Research Project Director

Terminal degree in a relative discipline and 8 years of professional experience to include 5 years of formal post-degree work

• Doctoral degree in the social sciences or related field, or an equivalent combination of advanced education and experience coordinating research projects.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and collaborating with university, state agency, and community partners.

• Demonstrated expertise in applied research, program evaluation, and project leadership, including the ability to independently direct complex, multi-faceted research, evaluation, and implementation initiatives and establish programmatic priorities.
• Advanced knowledge of research and program evaluation methodologies and demonstrated subject matter expertise relevant to intellectual and developmental disabilities, assessment, service systems, or related areas, with the ability to provide expert guidance to project staff, state agencies, and external partners.
• Demonstrated leadership and supervisory skills, including the ability to direct and evaluate the work of professional staff, assign responsibilities, establish performance expectations, manage competing priorities, and ensure successful completion of project milestones and deliverables.
• Demonstrated ability to manage project budgets and resources, contribute to strategic and sustainability planning, and lead the development of proposals and other funding opportunities supporting research, evaluation, and programmatic initiatives.
• Strong written, verbal, analytical, and interpersonal communication skills, including the ability to represent the project with state leadership and various stakeholders; exercise independent judgment in resolving complex programmatic issues; analyze and interpret qualitative and quantitative data; and communicate findings and recommendations to technical, policy, and non-technical audiences.

• Normal work environment.
• Lift up to 10lbs.

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for complex research, evaluation, implementation, and technical assistance activities associated with the statewide initiative.
• Establish project priorities and direct activities across implementation planning, pilot testing, statewide demonstration, data collection, training, evaluation, and quality assurance.
• Supervise professional project staff, including assigning responsibilities, establishing performance expectations, monitoring work, providing guidance, and ensuring successful completion of project activities and deliverables.
• Exercise independent judgment and broad programmatic authority to identify and resolve complex implementation, research, and operational issues.
• Direct collaboration with state agencies, project partners, and other stakeholders to design, implement, evaluate, and continuously improve the statewide assessment process.
• Monitor project performance, timelines, milestones, and deliverables and make programmatic adjustments necessary to achieve project objectives.

• Serve as a subject matter expert in applied research, program evaluation, assessment, and implementation activities related to IDD services and waiver access.
• Direct the design and implementation of qualitative and quantitative research and evaluation activities, including development of surveys, interview guides, focus group protocols, needs assessments, and other data collection measures.
• Provide methodological leadership and oversight for data collection, management, analysis, interpretation, and reporting, including work involving large and complex quantitative and qualitative datasets.
• Synthesize research evidence, evaluation findings, stakeholder input, and implementation data to guide programmatic decisions and provide recommendations to state leadership and project partners.
• Lead development of research reports, evaluation summaries, scientific manuscripts, presentations, technical guidance, and other products that communicate project findings and recommendations.

• Serve as the primary programmatic and operational liaison with state leadership, project partners, and other stakeholders and represent the project in high-level meetings and statewide implementation activities.
• Provide expert consultation and guidance to state agencies, project staff, and external partners regarding assessment, implementation, evaluation, training, and continuous quality improvement.
• Direct the development and implementation of statewide training, technical assistance, implementation guidance, and other resources necessary to support consistent and well-thought implementation of the assessment process.
• Lead collaboration among professional staff, state agencies, and external partners to address implementation challenges and advance project objectives.
• Establish and oversee quality assurance and continuous quality improvement processes, including monitoring implementation fidelity and evaluation findings and exercising authority to recommend and implement programmatic refinements.

• Provide administrative and fiscal leadership for project operations, including management of project budgets and resources, monitoring expenditures, and ensuring resources are aligned with project priorities and sponsor requirements.
• Lead the identification and development of new funding opportunities, including primary responsibility for proposal development, project conceptualization, partnership cultivation, scope development, and coordination of proposal submissions.
• Direct strategic planning for the sustainability, expansion, and dissemination of project activities and develop future research, evaluation, and programmatic initiatives.
• Represent the project and the Ralston Institute with state agencies, funding organizations, professional groups, conferences, and other external stakeholders.
• Ensure project operations comply with sponsor, institutional, research, and administrative requirements and exercise independent judgment in addressing operational or programmatic issues requiring corrective action.