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: Hybrid, Washington DC (Candidates must be based in the Washington, DC metro area and the role requires a minimum of 3 days per week in our Washington, DC 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, system constraints, and opportunities for change.
• Help translate discovery findings and user needs into clear product/technology requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria in collaboration with product and engineering teams.

Technical Assistance and Implementation Support

• Provide TA to state/county/tribal agencies and community partners on policy translation, program design, change management, and implementation planning.
• Develop tools, guides, protocols, and training materials (e.g., playbooks, facilitation decks, standard work, dashboards) to build local capacity.
• Support pilots and scale-up through learning cycles, rapid feedback loops, and continuous improvement practices. 
• Support partners in understanding and adopting technology-enabled tools and approaches, including AI-powered platforms, as part of how they deliver services and make decisions.
• Work with agency teams to define what success looks like, set up ways to track progress, and build learning and improvement into the day-to-day — not as a separate activity, but as part of how the work gets done.
• Maintain and curate TA tools, playbooks, and a central learning repository so partner materials are discoverable and reusable.

Stakeholder Facilitation and Partnership Management 

• Plan and facilitate meetings and workshops across agency leadership, frontline staff, youth and family partners, providers, and advocates. 
• Build trust-based relationships that center lived expertise and foster shared ownership of outcomes. 

Analysis, Measurement, and Learning 

• Synthesize qualitative and quantitative data; convert insights into practical recommendations and decision-ready briefs.  
• Define outcomes, indicators, and measurement plans; support data-informed learning agendas and progress reviews.  

Project Delivery and Collaboration

• Manage workplans, timelines, and deliverables with strong attention to detail and quality. 
• Collaborate with policy, research, product/technology, and communications teammates to deliver integrated solutions. 
• Bring what you're learning in the field — what's working, what's stuck, what's emerging, back to the broader Think of Us team so it can shape our strategy, policy positions, and product development.
• Contribute to proposal development, donor reporting, and the preparation of deliverables required by grants, contracts, and funders.

Equity, Lived Expertise, and Trauma-Informed Practice 

• Operationalize equity, cultural humility, and trauma-informed principles throughout the work.
• Ensure youth, parents, kin, and community leaders are meaningfully engaged as co-designers and decision-makers. 

Example Projects You May Support 

• Designing and implementing kinship support models aligned to FFPSA and community needs. 
• Redesigning hotline/intake processes to strengthen family support and reduce unnecessary removals. 
• Improving placement stability through service redesign, decision-support, and workforce supports. 
• Co-developing youth-centered transition services for older youth and young adults. 
• Building agency capacity for continuous quality improvement and data-informed decision-making. 

Success in This Role 

• 3 months: You have scoped workstreams, built strong partner relationships, and delivered early discovery insights and facilitation plans.
• 6 months: You have led co-design sessions, produced decision-ready
• 12 months: Your projects show measurable progress on agreed outcomes; partners report increased capacity and sustained practice changes.
• Building agency capacity for continuous quality improvement and data-informed decision-making. 

Requirements

About You

We recognize that candidates may not meet every listed qualification. Studies show that individuals from underrepresented groups are more likely to opt out of applying if they don’t meet 100% of the criteria. If you believe you can succeed in this role, we encourage you to apply so we can learn about your unique strengths.

Qualifications

• 5–8 years of relevant experience in child welfare, human services, systems design/service design, public policy, implementation, consulting, or adjacent domains (e.g., homelessness response, behavioral health, education, juvenile justice). 
• Demonstrated experience providing technical assistance or capacity-building support to public sector agencies (state, county, tribal, or city). 
• Proficiency with systems design methods: discovery planning, journey mapping, service blueprinting, root cause analysis, prototyping, and iterative testing. 
• Strong facilitation skills across diverse stakeholder groups; able to navigate sensitive topics with empathy and clarity.
• Comfort with both qualitative and quantitative analysis; ability to synthesize findings into clear, actionable deliverables. 
• Excellent writing and communication skills (briefs, memos, guides, training decks).
• Effective project management: scoping, workplanning, risk management, and on-time delivery in dynamic, multi-partner environments. 
• Commitment to centering lived expertise, equity, and trauma-informed practice; cultural humility and relationship orientation. 
• Ability to travel for partner engagements as needed. 

Preferred

• Direct experience working within a state/county/tribal child welfare agency or community-based provider. 
• Familiarity with child welfare policy and funding (e.g., FFPSA, Title IV-E/IV-B, CQI practices, licensing/placement policy, prevention services, kinship support).
• Experience supporting youth and young adults with lived experience in foster care or related systems. 
• Analytical tools (e.g., Excel/Sheets, basic data visualization); comfort collaborating with data teams. 
• Bilingual or multilingual skills. 

Core Competencies 

• Systems thinking and pattern recognition 
• Design mindset and iterative problem-solving 
• Inclusive facilitation and coalition building 
• Strategic communication and storytelling 
• Learning orientation and adaptability 
• Outcome and impact focus 
• Sound judgment, discretion, and ethical practice 

Compensation & Benefits

At TOU, we believe that taking care of our people is foundational to the impact we aim to make. Our compensation philosophy is rooted in transparency and a holistic understanding of people’s needs. We believe fair, market-competitive pay is essential to attracting and retaining the exceptional talent needed to achieve our ambitious goals. As a not-for-profit organization, we design our compensation packages—including both salary and benefits—with care and in alignment with our financial sustainability. 

The annual salary for this role is $70,000–$75,000. Starting salaries for new hires will be determined based on a combination of the new hire’s relevant experience and market demands.

TOU’S benefits go beyond the basics. They’re designed to support your well-being, growth, and sense of purpose at work and beyond. From comprehensive health coverage to professional development support and meaningful time off, our benefits reflect our commitment to nurturing a workplace where people can thrive, both personally and professionally.

Health & Insurance

• 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees; 50% for dependents.
• Access to Talkspace for confidential therapy and mental health support.
• Short-Term Disability, Life, and AD&D Insurance included.
• Optional Long-Term Disability and Supplemental Life Insurance.
• Health Care and Dependent Care FSAs available.

Financial Benefits

• 401(k) Plan for pre-tax retirement contributions.
• Work-from-home setup stipend to optimize your workspace.

Paid Time Off

• Flexible PTO policy, plus sick leave and paid leaves of absence.
• 8 company holidays, plus three organization-wide seasonal breaks.

Learning & Development

• TOU values continuous learning and invests in the professional development of its employees in alignment with organizational needs based on role, performance, business needs, and Company policies.
• Regular organization-wide learning sessions on relevant and reflective topics.

Hiring Process 

1. Application review (resume + brief responses). 
2. Introductory conversation with Talent/Programs team. 
3. Structured interviews and a practical exercise (e.g., facilitation plan, brief synthesis, or design artifact).
4. Final interview with leadership and reference checks.

Application Instructions 

Please submit a resume highlighting relevant skills and experience, a cover letter describing your systems design/TA experience and interest in this role, and one relevant work sample (e.g., facilitation agenda, synthesis brief, playbook excerpt; please remove or redact any sensitive information).

Please note: We do not accept phone inquiries about this position in order to ensure a fair and consistent hiring process for all applicants.


Equal Opportunity Statement

Think of Us is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome and value applicants of all backgrounds, knowing that diverse perspectives strengthen our work with children, youth, and families. All qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by law. We provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities and for applicants’ religious practices as required by law.

We're always looking for amazing talent at Think of Us! If you don't see an open role that would be a good fit for you, but want to remain a part of our talent network, please submit your resume here. We are experiencing a period of unprecedented growth, so submitting your resume will allow Think of Us' People & Culture Team to reach out to you when relevant opportunities arise. Learn more about us below! 

About Think of Us

Think of Us is a systems change organization helping accelerate the transformation of the child welfare system into a Child and Family Well-Being System — one that helps youth and families heal, develop, and thrive. We focus on driving structural change and cultural transformation across the ecosystem — shifting how government systems operate, make decisions, and define success. This work builds on a series of national and state laws, regulations, and policy directions that have created the opportunity for child welfare systems to operate in drastically different, more family-centered ways.

Our work spans innovation, collaboration, and implementation to strengthen reform efforts that help children, youth, and families build stability, connection, and well-being. We partner with government, philanthropy, and communities nationwide to accelerate reform — grounding every effort in lived experience, guided by data, and strengthened by technology.

We translate lived experience into actionable insights, embed those with firsthand experience in the work of change, and co-design strategies that bridge practice and policy. When gaps appear in the ecosystem, we develop — or help others develop — proof points that show how the system can work differently. And when we learn what works (or what doesn’t), we bring those lessons to policymakers and leaders to shape new laws, regulations, and practices that make lasting change possible. We tackle the most challenging problems and innovation risks that others can’t - working to make child and family well-being the organizing goal of the nation’s child welfare system.

Here’s what this looks like:

• Built the Lived Experience Engine into the largest dataset of its kind (51,000+ voices), powering AI tools and shaping reforms
• Helped secure passage of the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act and the Protecting America’s Children Act, landmark federal reforms
• Partnered with California to launch the Kinship Accelerator in 8 counties, backed by $150M and a budget increase from $317M → $896M
• Partner to drive  a national kin-first shift: 39 states (plus 5 tribes) adopting kinship standards, unlocking $3B for families
• Operate  direct resource networks, connecting 1,827 families to $28M+ in support

Our team members share a commitment to driving systems change through creative problem-solving, obsessive curiosity, and a love of quickly driving innovative, measurable, and impactful results. 

Compensation & Benefits

At TOU, we believe that taking care of our people is foundational to the impact we aim to make. Our compensation philosophy is rooted in transparency and a holistic understanding of people’s needs. We believe fair, market-competitive pay is essential to attracting and retaining the exceptional talent needed to achieve our ambitious goals. As a not-for-profit organization, we design our compensation packages—including both salary and benefits—with care and in alignment with our financial sustainability. 

Starting salaries for new hires will be determined based on a combination of the new hire’s relevant experience and market demands.

TOU’S benefits go beyond the basics. They’re designed to support your well-being, growth, and sense of purpose at work and beyond. From comprehensive health coverage to professional development support and meaningful time off, our benefits reflect our commitment to nurturing a workplace where people can thrive, both personally and professionally.

Health & Insurance

• 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees; 50% for dependents.
• Access to Talkspace for confidential therapy and mental health support.
• Short-Term Disability, Life, and AD&D Insurance included.
• Optional Long-Term Disability and Supplemental Life Insurance.
• Health Care and Dependent Care FSAs available.

Financial Benefits

• 401(k) Plan for pre-tax retirement contributions.
• Work-from-home setup stipend to optimize your workspace.

Paid Time Off

• Flexible PTO policy, plus sick leave and paid leaves of absence.
• 8 company holidays, plus three organization-wide seasonal breaks.

Learning & Development

• $1,500 annual stipend per employee.
• Regular organization-wide learning sessions on relevant and reflective topics.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Think of Us is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome and value applicants of all backgrounds, knowing that diverse perspectives strengthen our work with children, youth, and families. All qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by law. We provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities and for applicants’ religious practices as required by law.

To Apply:

Please submit your resume and answer a few simple questions to ensure we have the most accurate information about you on file. Due to the volume of submissions, we will only reach out if we have an open role that may be a good fit for you. We encourage you to follow Think of Us' careers page in case we have a role that you are interested in.