This opportunity will remain open until filled with a first review of applications on December 27, 2022.
The Assessment, Policy Development, and Evalution (APDE) Unit within Public Health – Seattle & King County is seeking to fill two Social Research Scientist (Public Health Evaluators) positions! One position will support Best Starts for Kids. The second position will support King County’s evaluation of a public health infrastructure investments grant.
Job Duties
- Co-design performance measurement and evaluation plans and implement evaluations with community and government partners, including identifying appropriate methods to answer evaluation questions.
- Implement mixed-methods evaluations, including designing, conducting and analyzing data from focus groups, key informant interviews, surveys, and other methods.
- Provide training and technical assistance to program managers and community partners in data collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination.
- Manage external evaluations conducted with community partners.
- Share preliminary and final results in community settings to facilitate learning and continuous quality improvement.
- Disseminate results in a style suitable for a wide variety of audiences, including parents, youth, school staff and leadership, elected officials, research scientists, and funders.
- Manage projects efficiently in an environment of shifting priorities with time and budget constraints, and with multiple stakeholders.
- Partner closely with APDE staff, King County program managers, community-based organizations, and other stakeholders.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills
- Master’s degree or equivalent in a social or health science, e.g. public health, anthropology, sociology, psychology or a closely related public health field.
- Valid Washington State Driver’s License or the ability to travel around the county in a timely manner.
- Deep knowledge of equity and social justice principles and practices; lived experience with and understanding of the effects of place-, race- and policy & systems-based inequities on communities and populations.
- Demonstrated experience in participatory evaluation, program evaluation, advanced qualitative analytical and interpretative skills, quantitative analysis principles and methods, and team dynamics to ensure successful team interaction. This includes developing and implementing qualitative analysis methods and techniques; designing and managing an evaluation project; identifying and implementing appropriate evaluation methods and techniques and ensuring compliance with human subject (IRB) protocols.
- Demonstrated oral and written communication ability to write and present information in multiple formats for multiple audiences, including data, findings and conclusions into clear and concise reports, presentations, infographics, etc. for general and technical audiences.
- Demonstrated ability to work and successfully collaborate with a variety of individuals from diverse backgrounds to conduct community-led or community-informed evaluations.
- Demonstrated skill in collaborating and maintaining effective working relationships with a variety of individuals, including community members, agency representatives and partners.
- Demonstrated ability to successfully manage multiple projects requiring attention to detail and coordination of effort, working independently and as part of a team.
- Skill and demonstrated proficiency in: Microsoft Office products (such as Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Teams); database creation and maintenance, project management, and software for qualitative analysis (such as Dedoose, Atlas-ti, NVivo or a comparable software; REDCap, SurveyMonkey or comparable software for administering web-surveys).
Desired Qualifications
- The most competitive candidates will possess progressively responsible experience in practice-based evaluations (design, data collection, analysis, reporting) and community-based participatory evaluations, background and/or experience in public health, demonstrated experience in grant writing and experience in evaluating policy and systems change efforts, including community-led policy change efforts.
Best Starts for Kids
Building on the deep knowledge, connections, and skills within King County communities, and backed by what science and research tells us about human development, the Best Starts for Kids King County initiative meets children and families with the right services at the right time. The first Best Starts for Kids levy, approved by King County voters in 2015, reached 490,000 of King County’s youngest children and their families and 40,000 youth and young adults, catalyzing strong starts in a child’s earliest years, and sustaining those gains through to adulthood. In August 2021, King County voters chose to renew the levy with over 62% approval for another six years. The plan for Best Starts for Kids 2.0 will maintain current Best Starts for Kids investments in promotion, prevention, and early intervention, while deepening our investments to address critical needs in our community. View the Best Starts for Kids Implementation Plan: 2022 – 2027 here.