Evaluation and Learning Manager Job Description

Transcription

1 Evaluation and Learning Manager Job Description The Organization: First 5 Monterey County (F5MC), also known as the Monterey County Children and Families Commission, was established by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors to promote and implement requirements of The Children and Families Commission Act of 1998 (also known as Proposition 10). Proposition 10 acknowledged a compelling need in California, to create and implement a comprehensive, integrated system of information and services to promote, support, and optimize early childhood development from the prenatal stage to five years of age. First 5 California is funded through a surtax on cigarette and tobacco-based products. Eighty percent of these funds are allocated to county commissions responsible for developing and implementing local Strategic Plans consistent with the goals of the Act. The F5MC Strategic Plan Framework July 2017 June 2023 (Strategic Plan) identifies the vision and mission of F5MC as follows: Vision: All children reach their unique potential in a family and community that values, respects, and invests in early childhood. Mission: Enrich the lives of children, prenatal through age five, and their families by strengthening connections and advancing quality within a whole system of care and support. The plan intentionally moves F5MC toward an integrated approach to service delivery and care coordination. This approach is focused on systemic change and works toward organizational and system-level outcomes that lead to positive and equitable family and child outcomes (see the associated Theory of Change). As outlined in the Strategic Plan, F5MC s core roles are to Champion Early Childhood, Make Connections, Build Capacity, Fund the Work, and Evaluate Impact. F5MC s guiding principles are to be Equity Focused, Systems Innovators, Relationship Based, Reflective, and Good Stewards. The four overlapping impact areas reflect the community vision of comprehensive, cohesive, and navigable Integrated Systems that will build and support Strong Families who have access to Quality Early Care and Education options that meet a variety of needs to improve Child Well- Being. To implement the plan, F5MC currently supports approximately 20 organizations and community programming through expenditures totaling more than $5.5 million. A seven-member Commission establishes policy and provides strategic direction to the organization. Position Summary: The Evaluation and Learning Manager for F5MC leads the Commission in Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) efforts for Commission programs and services, and is a strategic thought leader in the county. Under the general direction of the Commission s Executive Director, and in coordination with the Program Managers, the Evaluation and Learning Manager is responsible for the design of MEAL strategy and methods, management of implementation, and dissemination and use of trends and lessons learned to guide organizational and program improvements. A key function is to engage F5MC and its funded partners in continuous quality improvement such that findings from MEAL activities are incorporated in ongoing program implementation, inform future strategic direction, and enhance F5MC s role as a catalyst and advocate for children and their families. The Evaluation and Learning Manager at F5MC is recognized as the leader in the county for data, evaluation,

2 and research related to children from the prenatal stage through age 5. As such, the Evaluation and Learning Manager participates in county-wide initiatives and county, regional and state meetings, and responds to community data enquiries. The Evaluation and Learning Manager seeks opportunities to disseminate and facilitate reflective discussions on evidence that may lead to improved outcomes for children and families. The Evaluation and Learning Manager collaborates with the Program Managers and staff from Funded Partners to maintain consistent collection of monitoring data, and to keep F5MC and Funded Partners accountable to contractual obligations. The Evaluation and Learning Manager oversees a team of contractors that complete the data collection, analysis, and reporting for implementation, outcome, and impact evaluation. The results of these monitoring, accountability, and evaluation activities feed into a continuous quality improvement cycle led by the Evaluation and Learning Manager. Staffing: The F5MC staff currently includes an Executive Director, Controller, Director of Programs, Programs Manager, Policy Advocacy and Communications Manager, Evaluation and Learning Manager (open position), Administrative Manager, Finance Support, and two Program Support positions. In addition, F5MC hosts the Bright Beginnings Manager. Bright Beginnings is the Early Childhood Development Initiative of the Monterey County Children s Council and aligns with Bright Futures to work on the first chapter of the cradle to career continuum. (See Bright Beginnings and Bright Futures links). F5MC and this position are based in Salinas, California, the county seat for Monterey County. The work of this position is supported by administrative support staff as well as external consultants. This position is an at will position at F5MC. Duties and Responsibilities: The Evaluation and Learning Manager is responsible for ensuring that the Commission can identify and effectively share: 1. the overall impact of F5MC funding on the well-being of Monterey County Children 0-5 and their families; 2. the impact of individual programs and services funded by F5MC on the well-being of Monterey County Children 0-5 and their families; and 3. the county-wide trends for children and families in Monterey County. Partnership and Thought Leadership Work with the Executive Director and Program Managers in reviewing all Commission strategic directions and actions in terms of their alignment with the F5MC Strategic Plan and Theory of Change. Manage a portfolio of evaluation contracts and grants, including developing Requests for Proposals, selecting evaluators and researchers, and ensuring deliverables are timely and of high quality. Provide ongoing training, technical assistance, and capacity building for Funded Partners and community partners in evaluation. Collaborate with collective impact initiatives in the county to develop and implement strategies for data sharing and evaluation of the impact of collective funding efforts. Participate on and chair, as appropriate, countywide subcommittees related to evaluation and learning. Represent F5MC at interagency, Board of Supervisors, regional, statewide and community meetings. Page 2 of 5

3 Respond to or manage responses to ad hoc data requests from internal and external stakeholders. Monitoring Manage collection, analysis, and regular reporting of monitoring data for F5MC and its Funded Partners. Oversee and maintain shared database system, providing technical assistance and guiding system improvements when needed to ensure quality and consistency of data. Regularly reflect and act to improve the efficiency and utility of the monitoring system, instruments, tools, and processes. Coordinate and review Period Report submissions from Funded Partners. Accountability Participate in the development of and monitoring of adherence to Scopes of Work and evaluation plans for funding solicitations, new grantees, and contract amendments. Ensure all monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities and tools meet legal, ethical, and contractual standards and requirements. Obtain and maintain Institutional Review Board approvals when appropriate. Establish and maintain data sharing agreements when appropriate. Ensure accurate and timely submission of data and reports to meet state and funder requirements. Evaluation Coordinate and oversee implementation and outcome evaluation of F5MC s and its Funded Partners programs/strategies conducted by contracted external evaluators. Serve as advisor to external evaluators and serve as liaison between external evaluators and F5MC s Commission, Evaluation Advisory Committee, staff, and Funded Partners. Create semiannual reports presenting monitoring, evaluation, and learning results to F5MC s Commission, staff, and Funded Partners. Participate in and provide relevant data and findings to inform decisions regarding new and continuing funding processes. Learning Implement ongoing continuous quality improvement with the Commission, F5MC staff, and Funded Partners to reflect on findings, synthesize lessons learned, and guide actions. Review and analyze research studies in areas identified as priorities by the Commission. Extract pertinent findings, methods and analytic strategies to guide improvements in program/strategy design and implementation, and monitoring and evaluation practices. Expand documentation of program/strategy design including justification for expected effectiveness. Work with the F5MC staff to share learning and information about early childhood in ways that facilitate reflection and are valuable to internal and external audiences. Manage collection, analysis, and publication of an annual Early Childhood Score Card (using secondary, community-level data). Other Responsibilities Serve as main staff contact for and coordinator of the Commission s Evaluation Advisory Committee. Page 3 of 5

4 This includes coordinating with the Executive Director and Committee Chair on the activities of the Committee and the agendas for the meetings. Prepare and provide staff reports, conduct research and coordinate presentations. Prepare and present concise, yet thorough, written and oral reports to the Commission, Committees and staff on the status of evaluation and learning efforts. Perform special studies, projects, and duties as assigned. Qualifications: Skills and Ability to: Effectively manage a team of staff and external consultants on multiple, simultaneous projects to produce timely, high quality products. Analyze complex administrative, budgetary, program, and/or organizational problems. Synthesize knowledge from multiple sources coherently. Select, conduct, and interpret the results of statistical analyses. Conduct research and organize information. Evaluate programs and systems that involve multiple stakeholders, with a particular emphasis on equity and inclusion. Communicate effectively, orally and in writing, in order to provide training and present reports and recommendations to individuals, groups, and public bodies that do not have experience in data or statistics. Develop and manage contracts, informed consent, data sharing agreements, and data management systems. Work with diverse populations from various ethnic/cultural groups. Be innovative and flexible in managing operations and in problem solving. Value relationship-based, collaborative approaches and work harmoniously with F5MC staff and community partners. Work well in collaborative environments with team members with varying learning styles. Navigate and adapt to ambiguous environments; handle uncertain situations professionally and reasonably, recognize that ambiguity is inevitable in some processes. Embrace iterative processes and decision-making. Knowledge of: Results-based accountability. Community-based program development including collective impact. Participatory, Collaborative, Empowerment, and/or Developmental approaches to research, program monitoring, and evaluation. Principles and practices of supervision, management and administration. Techniques of negotiating, contracting, administration, monitoring, evaluation, budgetary analysis, and resource allocation. Legal and ethical issues related to data sharing, privacy, and security; and how and when to establish data sharing agreements and obtain IRB review and approval. Page 4 of 5

5 Research and report preparation. The linguistic and cultural context of Monterey County, and the broad socio-economic, systemic forces affecting our communities, especially around equity. Computer applications (i.e. Word, Excel PowerPoint, Outlook, and statistical analysis and reporting programs, database management); SAS, R, and/or ArcGIS, preferred. Experience, Education and Training: Any combination of work experience, education, and training that demonstrates the knowledge, skills and abilities listed previously. This may include: A Master s Degree in the human services field, public health, business or public administration; A minimum of five years experience in evaluating social science programs in a public or private agency (experience monitoring and evaluating child development programs is preferred); and A minimum of three years experience managing a team of staff and/or consultants. Physical and Sensory Requirements: The physical demands and work environment described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Mobility to work in a standard office environment and attend off-site meetings; mobility and manual dexterity to use standard office equipment and handle documents; vision to read handwritten and printed materials and a computer screen; hearing and speech to communicate in person and by telephone. May occasionally lift and/or move supplies and equipment up to 25 pounds. Work Environment: The primary work environment is a normal small office setting. The noise level is usually moderate. It is a fast paced and dynamic team. Must have the ability to work cooperatively within this highly collaborative and diverse work environment. Possession of a valid California Driver's license and a reliable means of transportation for travel within Monterey County and occasionally outside the county to attend various meetings. Will require working some evenings and weekends as needed. Salary: First 5 Monterey County offers an attractive compensation and benefits package. The salary for this position is in six steps and ranges from $74,053- $94,512 annually. The starting salary is depending on qualifications. The benefits package includes medical, dental, vision care, company paid life insurance, vacation, and a retirement plan that includes an employer contribution. Page 5 of 5