Program Director

The Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI) supports clinical and translational research and is part of a broad national network of over 60 institutions with Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs) from the National Institutes of Health that work to translate research into better health. A crucial component of the SC CTSI's success is a rigorous approach to evaluation and improvement for local projects and processes coupled with effective participation in quality and improvement with the national CTSA consortium. The Director of Evaluation and Improvement (EI) will lead and implement best practices for planning, evaluation and improvement and ensure that SC CTSI continues to be an effective data- and metrics-driven organization.

The EI Director will report to the Director of the SC CTSI and will work closely with program leaders and staff within the Institute to design and implement programmatic and Institute-wide evaluations, which will be an integral part of planning, execution and evaluation of all SC CTSI programs and initiatives to promote real world impact and drive improvement. The EI Director will develop strategies and implement tactics for evaluation and improvement, assist in grant and manuscript writing, and manage an EI team that will develop metrics of success and methodologies for collecting and analyzing data for performance management and impact assessment. The EI Director will also contribute to national efforts to harmonize evaluation and improvement across the national CTSA consortium. This position will play a pivotal role in achieving the SC CTSI's mission to translate science into solutions for better health by ensuring strong alignment between SC CTSI activities and outcomes with real world impact.

A major area of focus for the SC CTSI, which the EI Director will support, is fostering the field of Translational Science, encompassing the development and testing of new approaches that improve on the research process and/or the implementation and dissemination of approaches already found to be effective in improving the research process. Improvements can be related to speed, efficiency, quality or impact of the research, either within a single study or across studies and within a single translational stage or across stages. Working with other SC CTSI leaders, the EI Director will have the opportunity to innovate in this emerging field through novel frameworks, methodologies, and practices.

Key Responsibilities

50% Leadership & Implementation

• As a member of the SC CTSI Director's Team, contribute EI expertise to strategic and tactical planning of SC CTSI programs, initiatives and projects, from design to dissemination.
• Contribute EI expertise to development of SC CTSI research proposals, publications and presentations.
• Lead the EI team in work with institute and unit leaders to design and implement rigorous evaluation plans for SC CTSI programs, projects and services to inform programmatic and institute decision-making, assess impact, and measure success using various methodologies (mixed-methods, quantitative, qualitative, ROIs, etc.).
• Work with Institute and unit Directors in setting evaluation priorities in alignment with established logic models, and implement systems to display and review progress against outcomes on a regular basis.
• Provide a coordinated approach to metric development, analysis and tracking
• Oversee regular and timely collection of high-quality data, enable tracking using existing resources, and lead improvements in data collection and analysis capabilities as needed.
• Continuously improve data management practices and systems, and inform plans for expanding technical capabilities, improving potential analyses and presentation of findings.

30% Analysis and Impact Reporting

• Design, oversee and support advanced qualitative and quantitative analyses to inform performance management, continuous quality improvement (CQI), and evaluations. Continually expand and refine data sources that can be leveraged to measure SC CTSI's progress and impact on research and the community.
• Oversee completion and submission of annual and routine reports to funders and stakeholders including NIH, advisory boards, Institute leaders, and community partners.
• Communicate findings from programmatic and institute-wide evaluations to facilitate lessons learned, best practices, impact and program improvement.
• Support core groups in reporting progress in relation to metrics and program impact to leadership and stakeholders.
• Lead the development of dashboards and other approaches for real-time monitoring and reporting.

15% Staff Management and Support

• Develop strong working relationships with SC CTSI leaders to support evaluation needs.
• Implement and track EI team members' work plans, work products, and the team's overall strategy.
• Identify challenges and opportunities to meet goals and timelines, oversee process improvements.
• Propose, implement and revise EI team structure and staffing as needed to meet CTSI evaluation and improvement needs.
• Hire and train new staff members as needed; make salary, promotion and discipline decisions in accordance with SC CTSI and USC HR policies.
• Provide coaching and capacity building to EI staff to continuously build on existing performance and contribute to team members' growth. Complete annual performance reviews.

5% CTSA Consortium Contribution

• Participate in the national CTSA consortium, including the CTSA Evaluators group and EI-relevant working groups.
• Represent the SC CTSI on national committees focused on collaborative approaches to planning, evaluation, tracking, and reporting.
• Lead the adoption by SC CTSI of successful models and approaches to evaluation and improvement from other CTSA hubs and the CTSA network, as well as the dissemination of SC CTSI successful models and approaches to others.
• Participate in national efforts to harmonize metrics across the CTSA network.

The annual base salary range for this position is $137,361.14 - $159,283.45. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate's work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state, and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.