Senior Implementation Specialist

UNC-Chapel Hill•Chapel Hill, NC

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

This position may be eligible for a hybrid work arrangement that may include a partially remote work location, consistent with System Office policy. UNC Chapel Hill employees are generally required to reside within a reasonable commuting distance of their assigned duty station. The Senior Implementation Specialist serves as a leader of funded implementation science project(s) at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute ( FPG ) at UNC -Chapel Hill. The Senior Implementation Specialist: (1) directs or co-directs major implementation science projects or projects with complex characteristics. (2) delivers a broad range of implementation supports to state, national, or global partners, including their community coalitions or child and family-serving agencies, to support the effective implementation and scale-up of evidence-based or evidence-informed programs and practices. (3) leads the development of theories, models, learning resources, and measures that may be useful to implementation support practitioners and system partners engaged in implementation and scaling activities; and (4) engages in implementation evaluation or research. The Senior Implementation Specialist will also become a leadership team member of The Impact Center at FPG workgroup (http://impact.fpg.unc.edu). The mission of The Impact Center at FPG is to catalyze social impact through effective implementation practice, primarily by building capacity in systems and communities to scale effective child-, family-, or community-support strategies for population-level or system-wide benefits. The Impact Center at FPG is a workgroup at FPG that includes implementation specialists, evaluation and improvement specialists, communications specialists, and learning and design specialists. Guided by this workgroup’s theoretically grounded and empirically informed model of implementation support practice, tailored support is delivered primarily to leaders and teams within community service organizations and community coalitions. Projects involve close collaboration with state agencies, funding partners, and other support partners. As a member of The Impact Center at FPG’s Leadership Team, the position will contribute to scientific leadership and functional management closely aligned with FPG and the broader field of implementation science. This includes supporting the Impact Center at FPG team within FPG and broader field directions and activities; ensuring team members have meaningful roles supporting collective, institutional, and their own personal development; and facilitating bi-directional communication about workgroup and institutional mission, goals, and activities internally within the workgroup and FPG and externally with broader scientific and professional partners. In addition to membership in this FPG workgroup, the position is expected to be a senior member of the FPG community of Investigators. Expectations include supporting FPG and UNC strategic directions; serving as a direct supervisor to FPG staff; providing emerging leadership in the field of implementation science through innovative research, practice, and/or policy contributions; providing regular service to professional groups in the field of implementation science; mentoring staff and students; engagement in institutional activities within FPG ; and evaluation of professional performance.

Requirements

Working knowledge of leadership strategies and typical administrative systems.
Mastery of implementation science theories, models, frameworks, and strategies.
Mastery of behavior change theories, models, and strategies, especially as related to implementation practice, technical assistance, and/or practice facilitation.
Demonstrated experience: using implementation practice approaches with state, national, or global partners – including their community coalitions or child and family-serving agencies – to support individual/team behavior change and organization/system learning and improvement; facilitating professional or community teams towards collective goals and actions; supporting individuals or teams through a range of emotional experiences related to change and skill development; working with evidence-based prevention, intervention, and/or other wellbeing strategies for children, families, and communities; using data and information for research, evaluation, or quality improvement activities related to the implementation or scale-up of innovative practices; leading scientific contributions to the design and operation of projects related to the implementation or scale-up of evidence-based programs and practices; making innovative scientific, professional, or applied contributions within the field of implementation science; providing leadership for projects and professional teams, including accountability for project budgets and deliverables and supervision of staff; and participating in activities that create a sense of safety, well-being, and belonging in community and academic settings.
The following skill sets are required: the development of collaborative working relationships with leaders and other professionals; formal assessment of individual, team, and/or organizational attitudes, resources, skills, and behaviors; case conceptualization; application of equitable and inclusive practices with team members and community partners, including power sharing; identifying and accepting complex realities and committing to intended change processes; providing individual or group-based facilitation, including with a co-facilitator; the development and delivery of learning to adults using best practices; synthesizing and translating scientific concepts and terminology to practice and policy audiences; supportive behavioral coaching for adults; supervision and mentoring for staff and students; organizational thinking and conceptualization; systems thinking and conceptualization; adaptive leadership and/or transformational leadership; navigating administrative systems related to human resources and sponsored research; strong written communication; strong public speaking and presentation; qualitative and quantitative evaluation methodologies; and using data for quality improvement.

Nice To Haves

Preference for a Ph.D. in Psychology, Social Work, Public Health, Prevention Science, Implementation Science, or closely related fields of study and five or more years of relevant experience.
A Master’s in Psychology, Social Work, Public Health, Prevention Science, Implementation Science, or closely related fields of study and eight or more years of relevant experience is also preferred.
Supervised training in the delivery of evidence-based models of behavior change (e.g., prevention or treatment programs, implementation support, technical assistance, community intervention, consultation, counseling) is especially encouraged.

Responsibilities

directs or co-directs major implementation science projects or projects with complex characteristics
delivers a broad range of implementation supports to state, national, or global partners, including their community coalitions or child and family-serving agencies, to support the effective implementation and scale-up of evidence-based or evidence-informed programs and practices
leads the development of theories, models, learning resources, and measures that may be useful to implementation support practitioners and system partners engaged in implementation and scaling activities
engages in implementation evaluation or research
contribute to scientific leadership and functional management closely aligned with FPG and the broader field of implementation science
supporting FPG and UNC strategic directions
serving as a direct supervisor to FPG staff
providing emerging leadership in the field of implementation science through innovative research, practice, and/or policy contributions
providing regular service to professional groups in the field of implementation science
mentoring staff and students
engagement in institutional activities within FPG
evaluation of professional performance