Donor Family Services Coordinator - Alaska

As a Donor Family Services Coordinator (DFSC), you will play a critical role in helping save lives through organ donation. Serving as the expert in organ donation advocacy and authorization, you will partner with hospital care teams to lead compassionate donation conversations, guide families through complex decisions, and secure authorization for donation.

Organ donation is more than a process — it is a life-saving mission. DFSCs play a critical role in enabling the organization to carry out that mission by compassionately championing donation, guiding families through complex conversations with empathy, professionalism, and respect. You must be comfortable navigating grief, uncertainty, and at times resistance. 

While family support is an important part of the work, the primary focus of this position is to make donation happen and serving as a trusted ambassador for the donation process. Through collaboration with hospital partners and internal teams, you will help transform the generosity of donors and their families into life-saving outcomes for transplant recipients 

Experience that translates well into this role: The organ donation and transplantation industry is highly specialized, and we provide training for success. Candidates with experience in crisis intervention, social services, behavioral health, or family advocacy often succeed in this role, including professionals from backgrounds such as Registered Nurses with Critical Care, Palliative Care, or other end of life experience, Social Workers, Palliative Care, Clinical Psychology, Crisis Intervention, Protective Services, Victim Advocacy, Child Life Specialists, Mental Health Counseling, or related fields.  

What you will do:

• Work 4 9-hour on-call shifts per week on a rotating schedule. Some night and weekend shifts required.  

• Provide timely on-site response to hospitals throughout the assigned region, that includes Washington, Alaska, Montana, and Northern Idaho.  

• Lead donation conversations, focusing on identifying and addressing each family’s unique needs to support authorization for donation. 

• Partners with LifeCenter team to support patient’s registered donation decision and can educate potential donor’s legal next of kin (LNOK) about donation options and donor designation.  

• Work with families experiencing acute grief, crisis and trauma. 

• Complete authorization paperwork with a patient’s LNOK, disclosing and reviewing the donation process. 

• Conduct a medical and social history questionnaire related to the donor with an appropriate, knowledgeable party.  

• Ensure effective communication and strong collaboration with donor families, hospital personnel, physicians, related donation agencies, and other LifeCenter staff.      

What you need:

• 2 years’ experience in clinical assessment, intervention, crisis response, or trauma.  

• The ability to fulfill the on-call schedule and travel requirements.  

• Experience with crisis intervention and trauma-informed care, and an understanding of the impacts of grief, end of life, and trauma on nervous system regulation. 

• Ability to work with families/LNOK from diverse backgrounds and support them through the organ donation process. 

• Experience utilizing methods such as Motivational Interviewing, Dual Advocacy, Crisis Intervention Model, Solution Focused Therapy, etc., for working with individuals or families facing crisis, trauma, or end of life.

• Experience managing heightened behavior and effectively utilizing de-escalation techniques to reduce harm to the individual, LifeCenter and hospital staff, and others involved.  

• Proof of COVID-19 vaccination, or applicable medical or religious exemption, will be required as a condition of employment upon offer.

Who we want:  

• Someone who shares our values: Integrity, Collaboration, Service, and Courage.

• Someone with experience working with patients or families in a hospital or critical care setting;  with patients or families at end-of-life; and/or previous work experience with an organ donation/organ procurement organization.  

• Someone who embodies the belief that organ and tissue donation can have a positive impact on donor families. 

Benefits and Compensation

LifeCenter Northwest offers medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance, accidental death & dismemberment insurance, long-term disability insurance, and travel accident insurance. Employees have the option of enrolling in the following supplemental or voluntary plans: life insurance, short-term disability, accident insurance, hospital indemnity, critical illness coverage and pet insurance. Employees enrolled in our 403(b) program will receive an employer match of up to 7% after one year, employees are auto enrolled at 3% and may change their enrollment at any time. LifeCenter encourages all employees to find balance and well-being and provides all employees access to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and provides a quarterly Wellness Reimbursement. Employees enjoy paid holidays throughout the calendar year and earn 119 hours of PTO annually (to start) as well as Health Time Off hours that is earned 1 hour per 30 worked, paid living donor leave, two weeks paid jury duty leave after 6 months of service, and three weeks of paid parental leave after one year of service is complete. A comprehensive review of benefits can be found at https://lcnw.org/about/employment-opportunities/. 

PAY RANGE 

Donor Family Services Coordinator I: $83,918 - $121,715 Salary 

Donor Family Services Coordinator II: $91,429 - $132,608 Salary

Please Note: This position will be transitioning to non-exempt (hourly) effective November 2026.

The pay range for this role is provided above. Where a candidate’s compensation falls within this range is based on several bona fide factors such as experience, tenure, and other specialized knowledge. LifeCenter Northwest is committed to providing its employees equitable and competitive compensation. 

This position is eligible for additional compensation to the base pay rate, in the form of Extra Call Pay, Overnight Differential Pay, and Holiday Stipend Pay.

LifeCenter Northwest is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.