CW Director

The Child Welfare Director provides strategic, operational, and clinical leadership for Arizona's Children Association's child welfare programs and services. This position is responsible for ensuring high-quality, trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and family-centered services that promote the safety, permanency, and well‑being of children and families.

The Director oversees program operations, staff development, regulatory compliance, contract performance, quality assurance, and community partnerships. The position works closely with executive leadership, program staff, public child welfare agencies, courts, behavioral health providers, schools, tribal communities, and other community partners to improve outcomes for children and families.

The successful candidate will bring strong leadership experience in child welfare, a commitment to family preservation and permanency, excellent knowledge of Arizona's child welfare system, and the ability to translate organizational strategy into effective day-to-day program operations.

• Provide overall leadership and direction for the organization's child welfare programs.
• Develop and implement program strategies, policies, procedures, and performance objectives consistent with the organization's mission and strategic plan.
• Ensure services are delivered in a trauma-informed, strengths-based, culturally responsive, and child- and family-centered manner.
• Monitor program capacity, staffing, caseloads, service delivery, and resource utilization.
• Establish clear performance expectations and accountability measures for program leadership and staff.
• Identify operational challenges and develop timely corrective and improvement strategies.
• Promote continuous improvement and innovative approaches to improving outcomes for children and families.

• Ensure that child safety, permanency, and well‑being remain central to all program decisions.
• Promote practices that support family preservation, reunification, kinship care, adoption, guardianship, and other appropriate permanency outcomes.
• Ensure staff understand and apply applicable child welfare standards, evidence-informed practices, and organizational policies.
• Support effective collaboration with families, caregivers, children, youth, and natural support systems.
• Promote meaningful engagement of children and families in case planning and decision‑making.
• Monitor program outcomes and develop strategies to address disparities or barriers affecting children and families.

• Maintain working knowledge of Arizona child welfare laws, regulations, policies, contracts, and applicable licensing requirements.
• Ensure organizational programs comply with applicable federal, state, county, tribal, contractual, and accreditation requirements.
• Maintain effective relationships with the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS), courts, licensing entities, and other governmental and community partners.
• Ensure required documentation, reports, case records, and performance measures are completed accurately and timely.
• Respond appropriately to audits, monitoring reviews, investigations, corrective action requirements, and other compliance matters.
• Keep executive leadership informed of significant regulatory, contractual, operational, or risk‑management issues.

• Recruit, hire, develop, coach, and retain high‑performing child welfare leadership and program teams.
• Provide regular supervision and leadership support to program managers and supervisors.
• Establish a culture of accountability, professional development, psychological safety, and teamwork.
• Ensure staff receive required training,…