Diligent Recruitment Advisor

National Adoption Association

25d • $90,000 - $95,000 • Remote

About The Position

Join a team that makes a difference in the lives of children and teens in the US foster care system!
NAA is seeking a Diligent Recruitment Advisor to join its team!
Program Overview
The National Center for Diligent Recruitment ("Center") operates within AdoptUSKids (AUSK), a five-year federally funded collaborative project of the Children's Bureau. The National Center for Diligent Recruitment has the following goals:
Increase the capacity of states, tribes, and territories to effectively collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data to guide their focused recruitment efforts.
Provide on-site, intensive technical assistance to support the work of states, tribes, and territories in constructing their robust diligent recruitment plans that have significant and strategic outcomes.
Identify, document, and disseminate methods and approaches to diligent recruitment that are informed by evidence, include system change work, and can be replicated. This may include furthering the evidence-base of family finding, relative outreach, reunion support, and intensive recruitment and retention services within the communities of origin of the children and youth in the foster care system.
The National Center for Diligent Recruitment will work with child welfare leaders to promote evidence-informed, best, and promising diligent recruitment approaches to improve the safety, permanency, and well-being of children, youth and families who are involved with the U.S. foster care system. This Center will provide intensive on-site technical assistance (TA) and capacity building support to states, territories, and tribes (STTs) to develop and actualize data informed diligent recruitment plans that result in concrete outcomes for children, youth and families who are being served by the system. The Center's website will be a repository of knowledge, best practice, and accomplishments of all on-site work in STTs and its dissemination strategy will promote best practices.
Position Overview
The Diligent Recruitment (DR) Advisors will report to the Director of Intensive Technical Assistance. They will provide intensive technical assistance through onsite and virtual support based on each jurisdiction's needs. The DR Advisors will assist systems in overcoming barriers to actualize diligent recruitment plans and the intended plan outcomes. DR Advisors will incorporate effective use of data, community partners and lived experience engagement, and customer service into their capacity-building work with sites through effective consulting, coaching, training, and project management approaches. Work is expected to be performed remotely with the requirement of travel up to 45%- 50% within the US. Occasional overtime (evenings and weekends) may be required.

Requirements

• A master's degree in social work, nonprofit management, public administration, or a closely related field is preferred; (will consider a bachelor's degree with extensive professional experience)
• A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in child welfare. Public child welfare experience is preferred.
• A minimum of 5 years of supervisory experience
• Deep understanding of technical assistance delivery, capacity-building work, effective consulting/coaching/ training approaches, and adult learning styles
• Demonstrated experience in the development and implementation of diligent recruitment plans
• Demonstrated experience delivering technical assistance, training, or coaching to affect system change in public child welfare
• Ability to travel onsite up to 45-50%, averaging 3 trips per month to deliver capacity building services and attend organizational/programmatic conferences, meetings, and convenings.
• Public Child Welfare Knowledge. Possesses knowledge, skills, and abilities gained from public child welfare agency experience. Expert in diligent recruitment, family finding, implementation science, data analysis, and coordination. Awareness of applicable federal child welfare regulations, reporting requirements, and compliance reviews.
• Coaching, Mentoring, & Capacity Building. Demonstrated ability to design and deliver coaching, mentoring, and training to child welfare staff and community partners, grounded in adult learning principles and best practices in family engagement. Ability to build trust, foster engagement, and tailor coaching and training approaches to diverse audiences and organizational contexts.
• Vision. Understands and communicates the shared vision of the project; influences others to translate vision into action. Ability to recognize and address systemic challenges and service gaps affecting children in foster care. Demonstrates commitment to authentic youth engagement related to all demographics.
• Relationship Management, Stakeholder Engagement, and Partnership Development. Demonstrates professionalism, courtesy, and respect in all interactions; maintains a positive demeanor and approachable style. Effectively navigates differing priorities and perspectives, fostering productive dialogue and collaboration across teams and organizations. Possesses strong skills in stakeholder engagement and partnership development, including coordination with community organizations, faith-based groups, and other external partners to support shared goals.
• Project Management. Possesses exceptional project management skills, including the ability to sequence tasks, manage competing priorities, and meet high-performance expectations. Adapts effectively to changing demands and maintains flexibility in dynamic environments. Proactively identifies potential interferences in project success and takes initiative to address them. Exercises sound judgement aligned with the Center's goals and objectives.
• Effective Communication. Professional communication style (verbal and written) with the ability to communicate project needs and concerns to the Director of Intensive Technical Assistance. Practices active listening; keeps others well informed; openness to others who express contrary views; adheres to the communication model as outlined in our collaboration agreement.
• Organizational Assessment and Implementation Science. Ability to assess organizational readiness and capacity, and to tailor technical assistance strategies that align with agency goals, community needs, and system-level priorities. Proficiency in applying implementation science frameworks to guide the adoption and sustainability of effective recruitment and retention practices across diverse jurisdictions.
• Data-Informed. Values the strategic use of data to inform child welfare practice, particularly in family recruitment, development, and support. and the ability to understand it. Interprets data related to child welfare outcomes and system performance to guide decision-making and improve program effectiveness. Supports departmental efforts to use data for tracking progress, identifying trends, and refining strategies.
• Accountability. Holds self-accountable for measurable high-quality, timely, and cost-effective results.
• Strategic Thinking. Possesses strategic thinking skills with the ability to anticipate needs, identify opportunities, and align recruitment and support efforts with broader child welfare goals. Applies a systemslevel perspective to planning and decision-making, ensuring initiatives are responsive to agency priorities, resource constraints, and long-term sustainability.
• Integrity/Honesty. Possesses high ethical standards; consistently demonstrates ethical standards in words and actions. Maintains confidentiality, accountability, and transparency while representing the agency and supporting child welfare initiatives.
• Team Building. Participates in team-building activities and meetings to contribute to the accomplishment of group goals and the goals of our funder.

Responsibilities

• Provide intensive technical assistance (T/TA) to states, territories, and tribes (STTs), both onsite and virtually.
• Assess jurisdictional needs and STT readiness through data review, partner input, and context analysis.
• Support jurisdictions in developing, updating, and implementing effective and measurable data-driven diligent recruitment (DR) plans.
• Serve as a liaison between jurisdictions, internal teams, and external partners.
• Facilitate and/or coordinate meetings, site visits, and other convenings to support engagement and progress.
• Ensure consistent communication and documentation across all TA activities.
• Deliver content, resources, and guidance based on assessment finding.
• Guide sites through coaching, training, and capacity-building support to jurisdictions utilizing adult learning principles and best practice to achieve DR outcomes.
• Adjust strategies as needed based on feedback and evolving conditions.
• Track progress using project management tools (i.e. Excel, Airtable).
• Assist jurisdictions in the collection of feedback and data to assess impact and inform improvements.
• Utilize CQI principles to identify success, challenges, and next steps.
• Develop and manage project timelines, deliverables, and milestones across multiple projects.
• Coordinate across teams to ensure clarity, accountability, and progress.
• Assess team and jurisdictional capacity to identify strengths and gaps.
• Apply implementation science and capacity-building strategies to foster sustainable change within systems.
• Promote sustainable practices that support long-term growth and effectiveness in alignment with federal expectations.
• Support the development and dissemination of tools, resources, and guidance to strengthen DR practice and implementation strategies.
• Track progress using project management tools and performance indicators.
• Utilize CQI principles, sharing outcomes and lessons learned to support ongoing improvement.
• Foster a collaborative culture across internal and external partners and jurisdictions.
• Support team development through shared learning.
• Lead or co-lead initiatives that promote innovation and system change.
• Promote and support effective collection, analysis, and use of both quantitative and qualitative data to guide recruitment strategies for internal and external team development.
• Support the authentic engagement of youth and families in all phases of decision making related to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of DR practice.
• Build and maintain respectful, collaborative relationships with child welfare leaders and community partners.
• Communicate effectively with internal teams and jurisdictional partners to maintain clarity and alignment of project goals, timelines, and deliverables.
• Translate complex information into accessible formats for all audiences.
• Monitor and report on progress, challenges, and outcomes to ensure transparency.
• Collaborate actively with NCDR and AUSK staff and leadership to ensure consistency and quality in technical assistance delivery.
• Participate in cross-functional planning and problem-solving sessions.
• Share insights, lessons learned, and promising practices to strengthen collective impact.
• Uphold NAA core competencies of convening, connecting, and collaboration.
• Communicate effectively with internal teams and jurisdictional partners to ensure alignment and clarity in project goals.
• Collaborate actively with fellow DR Advisors, Center staff, and leadership.

Benefits

• a generous benefits package including a gold health plan, dental & vision insurance (100% employer paid for employees!); employer retirement plan contribution; and professional development opportunities, among others

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level