Assistant Director, SAFE Communities

Job Title: Assistant Director, SAFE Communities

Position Type: Full\-Time, Salaried

Location: Remote

Salary Range: $70,000\-$80,000, commensurate with experience

Stop the Addiction Fatality Epidemic (SAFE) Project is a national 501(c)(3\) nonprofit working through a collaborative, multi\-pronged, and non\-partisan approach to end the nation’s catastrophic addiction epidemic.

Nearly 100,000 people died from an overdose in 2024\. With stigma remaining as the \#1 barrier for people seeking help, SAFE Project is on a mission to inspire action, create change, and ultimately, save lives.

SAFE Project seeks an experienced professional in a new role to support the SAFE Communities initiative in its mission to help communities across the United States in systemically reducing the impacts of substance use disorder. The SAFE Communities initiative provides programming, resources, and support across various stages of the continuum of care, most notably: the Integrated\-Forensic Peer Recovery Specialist training program; the Community Playbook resource guide; the Bridging Prevention \& Recovery program; and Faith\-Based Community resources.

Position Overview

Under the supervision of the Director of SAFE Communities, the incoming Assistant Director will play a key role in translating field knowledge, research, and lived experience into practical programming that strengthens community capacity, supports peer recovery workforce development, and improves collaboration across systems.

Primary Responsibilities

• Assist in the development, expansion, and scaling of SAFE Communities programs, including identifying opportunities for new trainings, partnerships, and technical assistance offerings.

In collaboration with SAFE Project team members and partners, oversee SAFE Project’s Integrated\-Forensic Peer Recovery Specialist (I\-FPRS) and Community Playbook

• training series from planning and promotion through execution, evaluation, and continuous improvement.
• Support state\-specific customization of trainings and technical assistance, including synthesizing relevant criminal legal system structures, reentry policies, and peer certification frameworks.
• Conduct community outreach and cultivate partnerships with organizations, agencies, and practitioners working across behavioral health, recovery support services, harm reduction, and the criminal legal system.
• Conduct environmental scans, literature reviews, and field research to inform program design, curriculum development, and strategic decision\-making.
• Serve as the ongoing liaison for a national network of certified trainers who have completed SAFE Project trainings, including organizing quarterly Learning Collaborative sessions that support peer\-to\-peer learning, implementation challenges, and shared best practices.
• Provide project management and operational oversight to ensure portfolio programs, trainings, and initiatives are delivered on time, within scope, and aligned with SAFE Project’s strategic goals.
• Support planning, monitoring, and reporting processes in collaboration with the Director of SAFE Communities, including tracking program outcomes and training engagement through Salesforce or other CRM systems.
• Support the ongoing development, maintenance, and monitoring of SAFE Project’s community resource guides, including coordinating updates to resource listings, tracking engagement and usage trends, and identifying opportunities to improve accessibility and usefulness for communities seeking substance use disorder resources.
• Lead and support training facilitation and technical assistance engagements, both virtually and in\-person, with diverse professional audiences.

Success in this role will be determined by demonstrating a keen understanding of the complexity of community strategic response efforts; effectiveness of technical assistance development and delivery; the number, quality, execution, and satisfaction of facilitation and training; collective management of certified trainers; ability to make adjustments in trainings and programs based upon feedback and analytics; and proactive outreach to potential training participants, partners, and community leaders to expand engagement and strengthen local response efforts.

Primary Qualifications

* Peer Recovery Specialist certification, and/or related experience required.

• Familiarity and/or personal experience with principles of behavioral health, harm reduction, and addiction recovery required.
• Community direct service work or diverse community\-based behavioral health background required.
• Strong organizational communication skills required.
• Experience facilitating training is required.
• Experience conducting outreach and cultivating cross\-sector partnerships required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience within the criminal legal system is
strongly preferred.
• Strong facilitation skills and comfort leading both in\-person and virtual training sessions.
• Proficiency in Salesforce (or comparable systems), including data entry, reporting, and dashboard tracking.
• Demonstrated research literacy, including the ability to interpret academic literature, policy reports, and public health data and translate findings into practical application.
• Strong project management experience with the ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to grasp the big picture and operational detail.

We are a purpose\-driven organization that is responsive to the immediacy of this crisis. As a staff, we are diverse in experience and perspectives, but we share similar values of inclusivity, collaboration, flexibility, and innovation. The ideal candidate is mission\-oriented, a self\-starter, and critical thinker who is able to influence change and remain adaptable to dynamic circumstances and environments. Some overnight travel may be required and is estimated to occur approximately 2\-3 times per year.

SAFE Project recognizes the impact that poverty, racism, trauma, discrimination, and other social inequities have on the addiction fatality crisis. As an organization, we believe the solutions to these crises will come from working alongside those most impacted. As such, we encourage applications from members of the recovery movement, historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, women, individuals with disabilities, veterans, LGBTQ community members, justice\-involved and others who demonstrate the ability to help us achieve our vision of a diverse and inclusive community.

Interested candidates should send their resume and cover letter to careers@safeproject.us.

Pay: $70,000\.00 \- $80,000\.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Vision insurance

People with a criminal record are encouraged to apply

Work Location: Remote