Senior Associate Manager - Lived Experience

The Senior Associate Manager – Lived Experience position is part of the federal National Child Welfare Center for Innovation and Advancement (Center) contract in support of and in partnership with the Children’s Bureau (CB), Administration for Children and Families (ACF). The Center helps advance the Children’s Bureau’s priorities around shared decision-making with lived experience experts, racial equity, and providing prevention-oriented services to prevent child maltreatment and help all families thrive. The Senior Associate Manager – Lived Experience will be responsible for supporting Center staff in the ongoing development and support of authentic engagement of individuals with lived expertise in all aspects of Center projects and operations.

The successful candidate will have experience delivering and supporting others to deliver services related to diversity, equity, and inclusiveness in a child welfare environment. In addition, the successful candidate will have experience, knowledge, and expertise in authentically and meaningfully engaging individuals with lived expertise in a project setting.  The successful candidate will have broad knowledge of the public child welfare service continuum and of child welfare policy and practice issues related to workforce, prevention, child welfare/child protection, as well as collaboration and project management skills. This role is responsible for conceptualizing and managing work plan deliverables related to the integration of lived experience across multiple tasks – ensuring timeliness and quality of work. Under the leadership of the Executive Director, the Senior Associate Manager – Lived Experience will engage directly with the CB and establish and sustain a collaborative and trusting relationship, representing the Center in client communications and meetings.

Key Responsibilities

Establish and lead a “shoulder-to-shoulder” working relationship with project leadership including the Cultural and Linguistic Competence Coordinator and Innovation Lead, as well as federal partners, including the Children’s Bureau Regional Office Specialists and CFSR Leads.

Maintain responsive communication and strong relationships with multiple federal, jurisdictional, federally funded, and internal partners aimed at supporting successful services within jurisdictional agencies.

Provide leadership in assigned states in innovation and problem solving. Collaborate as part of a team to ensure that the expertise, skills, and relationships of project consultants and staff are leveraged to provide effective services to meet outcomes for children and families. Work in close collaboration with national expert consultants in all facets of service delivery.

Serve as a resource to Center staff for integrating lived expertise and the application of a racial equity framework (and the intersection of the two), in work planning and ongoing service delivery.

In conjunction with the Executive Director and Cultural Competence and Linguistic Coordinator, regularly review work plans for inclusion of lived expertise integration and integration of a racial equity framework.

Monitor ongoing areas of need of individual staff and team in support of work planning and overall project design and enhance staff knowledge/skills to meet needs.

Provide ongoing coaching to project staff to support integration and meaningful inclusion of individuals with lived expertise across Center service delivery.

Providing leadership in Center Meetings representing jurisdictional needs and CB priorities related to infusing diverse, representative youth and family voice and expertise in system change efforts, particularly those who may be at risk of negative outcomes.

Coordinate with the Center’s Young Adult Consultant (YAC) Coordinator and the Center’s sub-contractor for Family Consultant (FC) oversight to identify and implement opportunities and solutions and facilitate ongoing communication to improve YAC and FC integration within direct service delivery.

Provide ongoing training, coaching, and modeling to project staff on the integration of lived experience and racial equity. This occurs in partnership with the Cultural Competence and Linguistic Coordinator, as well as the YAC and FC Coordinators and our lived expertise pool.

Partner with service area leads and staff to identify areas for increased coordination and engagement around racial equity and lived expertise including data, knowledge management, and evaluation.

Advise service area leads and project leadership as needed on improved supports to staff for integration of lived expertise across projects.

Participate as needed in project hiring, recruitment, and retention activities.

Support the project leadership in engaging with the internal evaluation team on any efforts involving lived expertise.

Develop relationships with other CB-funded entities and stakeholders providing services and supports to child welfare agencies to advance racial equity and strengthen integration of lived experience.

Serve as the Center representative (or coach other staff in their participation) to integrated project teams developing products, events, or other services related to authentic engagement of lived expertise.

Maintain expert knowledge about racial equity and meaningful engagement of lived expertise in child welfare and related areas of focus.

Contribute to regular reporting and support all activities related to the Center’s evaluation including data collection and continuous quality improvement efforts.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, public administration, or related area of focus.
• 8+ years professional work experience with at least 5 years of experience in training, quality assurance or improvement, or technical assistance provision in a human services field, preferably in child welfare.
• 8+ years project management experience, including key partner relationship and consultant management, development of project timelines and benchmarks, and providing guidance and direction to staff across projects and among a variety of teams.
• 8+ years professional experience utilizing effective strategies for meaningful engagement of and partnership with individuals with lived expertise.
• 8+ years professional experience providing racial equity training and technical assistance in a child welfare setting.
• 8+ years of experience working with child welfare systems and federal laws such as the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) and the Family First Prevention and Services Act (FFPSA).
• 8+ years of experience working with: Change management or implementation processes, Child and Family Services Plans (CFSPs)/Annual Progress and Services Reports (APSRs), Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs)

Preferred Qualifications/Experience:

• Master’s degree in social work, public administration, or related field.
• Certification related to the application of diversity, equity, and inclusion principles.
• Certification related to change management (e.g., Lean Six Sigma, Agile, etc.)
• Experience working in a federal contracting environment and on cross-functional teams including state and federal agency members.
• Experience implementing a broad scale project in a public service system.
• Experience managing and coordinating projects in a child welfare environment.
• Experience supporting and facilitating peer groups and communities of practice.
• Experience with the CFSP/APSR process.
• Experience with the CFSR process.
• Experience with training, curriculum development, and facilitation.
• Experience with curriculum development and training delivery.
• Skill in addressing organizational culture and climate issues to enhance employee satisfaction and reduce turnover. Understands the impact of physical and mental health on job performance and is familiar with trauma-informed care. 
• Demonstrated commitment to diversifying the child welfare workforce and understanding the importance of fostering an inclusive environment that values diverse perspectives and values. 
• Lived and/or professional experience working across various differences (e.g., race, ethnicity, language, gender, income, education, power) and/or lived experience in the child welfare system.

Professional Skills:

• Solid team builder and team player with proven ability to manage competing priorities, perspectives, and stakeholder needs.
• Ability and commitment to applying a racial equity framework to, and engaging lived expertise in, all areas of work.
• Ability to promote and contribute to an equitable and inclusive organizational culture and environment.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.
• Strong partner management skills.
• Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously and maintain high-quality results in a fast-paced, often changing environment.
• Excellent verbal, interpersonal and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated, outstanding level of professionalism including ability to exercise good judgment, discretion, tact, and diplomacy.
• Proficient with MS office applications (i.e., Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).

Working at ICF

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Reasonable Accommodations are available, including, but not limited to, for disabled veterans, individuals with disabilities, and individuals with sincerely held religious beliefs, in all phases of the application and employment process. To request an accommodation please email icfcareercenter@icf.com and we will be happy to assist. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.

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Pay Range - There are multiple factors that are considered in determining final pay for a position, including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and competencies that align to the specified role, geographic location, education and certifications as well as contract provisions regarding labor categories that are specific to the position. The pay range for this position is:

$76,848.00 - $130,642.00

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