Rapid Cycle Innovation Officer

Want to support the design and evaluation of innovative programs to help children and families across North Carolina?

The Rapid Cycle Innovation Officer will lead efforts to develop a rapid cycle testing and innovation model for Smart Start Network. Over three years, this position will co-create and implement a program development lifecycle. In the end, the Smart Start local partnerships will be able to innovate to solve unmet challenges, develop and evaluate theories of change, adapt through cycles of iterative testing, and contribute to scaling promising programs.

This position will facilitate a selected cohort of innovation leaders across the Smart Start network to serve as demonstration sites for testing their new and adapted programs. This grant-funded initiative will provide training and technical assistance to the cohort on their impact and process evaluation design, data management, measurement, analysis, and dissemination.

The Rapid Cycle Innovation Officer role will directly support county-based collaboration between Smart Start Local Partnerships and Department of Social Service agencies. They will serve as the lead project manager and will be based in the Learning and Evaluation Department, while working closely with multiple departments to create a sustainable approach to long-term innovation across the state. The Rapid Cycle Innovation Officer will document the process and engage in ongoing continuous quality improvement to meet Local Partnership and NCPC goals for delivering significantly improved outcomes for families, children, and professionals in their community. The process and evaluation findings from Local Partnerships will be publishable and presented at professional conferences in Early Childhood and Family Support areas.

Ideal candidate:

• Master’s degree in education, social work, public health, public administration or a related social science or human services field
• Proficient with designing and evaluating programs and/or evaluation research with diverse data collection and research methods. 
• Conversant in Implementation Science and an effective trainer and coach. 

This grant funded position will end three years after the hire date and will report to the Director of Learning and Evaluation. Though this position is time-limited, the Rapid Cycle Innovation Officer will be eligible for our generous benefits package, including free employee-only health coverage and a 7% discretionary company contribution to the 401k.

Must be based in North Carolina, though this hybrid role can largely be performed remotely, with approximately 10-15% in-state travel. 

To apply:

Please submit a resume, cover letter, and a recent evaluation report that you authored or co-authored to careers@smartstart.org.