Role Description:

The Research and Evaluation Manager is part of the CHS Central Office team, reporting to the Senior Director of Programs. This individual will direct and monitor all research-related projects at the centers. The Research and Evaluation Manager must effectively utilize research evidence to inform and bolster the Center's strategic planning process. In addition to supporting the Center-wide application of strategic priorities, the individual must also support emergent programmatic needs by applying research to new and existing programs, policies, procedures, services, and operations in alignment with strategic goals.

The Research and Evaluation Manager will also be heavily involved in managing the collection and evaluation of data across CHS Centers to inform the achievement of the CHS Comprehensive Outcomes and Success Metrics. They will work with the CHS Evaluation Partner to understand best practices and systems for data to be collected from each center using data-collection resources and tools and will ensure metrics are being informed by data and reported out accordingly. This individual will track launch metrics, children and family metrics, community metrics, and operational health metrics. Starting salary is in the range of $55,936 - $74,675 a year, based on expertise.

Responsibilities:

• Working with the Senior Director of Programs to facilitate the implementation of an annual applied research agenda, based on CHS needs
• Working with the CHS Evaluation Partner to understand best practices and systems for data collection
• Tracking CHS launch metrics, children and family metrics, community metrics, and operational health metrics
• Initiating research with emphasis on gaps in existing data on child development practices
• Determining the best methods for conducting applied research projects
• Providing the Center’s leadership with information to support decision-making, articulation of priorities, and support for the implementation of strategies
• Completing research projects and developing strategies to enhance collaboration across Centers
• Consulting on Center-specific research issues
• Engaging stakeholders as needed to solve practical problems, and providing the necessary linkages between data-driven decisions, staff responsibilities and student outcomes
• Facilitating inter-departmental/divisional collaboration by articulating research findings and creating a common language and dialogue around the conditions necessary for success
• Collaborating with key stakeholders to review research findings and develop recommendations for action plans, professional development, interventions, or other identified next steps based on findings
• Staying in contact with educational child development organizations to understand best practices
• Acting as the School's IRB liaison regarding decisions about proposed research projects, which takes into account research projects completed by members of the CHS community involved with continuing education
• Providing research-driven consultation to administrators and stakeholders as needed for strategic programming purposes
• Developing strategies that encourage Center-wide understanding, buy-in, and usage of the results
• Collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data
• Directing and monitoring contracted services by qualified professionals for student and program research
• Conducting recurring reviews of current literature (e.g., child development, poverty, social psychology, etc.), summarizing, and distributing findings; conducting sessions with CHS to discuss how to implement these findings
• Upholding the highest professional ethical standards of research and consultation, which are consistent with national and state professional guidelines for research (i.e., APA Ethical Principles, Chapter 41 State Board of Psychology: Pennsylvania Code) to ensure the ethical treatment of student and staff research participants, integrity of data, and accurate reporting of information

Requirements:

• Master’s degree in education, psychology, or related field that requires coursework in research methodology and scholarly activity
• 3-5 years of research experience in an education related environment
• Ability to showcase a sample research brief
• Experience in research around low-income communities (preferred)
• Membership in a professional organization that demands the highest professional ethical standards of research consultation and demonstrate a history of consistency with the national and state professional guidelines
• Ability to conduct applied research using sophisticated quantitative and qualitative research methodology and statistical software
• Ability to independently initiate, design, organize, and coordinate applied research and evaluation projects with the anticipation of broad dissemination and/or scholarly publication of findings
• Skills and abilities necessary to facilitate inter-departmental/ divisional collaboration
• Experience with Institutional Review Board protocols and process
• Ability to clearly articulate research findings, inform, educate, and resource the office so as to build synergy around the strategic priorities identified as necessary for student success
• Familiarity with Financial Budget Systems, SASI, Electronic Medical Records, UltiPro, SPSS, Survey Monkey, and Blackbaud software
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities
• Responsible, enthusiastic, and cares about working in a mission-driven organization
• Ability to proactively identify problems and implement solutions
• Willingness to be held accountable and receive feedback
• Comfortability with technology including MS Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and/or willingness to learn
• Exceptional interpersonal skills including the ability to influence, lead, and educate teams
• Commitment to the mission and values of CHS and MHS and demonstrated high degree of integrity as all MHS and CHS staff are considered to be role models for students
• U.S. work authorization and successful completion of pre-employment background checks and clearances