Early Childhood Specialist $100,000 USD/year Pay is set based on global value, not the local market.
Most roles = hourly rate x 40 hrs x 50 weeks
Description
- $100,000/year W2 salary, paid weekly; health, dental, and vision benefits begin day one
- On-site at an Alpha campus in Phoenix, AZ; Oklahoma City, OK; Tulsa, OK; Nashville, TN; Austin, TX; Fort Worth, TX; Houston, TX; or Park City (Salt Lake City), UT (relocation support available)
You are not a teacher. Your role is to motivate.
The most supportive action for a six-year-old who achieves 99% of their goal is to refuse to accept it as complete. If that standard creates discomfort, this role is not for you. If it resonates because maintaining high expectations is how you demonstrate belief in a kindergartener's potential, continue reading.
At Alpha, students in grades K-3 complete their academic learning through AI-powered applications in two hours daily. As a Guide, you oversee one cohort band — either K-1 (Kindergarten–1st grade) or 2-3 (2nd–3rd grade) — and adjust your energy, rhythm, and workshop delivery to fit that band. There are no lectures or worksheets. Half of your day is spent facilitating one-hour life-skills workshops covering public speaking, focus, and feedback exchange. These workshops serve as frameworks, not rigid scripts — high performers in this role customize them for their cohort and create new ones when gaps appear. The remaining half involves working with students individually or in small groups, analyzing Coachbot data, and coaching each child toward 100% completion of their weekly app targets. With five- and six-year-olds, energy and play are not supplementary; they are essential tools for sustaining attention and enabling learning. Warmth builds trust and earns you the credibility to push. That push communicates your belief in their capability.
A successful quarter means every student completes their weekly app goals, passes the Test2Pass for every life-skills workshop, and at least 90% report that they love you. Falling short on any of these three metrics means the job has not been done. In your first year, you will master the operational playbook; as you demonstrate the ability to uphold standards, advancement to Lead Guide becomes available, where you mentor new hires while continuing direct work with students.
If you prefer traditional teaching structures, expect a fully developed curriculum to be handed to you, or view warmth and rigor as incompatible, this role will not suit you. If you have been an early-elementary teacher who excelled during circle time, a camp counselor for young children, a youth sports coach, a children's theater performer, or anyone capable of captivating a room of kindergarteners through presence, playfulness, and energy, the final step before an offer is a shadow day on campus where you coach actual Alpha students. If that prospect excites you most, apply today.
What you will be doing
- Facilitating one-hour life-skills workshops for cohorts of 10-15 K-3 students, covering public speaking, focus, feedback, and other foundational skills
- Conducting daily 1:1 and small-group coaching sessions to maintain student progress toward weekly app goals, leveraging Coachbot analytics, Alpha's incentive structures (school currency, leaderboards), and the individual relationship you have built with each child
- Administering the Test2Pass (Alpha's mastery-based assessment) for each life skill, and continuing to coach students who do not pass until mastery is achieved
- Engaging kindergarteners with songs, stories, movement, and play, while simultaneously holding second and third graders accountable to clear, measurable expectations
- Serving as the warm adult children are excited to see at drop-off AND the adult who will not permit them to settle for less than their best
What you will NOT be doing
- Delivering lectures at the whiteboard; academic content is handled by the apps, not by you
- Creating curriculum from the ground up; Alpha supplies the playbook and you execute it with authenticity
- Passively supervising children on computers; motivation in this role is active, personal, and continuous
- Reducing a weekly target so a child can meet it; when a student falls behind, the solution is to support the student, not adjust the goal
- Grading homework, conducting standardized test preparation, or managing parent communication; Campus Leads handle parent-facing responsibilities, and the rest does not exist in this model
Key responsibilities
Ensure every student in your K-3 cohort achieves their weekly learning targets, demonstrates mastery of each life skill, and concludes the year reporting that they loved you.
Candidate requirements
- Willing to work on-site at an Alpha campus in Phoenix, AZ; Oklahoma City, OK; Tulsa, OK; Nashville, TN; Austin, TX; Fort Worth, TX; Houston, TX; or Park City (Salt Lake City), UT (relocation support provided)
- Bachelor's degree in any subject
- At least 3 years of direct experience working with children ages 4 to 9 (early-elementary teaching, coaching, tutoring, camp counseling, or youth program leadership)
- A specific example you can describe of motivating a young child to a hard goal: the goal, what you did, and the outcome
- Able to attend a paid training program at our Austin, TX campus
- Willingness to let AI handle the instructional content while you focus on motivation and life-skills coaching
- Legally authorized to work in the US without visa sponsorship
Nice to have
- Experience in youth athletics coaching, children's theater, camp leadership, Montessori/progressive early education, or after-school programs where you were directly responsible for motivating young kids toward specific goals
- Personal history of high achievement (academic, athletic, or professional), such that holding others to a hard bar is a pattern, not a posture
- Natural performer's presence with little kids — the ability to hold a room of kindergarteners through voice, silliness, and movement
- Track record of turning shy or resistant little kids into confident, active participants
You will be working for
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