Program Coach
Small Magic is seeking a Program Coach to deliver high-quality coaching, facilitation, and cohort management across Small Magic's direct programs, building relationships with families and childcare providers to move the needle on kindergarten readiness.
KEY DETAILS
- Reports to: Program Director
- Works closely with: Outreach & Engagement Lead, Programs team, and directly with
- families and/or childcare providers
- Location: Birmingham, AL
- Schedule: Full-time | Evening or weekend availability required (family programs typically begin at 5:30 PM CT)
- Compensation: $54,000-65,000 annually
WHO WE ARE
Small Magic is a Birmingham-based organization focused on one goal: ensuring children under five are ready for kindergarten and a life of opportunity. We work alongside families,providers, and civic leaders to strengthen the early learning ecosystem across our city through direct programming and broader systems-level work.
We are entering a defining chapter. With significant new public and private investments committed, Small Magic is scaling rapidly expanding the number of families and early learning centers we serve and deepening the quality of that work. Program Coaches are the heart of our ability to serve. They are the extension of our belief that families deserve the very best and do this through their coaching and facilitating to create quality repeatable opportunities to learn and build community.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
The Program Coach owns the relationships, facilitation, and logistics that make Small Magic's direct programs work. This is not a classroom teaching role or a case management role; it sits at the intersection of adult learning, behavior change, professional development, and community trust-building. You will support a group of children or adults from the time they sign up for a program through their graduation, creating a personalized experience and high quality opportunities to learn.
Depending on organizational need, you may be deployed primarily on family-facing programs, center-facing programs, and on some occasions both. The core skills translate across both service lines (centers or families).
You will:
- Coach toward positive outcomes for kids | On the family side, you will work with caregivers to build the knowledge, confidence, and habits that improve kindergarten readiness at home. This includes providing individual coaching, and meeting families where they are practically and emotionally. On the center side, you will develop early learning professionals coaching teachers and centers to improve classroom quality and learning environment.
- Facilitate with consistency and skill | You will lead group sessions with either families or professional learning communities with the preparation, presence, and adaptability that makes facilitation feel effortless even when it isn't. On the family side, evening facilitation can be a regular part of this role.
- Manage your groups end-to-end | You own the logistics and administrative needs of your groups Enrollment, technology, materials, scheduling, attendance, follow-through. You are the person participants call when something isn't working, when they aren’t seeing any progress, and you help make sure it gets resolved.
- Track progress and use data to improve | You will monitor participant progress, document what's working and what isn't, and contribute to a culture of continuous improvement across the program team and our programs.
- Flex across program service lines as needed | Small Magic's programs evolve. You might be asked to move between family-facing and center-facing work as organizational need requires, bringing the same quality of relationship and execution to both.
While not requirements for application, competitive candidates will likely have:
- Experience working with families with young children
- Experience living in or working with lower income communities
- Comfort with learning new curricula
TO MAKE THIS CONCRETE
If you were in this role today, you might be:
- On the family side: Facilitating a Tuesday evening family group session, then conducting Thursday coaching sessions with families on how to improve something new they’re trying with their child
- On the center side: Visiting a couple of centers to coach teachers on classroom talk strategies and visiting others to check on their progress with tasks related to increasing their quality rating
- Coordinating device/materials distribution for certain programs and/or troubleshooting for a new group before their first session
- Reviewing attendance and engagement data across your groups and flagging participants who may need additional support before the next session
- Collaborating with the Outreach & Engagement Lead to ensure a smooth handoff for incoming participants
WHO YOU ARE
We'll evaluate candidates for this role based on demonstrated strength in the areas below:
- Oral & Written Communication | You communicate clearly and concisely from a text to a parent to an email about orientation and sign up. You can adjust the way you are communicating to meet the moment and the ways you communicate are human and warm.
- Coaching Excellence | You know how to structure a coaching conversation focused on goal-setting, reflection, accountability. You listen to understand, you ask questions that surface what someone actually needs, not just what they're saying. You reflect back accurately and make people feel genuinely heard before you move to action and you move people forward with intention.
- Facilitation Excellence | You deliver group sessions that are engaging, purposeful, and responsive to where participants actually are. You don't read from a script, instead you work from deep preparation and move with the flow and dynamics of the setting. You know when to dig deeper and ask questions and when to bring a moment to an end.
- Adult Learning | You understand how adults learn and change whether a parent or a childcare provider. You know that behavior change is slow, nonlinear, and requires trust before it requires information. You can facilitate a session that meets people where they are and moves them forward. You know the difference between transferring information and facilitating learning. You understand how adults learn and change.
- Timely & Responsive Communication | You close the loop. You respond promptly, communicate changes before they become surprises, and never leave someone wondering or unclear on what comes next.
- Prioritization & Time Management | You manage a complex, multi-task workload without dropping things. You know how to triage when everything feels urgent, protect time for high-impact work, and make deliberate choices about where your attention goes and who to serve when.
- Project & Cohort Management | You run logistics with the same care you bring to relationships. Scheduling, materials, enrollment, data entry, follow-through are all reflective of the systems you build that keep your groups on track.
- Data Discipline | You track what matters (participation, engagement, progress). You notice when a participant is disengaging before they disappear. You use information to improve your practice, not just to report upward.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Research shows that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. If you are excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we strongly encourage you to apply anyway.
Small Magic is committed to building a team that reflects the diversity and strength of the community we serve. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic.
The compensation range for this role is $54,000-65,000 annually, commensurate with demonstrated competency and prior experience. Benefits include a highly flexible work environment, premium health insurance, retirement matching (up to 5% after 3 months), paid time off (approximately 30 days), professional development funds, and a work-issued laptop.
Please visit https://smallmagic.org/careers/ to apply.
Pay: $54,000.00 - $65,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Flexible schedule
- Health insurance
- Parental leave
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
