Parent Leadership Development Lead

The Safe Babies™ Program at ZERO TO THREE supports states and communities in building a more coordinated and aligned early childhood system based on the Safe Babies approach. The Safe Babies approach works concurrently at the child and family level, community level, and state level to promote healthy early childhood development while impacting long-term capacity building. The goal is to keep families together by igniting collective action to meet the urgent needs of babies, toddlers, and their families. While the Safe Babies approach is anchored in the court system, it is also an entry point for cross-system collaboration to effectively serve families across multiple areas of need.

The Parent Leadership Program Lead oversees parent leadership activities that build internal team capacity and deliver universal and targeted T/TA to strengthen implementation of the Safe Babies approach. The Lead develops and manages a work plan focused on parent leadership and early childhood systems collaboration within the Safe Babies approach. Within a matrix management structure, the Lead manages all contracted Safe Babies Parent Leaders and provides functional leadership to the Sr. T/TA Specialist and Program Coordinator on the Parent Leadership development team. Responsibilities include bi-weekly project supervision, shared goal setting, and contribution to performance reviews in coordination with their primary supervisors. The Lead collaborates across Safe Babies teams – including the National Director, Practice and Field Operations, Policy, Resource Training and Development, and Research and Evaluation - to develop and deliver resources, training, and technical assistance that elevate parent leadership and integrate parent voice, parent mentors and parent leaders across state and site implementation of the Safe Babies approach.

*This position is funded through a 5-year federal contract.  We are currently in the first half of Year 4 of this award and there is no guarantee of employment following the completion of the contract in September 2027.

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ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

 Parent Leadership Development and Strategy

• Lead the design and coordination of parent leadership development activities that support implementation of the Safe Babies approach in states and sites.
• Develop and monitor project plans and reports specific to this work, including success metrics, strategy assessment and dissemination of successful strategies.
• Coordinate and provide guidance to states and sites developing peer mentor programming.
• Use a continuous quality improvement (CQI) process to assess, refine and disseminate successful strategies with states and the Safe Babies team.
• Apply project management skills to plan, manage and monitor activities
• Ensure alignment with priorities of ZERO TO THREE, HRSA (our federal funding partner) and other national organizations focused on parent leadership development.

 Staff Development

• Within a matrix management structure, provide functional guidance and coaching to contracted parent leaders and Safe Babies team members assigned to parent leadership work.
• Support professional growth through regular project check-ins, shared goal setting and feedback in coordination with primary supervisors.
• Assist in identifying, engaging and onboarding other parent leadership consultants.

 Communication and Collaboration

• Maintain alignment in bi-directional communication with Safe Babies messaging and leadership teams to ensure consistency in decisions, resources, and T/TA development.
• Collaborate across Safe Babies work units to co-develop and deliver cohesive resources, training and technical assistance opportunities focused on Safe Babies foundational concepts including parent leadership development.
• Participate in regular team and organizational meetings.
• Effectively plan and deliver presentations, facilitate meetings, and provide training on Safe Babies related content.

 Partner Relationship Management

• Build and maintain collaborative and responsive relationships with parent partners and parent organizations, Safe Babies implementation states and sites, funders and other partners.
• Act as a liaison between project teams and partners, ensuring clear communication, alignment with project goals, and consistent integration of parent leadership development strategies.

 Team Leadership

• Provide functional leadership to the Safe Babies team to elevate and embed parent leadership as a central component of the Safe Babies approach.
• Focus on results through implementing a continuous quality improvement process, ensuring that the team and organizational program expansion goals are met. This includes identifying problems and crafting effective solutions quickly, monitoring changing system conditions and adjusting strategies accordingly.
• Offer feedback and input to the Safe Babies Leadership Team
• Perform other duties as assigned to ensure the efficient and effective functioning of the Safe Babies program.

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ESSENTIAL SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• Minimum of 5 years of experience/accomplishments focusing on elevating parent voice in services for infants, toddlers, and their families
• Lived experience with the child welfare system
• Professional experience leading or supporting parent leaders, including knowledge of parent mentoring programs for parents with lived experience within the child welfare system
• Demonstrated knowledge of the child welfare system; state and federal policies related to abuse/neglect of young children; infant/toddler social-emotional development; and impact of abuse and neglect.
• Exceptional reasoning, problem-solving and strategic thinking skills
• Ability to build relationships and influence others.
• Effective oral and written communication to a broad range of audiences.
• Strong project management and organizational skills. This position requires the ability to manage multiple responsibilities effectively
• Supervisory experience preferred
• Ability to work independently as well as support the work efforts of colleagues across the team and organization.
• Ability to travel (occasional overnight and potential weekend travel may be necessary).

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EDUCATION

Bachelor’s Degree preferred.

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COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

This position's salary is estimated to be low $80,000s to low $90,000s depending on experience, geo-location, budget, and other comparable and similarly scoped internal positions. In addition to salary, ZERO TO THREE offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, HRA, retirement contributions, generous leave benefits and more.

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PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

While performing the responsibilities of the job, the employee is frequently required to use finger dexterity and sufficient hand dexterity to use a computer keyboard and be capable of reading a computer screen. Also, they may need to remain seated for extended periods, can perform repetitive motions, and reach for objects. An employee is frequently required to hold a writing instrument, communicate verbally, and hear well enough to detect nuances and receive detailed information. They may be required to grasp objects, push, and pull objects, bend, stand, walk, squat, or kneel. Vision abilities required by this job include close vision for data preparation or analysis, and expansive reading. May need to lift up to 30 pounds.