who want to take this work to the next level and contribute to meaningful change for families and young children across Guilford County. 

WHAT WE DO 

With an entrepreneurial spirit, forward-looking vision and a $4M budget, Ready Ready works to ensure that all Guilford County children enter school with the skills, supports and opportunities they need to thrive in life. For parents, families and caregivers, we streamline the process for accessing support services so that their children have the foundation to start school strong and developmentally on track.    

Specifically, we support partner organizations and public agencies providing direct service with the following:  

• Expansion and integration of evidence-informed and evidence-based programs.  

• Design and execution of an integrated data system. 

• Design and execution of a family-friendly navigation system. 

• Implementation of capacity building practices among service providers. 

• Rigorous evaluation of implementation and impact.  

Ready Ready enhances this direct service through its collective impact backbone (intermediary) role in guiding vision and strategy, supporting aligned activities, establishing shared measurement practices, building public will, advancing policy, and mobilizing funding. 

Please note that while we are deeply committed to supporting young children and their families, our work does not involve direct interaction with children with the exception of a few roles. Instead, we focus on equipping our partners with the tools and resources they need to make a lasting impact in the community. That includes state agencies, medical home providers, education systems, and community-based organizations. 

POSITION SUMMARY 

The Neighborhood and Family Engagement Manager leads Ready Ready’s comprehensive family engagement strategy, ensuring the organization remains deeply connected to the lived experiences of families in Guilford County. This role oversees neighborhood-level work, including grants to anchor organizations in four priority zip codes, and provides strategic leadership for family voice and advocacy initiatives. The Neighborhood and Family Engagement Manager supervises the Family Engagement Lead and Coordinator, ensuring cohesive execution of family engagement activities across the county. This role builds pathways for parent and caregiver leadership, strengthens relationships with partners, and ensures family perspectives shape Ready Ready’s collective impact work. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of family engagement and advocacy.  

RESPONSIBILITIES 

Family Engagement Strategy and Leadership 

• Lead the development, implementation, and continuous refinement of Ready Ready’s family engagement strategy. 

• Ensure family engagement approaches are inclusive, equitable, and responsive to community input. 

• Supervise and support the Family Engagement Lead and Coordinator, fostering professional growth and alignment with organizational priorities. 

• Partner with the Implementation Director to ensure family engagement work is integrated across all implementation strategies. 

Neighborhood-Level Work 

• Oversee grants to anchor organizations in four priority zip codes, serving as the primary liaison and accountability partner. 

• Provide regular communication, monitoring, and support to anchor organizations to ensure effective implementation and alignment with Ready Ready’s goals. 

• Document neighborhood-level work and outcomes to inform reporting, evaluation, and funder communications. 

• Identify opportunities to strengthen collaboration among anchor organizations and partners working in priority neighborhoods. 

Family Voice and Advocacy 

• Build and maintain strong relationships with parents, caregivers, and community voice partners. 

• Create opportunities for families to inform decision-making, share lived experiences, and shape systems change. 

• Support pathways for parent leadership and advocacy, ensuring families have meaningful roles in Ready Ready’s work. 

Team and Organizational Support 

• Partner with the Family Engagement Coordinator to ensure timely administrative support, communication, and logistics for family engagement activities. 

• Collaborate with the Family Engagement Lead to strengthen direct engagement with parents, caregivers, and voice partners across Guilford County. 

• Provide regular updates, reports, and recommendations to the Implementation Director and leadership team. 

• Partner with the Data and Communications teams to align messaging, track outcomes, and highlight family voice in organizational storytelling. 

General 

• Document, synthetize, and analyze job-related data to use for learning and improvement, to track progress, and to report to funders and other stakeholders.  

• Provide regular reports on progress to Ready Ready leadership team and liaise across other partners/consultants.  

• Perform other duties as assigned by the CEO and/or supervisor.  

QUALIFICATIONS   

This is an outstanding opportunity to play a critical role in building a system of care for Guilford County’s youngest children and their families. Therefore, first and foremost, the Neighborhood and Family Engagement Manager must be committed to the mission of Ready Ready. Additionally, the successful candidate will be able to demonstrate: 

Required 

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Early Childhood, Public Health, Community Engagement, or a related field; Master’s preferred. 

• At least 5 years of experience in family engagement, community organizing, or related work. 

• Experience supervising staff and supporting team development. 

• Strong project management and organizational skills, with the ability to balance multiple priorities. 

• Proven ability to build trust and relationships with families, community leaders, and partner organizations. 

• Demonstrated experience managing grants, partnerships, or community-based initiatives. 

• Excellent communication skills (verbal, written, and facilitation). 

• Commitment to equity, inclusion, and lifting family voice in systems change. 

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and comfort with digital collaboration tools (e.g., Teams, Zoom, shared drives). 

• Commitment to equity, inclusion, and Ready Ready’s mission of improving outcomes for children and families. 

Desired 

• Experience working in Guilford County or similar communities. 

• Familiarity with collective impact approaches and systems-level change. 

• Experience supporting parent or caregiver leadership networks.