Friends of the Children

Help Create Pathways that Empower Thriving Young Adults. 

At Friends of the Children, we are committed to breaking the cycle of generational poverty through long-term, salaried, professional mentoring relationships. Our model pairs youth facing the greatest obstacles with a dedicated professional mentor—called a Friend—from kindergarten through high school graduation and beyond, for 12+ years, no matter what. 

As our organization continues to evolve and innovate, we are investing in a new strategy designed to support young people during one of the most critical transitions of their lives: the journey from high school into adulthood. We are seeking a visionary, collaborative, and data-informed leader to join us as the Associate Director of Pathways for Young Adults Program. 

This is a unique opportunity to help operationalize and scale a new national program focused on helping young people ages 16–22 successfully navigate postsecondary education, career readiness, workforce entry, and life success. Working closely with the Director of Pathways for Young Adults Program, this leader will play a key role implementing new program infrastructure, leading a team of Life Coaches, refining best practices, and ensuring young adults have the support they need to become happy, healthy, and economically independent adults.

Why This Role Matters

The Pathways for Young Adults Program is a strategic innovation at Friends of the Children designed to improve access to postsecondary education, career training, workforce opportunities, and long-term economic mobility for program youth and graduates. This role sits at the intersection of youth development, coaching excellence, program implementation, and systems-building.

As Associate Director, you will help shape a program model that can transform outcomes for young people across our national network. You'll serve as a key connector among national staff, local chapters, youth-serving professionals, alumni, and community partners, while ensuring that the program remains youth-centered, outcomes-driven, and aligned with our mission and values.

What We Offer

• Opportunity to help design and grow an innovative national program focused on postsecondary, career, and life success.
• Meaningful work that supports young people during a critical life transition.
• A talented and passionate team committed to achieving lasting impact.
• Respect for work-life harmony and employee well-being.
• Competitive salary of $115,000–$125,000, commensurate with experience.
• $10,000 relocation assistance for candidates relocating to Portland, Oregon.

Curious to learn more? The job description is below:

The following statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work to be performed by individuals assigned to this position. They are not intended as a comprehensive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified.

Basic Function / Position Objective:

The Associate Director of the Pathways for Young Adults program leads the Life Coaching team that supports young people in the Friends of the Children program from their junior/senior year of high school through age 22 as program graduates. The National Alumni Coordinator also reports to them. The Associate Director ensures high-quality, consistent programming that results in successful transitions to young adult independence, to postsecondary, career training, or the workforce. The ultimate objective of the position and the program is to improve both access to those pathways, and persistence once students begin those efforts.

The Pathways for Young Adults program is a new program at Friends of the Children. In partnership with the Director, the Associate Director is responsible for developing the tools that are necessary to implement and operationalize the Pathways programming. Hiring and leading the team of Life Coaches, the Associate Director is responsible and accountable for program quality and outcomes, while reflecting and adjusting with the team to adapt and improve. They are the central point of contact for internal Friends of the Children partnerships and stakeholders. The work with Chapters to ensure clarity of roles and responsibilities, as well as program quality. This role blends people management, program implementation, and data-driven decision making. The Associate Director is grounded by their commitment to help young people navigate important transitions while building systems and partnerships that create lasting opportunities.

This position reports to the Director of the Pathways for Young Adults program. The program is part of the Friends of the Children, Duncan and Cindy Campbell National Center of Excellence for Professional Youth Mentoring and the National Strategy and Innovation team. The Associate Director will daily work with Friends of the Children national staff and with chapters who serve youth ages 16-22, and program graduates and alumni.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

Program Implementation and Quality

• Lead program implementation and develop tools required for program execution
• Work with Director to set key performance metrics and drive results
• Develop and refine coaching frameworks, tools, and resources that operationalize the program design and delivery
• Ensure consistent, high-quality coaching aligned to program model and standards
• Work with Friends of the Children staff and leaders to co-create solutions that are both standardized and localized to meet community needs
• Ensure alignment across the Friends of the Children 12+ years professional mentoring program model and the Pathways for Young Adults Program
• Work with Director to analyze data to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities for improvement

Team Leadership & Staff Development

• Supervise and develop the Life Coaches and the Alumni Coordinator
• Foster a strong, solutions-oriented Pathways for Young Adults team culture grounded in accountability and youth-led success
• Working with the Director, steward relationships within and outside the Network that enhance partnerships and opportunity for program graduates and alumni

Project Management & Stakeholder Coordination

• Manage project against implementation timeline, accountable for key milestones
• Ensure compliance with organizational policies and funding requirements
• Partner with leadership on budgeting, staffing, and program growth
• Manage program logistics, including events, communications and reporting timelines

Youth-Led & Centered Practice

• Champion access to postsecondary and career pathways and opportunities
• Ensure culturally responsive coaching practices across the team
• Address systemic barriers impacting underserved youth, developing an holistic empowerment model that advances economic independence and opportunity

Essential Skills and Abilities:

• Strong communication, coaching and people management skills
• Data-driven decision-making and analytical thinking
• Relationship-building across diverse stakeholders
• Cultural responsiveness and adaptability
• Ability to manage complexity and drive results

The ideal candidate will have the following Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree  
• 5+ years of experience in college access, workforce development, or related field 
• 2+ years of people management or team leadership experience 
• Demonstrated experience with and understanding of postsecondary pathways (college, CTE, workforce)
• Experience working with underserved, first-generation, or historically marginalized students 

Preferred, Experience, and Abilities:

• Experience managing outcomes-driven programs with measurable KPIs
• Familiarity with FAFSA, financial aid systems, and admissions processes
• Experience building employer or higher education partnerships
• Proficiency with CRM/data systems and performance tracking tools

Culture of Belonging:

Friends of the Children endeavors to create a culture where each and every staff knows they belong.  From our policies to our procedures and practices, we aim to create an environment that is healthy, safe, accepting, supportive, and kind. Our benefits are one way to depict our value for work harmony, empowerment, health, and happiness.

Benefits:

Our competitive compensation, benefits package, and employee engagement demonstrate our values to families, children, healthy relationships, love, empowerment, goal achievement, and equity.  We are continuously seeking feedback and researching best practices to meet the needs of staff and their families. Below are ways we actualize a culture of care for each and every staff member. 

• Health: Friends of the Children covers 100% of employee only health premium for 2 of the 4 plans
• Dental: Friends of the Children covers 100% of employee only premium
• Vision: Friends of the Children covers 100% of employee only premium
• Basic Life Insurance and Accidental Death and Dismemberment: 100% paid by Friends of the Children
• Short Term Disability and Long-Term Disability: 100% paid by Friends of the Children
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA): Employees may contribute to an FSA account: Healthcare FSA minimum of $100 maximum of $3,400.
• Employee Assistance Program
• Voluntary Benefits such as Critical Illness, Hospitalization, Legal, etc.
• 401(k) savings plan with a company match of up to the first 4% of earnings that the employee contributes.
• Cell phone and/or Internet Reimbursement: Employee is eligible for cell phone and/or internet business expenses up to $75/month ($37.50/pay period), maximum.
• Office reimbursement of $150 per year on anniversary date.
• Time off:
  • Vacation: Full-time employees of Friends are eligible for up to three weeks of paid vacation annually for the first 4 years.  The first year the time is pro-rated and vacation increases to honor length of service.
  • Sick Time: Regular, full-time employees are awarded two weeks/80 hours of sick time on January 1 of each year. New employees are awarded prorated sick time, not less than 48 hours. Sick time can be used to care for your own physical and mental wellbeing or that of a family member.
  • Holidays: Eleven paid holidays. Three of which are Floating holidays to help honor how people choose to celebrate their cultural and religious holidays.
• Career Development and Wellness Reimbursement of up to $1000 after the first year of employment. Up to $200 can be used for Wellness. 
• Summer hours and end of year holiday gift of time off. (Assessed annually by Executive Management.)
• Employee Perks and Discount Programs including savings on hotels, rental cars, travel, entertainment, streaming services, electronics, eCommerce, and so much more.

We aim to create an environment that is healthy, safe, accepting, supportive, and kind. Our benefits are one way to depict our value for work harmony, empowerment, health, and happiness.

Benefits start first of the month on or following employee start date.

Compensation: Range: $115,000 to $125,000. (Compensation commensurate with experience and geographical location)

Location: This role is based in Portland, Oregon.

Applications without cover letters will not be considered; please use this as an opportunity to convey why you want to be our  Associate Director of the Pathways for Young Adults at Friends of the Children!

Friends of the Children is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to addressing discriminatory practices. The equal employment opportunity policy of Friends of the Children provides fair and equal opportunities for all employees and job applicants. Friends of the Children hires and promotes individuals solely based on their qualifications for the job to be filled.

Friends of the Children is growing rapidly as communities across the country are experiencing the power of how “One” changes a child's story: One Friend. One Child. 12+ years. No matter what. #ThePowerOfOne.

To learn more about Friends of the Children go to:   https://friendsofthechildren.org/about