Senior Associate, Technical Assistance

The Role We are seeking a mission-driven Senior Associate (Generalist) to join our Programs & Services team. In this role, you will apply systems design methods to help public child welfare agencies, states, and communities tackle complex problems—ranging from prevention and family support to permanency, transition-age youth outcomes, and workforce well-being. You will deliver technical assistance (TA), facilitate multi-stakeholder collaboration, translate research into action, and support implementation to produce measurable improvements for children, youth, and families. This is a hands-on, cross-functional role ideal for a practitioner who can move fluidly between discovery, strategy, design, facilitation, analysis, and implementation support. Department: Programs & Services Reports to: Senior Director, Center for Lived Experience Direct Reports: N/A Location: Remote, Nationwide (Candidates may be based anywhere in the United States); Candidates within the Washington, DC metropolitan area will work in a hybrid environment requiring 3 days in the office. Travel: Approximately 20–35% (varies by project and partner needs). Work Style: Collaborative, fast-paced, learning-oriented environment with cross-functional teams Category: Full-time; Exempt Key Responsibilities Systems Discovery and Problem Framing Lead and support mixed-method discovery (interviews, workshops, journey mapping, data reviews) to understand root causes and system constraints. Translate findings into clear problem statements, hypotheses, and prioritized opportunities. Service and Systems Design Co-create solutions with agency partners, youth and family leaders, and community providers using service blueprinting, prototyping, and iterative testing. Document workflows, roles, decision points, and policy/tech implications; identify enabling conditions, risks, and mitigation strategies. Lead mixed-method discovery efforts (interviews, workshops, journey mapping, data reviews) to surface root causes, s