Management · Holland code SEC

Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare

Plan, direct, or coordinate academic or nonacademic activities of preschools or childcare centers and programs, including before- and after-school care.

Also called: Child Care Director, Childcare Director, Education Coordinator, Education Director, Child Care Center Director, Day Care Director, Early Childhood Program Supervisor (ECP Supervisor), Early Childhood Services Director.

O*NET 11-9031.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $59,300; Middle half earn $47,040 to $75,500. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: -3% · Decline; 90,200 jobs in 2024, projected 87,900. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Preschool and childcare center directors".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Recruit, hire, train, and evaluate primary and supplemental staff and recommend personnel actions for programs and services.
Confer with parents and staff to discuss educational activities and policies and students' behavioral or learning problems.
Teach classes or courses or provide direct care to children.
Determine allocations of funds for staff, supplies, materials, and equipment and authorize purchases.
Direct and coordinate activities of teachers or administrators at daycare centers, schools, public agencies, or institutions.
Monitor students' progress and provide students and teachers with assistance in resolving any problems.
Determine the scope of educational program offerings and prepare drafts of program schedules and descriptions to estimate staffing and facility requirements.
Review and evaluate new and current programs to determine their efficiency, effectiveness, and compliance with state, local, and federal regulations and recommend any necessary modifications.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Active Listening4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
Writing3.9 / 5
Active Learning3.9 / 5

Knowledge areas

Education and Training4.5 / 5
Administration and Management4.5 / 5
Personnel and Human Resources4.3 / 5
Customer and Personal Service4.2 / 5
Administrative4.1 / 5
English Language3.9 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic3
Investigative32
Artistic30
Social91
Enterprising64
Conventional59

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

child care coordinator · DE Koordinator für Kinderbetreuungsdienste/Koordinatorin für Kinderbetreuungsdienste · FR responsable d'accueil de loisirs
child day care centre manager · DE Leiter einer Kindertagesstätte/Leiterin einer Kindertagesstätte · FR responsable structure d'accueil pour enfants
nursery school head teacher · DE Kindergartenleiter/Kindergartenleiterin · FR directeur d'école maternelle/directrice d'école maternelle
headteacher · DE Leiter einer Schule oder Universität/Leiterin einer Schule oder Universität · FR chef d'établissement scolaire
education programme coordinator · DE Koordinator von Bildungsprogrammen/Koordinatorin von Bildungsprogrammen · FR coordinateur pédagogique/coordinatrice pédagogique
primary school head teacher · DE Grundschulleiter/Grundschulleiterin · FR directeur d'école primaire/directrice d'école primaire

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Education advisers and school inspectors (2323)39,000 employed
Childminders (6114)42,900 employed
Nannies and au pairs (6116)22,400 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Managers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Managers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€96,629
Italy	€96,052
Germany	€90,192
Austria	€82,936
Netherlands	€69,857
Sweden	€60,369
France	€58,740
Ireland	€55,854
Spain	€54,121
Portugal	€39,189
Poland	€19,596

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.84. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (11-9031).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test