Director, Research and Evaluation

Brief Overview:

We are seeking a full-time Director-level position who will serve as a senior-level Project Lead on multiple evaluation and assessment projects, contributing to the overall growth of the organization, including participating in new business development through proposal writing, presentations, and other HRiA promotional activities. The person in this position should be able to participate in half-day, in person meetings in the Greater Boston area without needing overnight accommodations.

Position Description:

Health Resources in Action, Inc. (HRiA) is a non-profit organization working to improve and reimagine public health. We connect, consult, and collaborate to solve complex challenges of access and equity in our health and social systems. Together with our partners, clients, and collaborators, we create actionable solutions so that all people can thrive.

In 1957, The Medical Foundation (TMF) was created to primarily fund biomedical research in Massachusetts. Since then, we’ve been on a journey of evolution. We changed our name to Health Resources in Action (HRiA) to reflect our impact in the field of public health. Today, HRiA works with individuals, organizations, and communities to drive a policy and systems change approach to advance health and racial equity.

HRiA seeks sustainable solutions for complex problems using an anti-racist approach. We aim to be adaptable and flexible in meeting clients and partners where they are, offering our decades of knowledge and resources to collectively realize our dream of equitable, sustainable health for all. The foundation of this work is centered on our values:

  • Health and racial equity by identifying and addressing the root causes of health inequities, intentionally working to shift narratives and power imbalances and disrupt all systems of oppression.
  • Leading with heart by demonstrating our passionate commitment to our work, continuously challenging ourselves with humility and vulnerability while pursuing and holding ourselves accountable to our mission.
  • Collaboration by intentionally and respectfully leading, partnering, and following to strengthen relationships, uplift different voices and build trust.
  • Innovation by driving toward new strategies, questioning norms, and continuously learning and evolving to support the needs of our clients and communities.

HRiA offers exciting, engaging, and challenging employment opportunities for facilitators, trainers, researchers, analysts, policy specialists, grant managers, and more. People come to HRiA because of our commitment to advancing health equity and inspiring work; they stay for our wonderful clients, partners, and dedicated and dynamic staff. With our growing portfolio of high-impact work, person-centered policies, and generous benefits, our team continually invests in making HRiA a great place to work. Our diverse staff of over 270 people hail from 30+ states, with a homebase in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood.

Benefits

HRiA offers strong benefits to its employees, including:

  • Competitive salaries
  • Health insurance
  • Retirement plan
  • Flexible summer hours
  • Vacation starting at 4 weeks
  • 13 paid holidays, plus office closure time during the last week of December.

For more information about our organization, visit http://www.hria.org

Position Description

HRiA’s Research and Evaluation (R&E) Cluster works with a variety of clients such as health departments, hospitals, schools, foundations, and community organizations to provide valid, reliable data for developing, implementing, and improving health and social programs and initiatives across the United States. These services help guide each step of program and policy planning by assessing strengths and needs, determining potential key partners, understanding issues salient to priority audiences, identifying challenges, and evaluating progress and impact. Services include, but are not limited to, survey development and administration, interview and focus group moderation, statistical data analysis, data visualization, report writing, and translation of research findings into actionable next steps for designing and evaluating programs, services, initiatives, and policies.  Typically, R&E projects focus on topics such as community health assessments, public health-health care integration, public health infrastructure, environmental health, housing and community development, behavioral health (substance abuse and mental health), chronic disease prevention and related behaviors, among other areas.

Position: This opening is for a full-time Director-level position who will serve as a senior-level Project Lead on multiple evaluation and assessment projects. There are many Director-level staff in the Research and Evaluation cluster, and it is expected that  Director-level staff will be  skilled researchers/evaluators with excellent interpersonal and client management skills. The person in this position is expected to have experience leading complex projects for various clients and stakeholders, including government agencies / health departments, hospitals, philanthropic foundations, schools, and community groups, have strong analytical skills, and a commitment to health equity. They will need to understand how to balance research rigor with the budgetary and time constraints that are common to applied research as well as be able to navigate different partners’ and stakeholders’ multiple perspectives on a project. The person in this position will need to be adaptable as project course corrections are common in the work we do. Strong presentation, interpersonal, and project management skills are a must, especially given our consultancy model

The person in this position will lead or be a key cluster member for a variety of projects including but not limited to short-term collaborative community health assessment and planning projects, large scale grant-funded multi-partner longitudinal evaluations, and formative research to inform program, policy, or intervention development. Projects could focus on a range of topics including environmental health, public health infrastructure, health systems transformation, behavioral health (substance abuse and mental health), chronic disease prevention and related behaviors, the social determinants of health including community development, housing, and education, or health equity. It is critical that they be able to discuss research methods and findings in a clear, salient manner to non-research audiences. The person in this position should be able to participate in half-day, in person meetings in the Greater Boston area without needing overnight accommodations.

The Director will also contribute to the overall growth of the organization, including participating in new business development through proposal writing, presentations, and other HRiA promotional activities.

The Director will be supervised by a Managing Director in Research and Evaluation but will work closely with all members of the R&E Cluster and many programmatic and administrative staff throughout the organization.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The Director will be responsible for the day-to-day leadership and management of several assessment and evaluation processes, which may include projects focused on the social determinants of health, community health assessment, policy, systems, and environmental change, health and racial equity, and environmental health, among others. The Director will provide project leadership and management expertise in a fast-paced, high-intensity, high-visibility context to ensure the effective, efficient, and timely implementation of the projects. This includes but is not limited to the following:

Client, Project, and Staff Management

  • Working with senior-level clients in state and federal governmental agencies, health departments, non-profit organizations, philanthropic foundations, and hospitals to identify client needs, collaborate and negotiate with partners, conceptualize plans, manage the process, implement data collection, and report findings as well as address stakeholders’ multiple perspectives on projects
  • Developing and lead assessment and evaluation studies including developing research plans, identifying project staffing needs, and overseeing all tasks to ensure they are being completed in a high-quality manner, within budget on time and to client and project specifications
  • Communicating effectively with clients, partners, and community residents about how research findings can inform program and policy priority-setting, development, and implementation, particularly within a health and racial equity framework
  • Overseeing the engagement and participation of project funders/client, the project team, the subcontractors, and other key collaborators in the relevant work of the project
  • Working with the project teams to use Asana and other tools to monitor and manage the overall project budget, timeline, and programmatic progress; identifying, prioritizing, and resolving challenges (proactively where possible) to minimize impact to the project goals and timeline.
  • Preparing and submitting all required progress and data reports and other documentation to the funder/client to ensure contract compliance
  • Collaborating with multiple team members and delegate appropriate tasks to less senior staff; potentially take on direct supervision of mid-level staff after several months in the position

Project Work

  • Monitoring all aspects of the assessment and evaluation projects against scope and project workplans; identify potential problems or issues related to meeting project milestones and raise them to project leadership;
  • Conducting quantitative data collection/analysis, including analyzing secondary data as well as collecting primary data (e.g., develop survey instruments, oversee survey administration, conduct statistical analysis including bivariate and multivariate analysis).
  • Conducting qualitative data collection/analysis, including developing focus group and interview guides, conducting interviews with stakeholders, facilitating focus group discussions, and analyzing qualitative data
  • Conducting other research-related activities, as needed, such as literature reviews and environmental scans
  • Leading capacity-building efforts with local partners and organizations to provide evaluation technical assistance, where appropriate; developing webinars, PowerPoint presentations, and training materials on evaluation to guide community-based organizations on topics such as identifying metrics and research methods, developing logic models, creating data reporting systems, and addressing challenges in evaluation
  • Synthesizing data from multiple sources (e.g., focus groups, surveys, secondary data, literature review) and interpreting findings so that they are meaningful to public health practitioners, program planners, community members, and non-academic audiences, and developing appropriate deliverables (e.g., reports, PowerPoint presentations, etc.)
  •  Traveling within New England 4-6 times per year to participate in meetings with clients, grantees, and partners; potentially engage in other travel across the U.S., as projects or conference opportunities arise
  • Contributing technical skills and/or content expertise to other related HRiA projects and to the organization, as appropriate or needed
  • Other duties as assigned

Thought Leadership

  • Sharing learnings and best practices in methods and approaches with Cluster team members, as appropriate, through 1:1 mentorship, smaller team meetings, or large Cluster meetings
  • Presenting at conferences/events with HRiA staff, clients, or partners, as appropriate
  • Suggesting ideas/improvements in project and/or organizational processes and systems through participation in teams and committees

New Business Development

  • Work with Managing Directors and other senior staff as appropriate to develop proposals and budgets for new business development, as appropriate
  • Support implementation of HRiA or R&E marketing strategies, as appropriate

Candidate Qualifications:

Expertise

  • At least 10 years of professional experience in public health, health care, or social science research, with several years of experience in managing complex projects and supervising staff; previous experience working in a consultant capacity preferred
  • Advanced degree in public health, sociology, social or community psychology, social work, or related field with a strong background in social science research and evaluation methods. Will consider candidates with Ph.D. with 10 years of relevant experience or master’s degree with 15 years of relevant experience
  • Strong quantitative and qualitative analytical skills; familiarity with data collection systems such as Qualtrics or SurveyMonkey; experience with statistical programs such as SPSS or SAS is preferred
  • Ability to work virtually with a strong and stable internet connection
  • High quality, clear writing; can synthesize large amounts of different types of data into streamlined reports that are understandable to lay audiences
  • Ability to conceptualize research plans, develop and manage project budgets, follow timelines, and be involved in all aspects of project management for research, assessment, or evaluation studies from development to implementation
  • Experience in providing research and evaluation technical assistance, capacity building, and trainings
  • Demonstrated commitment to working with diverse staff
  • Demonstrated commitment to advancing health and racial equity

Personal Characteristics

  • Excellent verbal communication, interpersonal, and public speaking skills
  • Excellent client and project management skills; can work with various funders, stakeholders, and community groups to carry out research and evaluation needs that meet client expectations
  • A commitment to diversity of thought, backgrounds, and perspectives
  • Calm in a fast-paced, busy environment
  • Flexible and a sense of humor
  • Able to work independently and as a part of a team
  • Able to participate in occasional half day, in-person meetings in Boston area without needing overnight accommodations.
  • Dedication to support and promote HRiA’s mission
  • A valid driver’s license a plus

This description is intended to indicate the kinds of work duties that will be required in this position. It is not intended to limit, or in any way modify, the rights of any supervisor to assign, direct, and contract work of staff under his/her supervision. The use of a particular illustration describing duties shall not be held to exclude other duties, not mentioned, that are of a similar level or difficulty.

How to Apply:

HRiA is actively seeking to build a diverse and experienced staff. The organization encourages multiple perspectives and experiences, supports a multicultural environment, and strives to hire and retain a diverse work force that reflects the populations we work with and the communities where we work. Diversity is a core value of HRiA resulting in culturally competent services, materials, resources, and programs. Our hiring and business practices appreciate the strengths offered through different backgrounds.

HRiA is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer and is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information.

HRiA offers an attractive benefits package including medical, dental and life insurance, short-term disability, retirement plan, tax-deferred annuity, generous vacation starting at four weeks, and office closure at the end of December.

The salary range for this position is $115,000 to $135,000. Starting salary is commensurate with organizational pay factors including experience, education, and specialized skills.

To apply, submit the following online at https://hria.org/about/careers/:

  1. Your one to two page cover letter that includes answers to the following questions:
    • How does working in this role with the Research and Evaluation Cluster at Health Resources in Action align with your overall career goals?
    • What does our mission and commitment to health and racial equity mean to you?
    • What lived experiences or career and non-career accomplishments make you uniquely qualified for this role?
  1. Your resume

We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis until it is filled. For selected candidates, HRiA interview process consist of a brief phone screening, up to two interviews with cluster members, space to demonstrate relevant skills, and if selected as a finalist, an interview with our VP of Research and Evaluation and President.  If you require accommodation, we welcome your request at any point in the application process.

Applications will be considered until the position is filled. Applications without cover letters will not be considered.

HRiA is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer and is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information.

For more information about the organization visit http://www.hria.org.



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