Director of Data-Informed Practice
About The Position
The National Adoption Association (NAA) is seeking a Director of Data-Informed Practice to lead an anticipated area of national child welfare work focused on helping agencies turn data and evidence into practical improvements. This is a hands-on Director I role for an experienced child welfare leader who can guide strategy, facilitate virtual technical assistance, strengthen workforce practice, supervise a Data-Informed Practice Advisor, and keep complex work moving from planning through implementation. The Director will work directly with participating child welfare agencies on improvements related to foster and kinship family recruitment, licensing, training, support, retention, placement, and matching. The Director will also coordinate workplans, deliverables, budgets, reporting, and relationships with the stakeholders supporting the work. This role will help NAA expand its capacity to support data-informed practice and sustainable implementation in child welfare systems.
Requirements
- Master's degree in social work, public administration, public policy, nonprofit management, organizational development, child welfare, or a closely related field; an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered
- At least 8 years of progressively responsible experience in public or private child welfare, including experience related to foster and kinship family recruitment, licensing, training, support, retention, placement, or matching
- At least 3 years of experience leading programs, systems-change initiatives, or technical assistance and coordinating work across multiple partners or jurisdictions
- Experience supervising professional staff and managing project workplans, budgets, deliverables, performance expectations, and partner relationships
- Demonstrated experience translating research, data, and analytic findings into practical program, workflow, policy, or practice improvements; advanced statistical analysis is not required
- Experience designing and facilitating virtual technical assistance, workforce development, adult learning, or structured improvement processes with varied audiences
Nice To Haves
- Experience with federal grants or cooperative agreements and national child welfare initiatives is preferred
Responsibilities
- Hands-on virtual technical assistance, learning sessions, implementation planning, touchpoints, and follow-up with participating sites
- Workforce development for managers, supervisors, and staff across the foster family lifecycle
- Translation of research and data into practical strategies, tools, workflows, policies, and program improvements
- Readiness assessment, process mapping, implementation support, and continuous improvement
- Supervision and coaching of a Data-Informed Practice Advisor
- Project workplans, budgets, deliverables, documentation, quality, and reporting
- Coordination with participating agencies, external stakeholders, NAA leaders, and internal subject-matter experts
- The translation of complex gold standard research evidence into practical application for middle managers of child welfare systems.
- The ability to generate and report on new research evidence from constituents who are affected by the child welfare system
- Collaboration with existing NAA staff so family and community perspectives inform implementation and learning
Benefits
- gold health plan
- dental and vision insurance that is 100% employer-paid for employees
- employer retirement contributions
- professional development opportunities
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
