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Department of Medicine: Allergy and Infectious Diseases has an outstanding opportunity for a Program Content and Training Specialist.


Position Purpose:

This position is part of a cooperative agreement award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide technical assistance about monitoring and evaluation to syringe services programs (SSPs) as part of the National Harm Reduction Technical Assistance Center  (Component 1 of CDC-RFA-PS19-1909, https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/funding/announcements/ps19-1909/index.html). SSPs are an evidence-based intervention for reducing HIV risk among people who inject drugs (PWID) and are an entry point for PWID to access treatment for substance use disorders, other medical care, and social work services. In the wake of the current opioid epidemic and resurgence of methamphetamine use, SSPs are increasingly recognized as one of the key places to reach PWID for preventive services.

One of the primary projects of this award is to provide technical assistance (TA) to SSPs for monitoring and evaluation activities. The University of Washington is working in collaboration with the CDC, SAMHSA, NASTAD, the National Harm Reduction Coalition, and other TA partners to provide a suite of technical assistance support to individual programs. For the University of Washington team this includes: one-on-one consultation, development of training materials, development of guidance on M&E, development of model databases and reports, and development of model surveys.  TA is provided to SSPs that request TA as well as recipients of funding through NACCHO and SAMHSA.

We are hiring a TA provider to coordinate and provide technical assistance to SSPs, support the organization of trainings related to M&E at SSPs, assist in the creation of guidance materials, and support the day-to-day operations of this component of the overall project. The TA Provider will work closely with the Project Manager for the technical assistance program, the Principal Investigator, Project Coordinator, and other TA providers to implement the technical assistance program.

Position Complexities:

The TA provider will need to have an understanding of harm reduction, harm reduction organizations, and monitoring and evaluation methods. Ideally this position would focus on quantitative data analysis methods.

Within the SSP project, the TA Provider will have three focus areas.

First, this position will provide day-to-day support on activities related to the technical assistance program. This program is comprised of multiple, integrated activities that will require innovation, perseverance, partnership building, and teamwork. the TA Provider will respond to TA requests, which includes but is not limited to: working with SSPs to understand their needs; find, create or match them with resources or TA providers; organize meetings and documents needed for their requests; working with SSPs on quantitative data collection, analysis, and building data systems including forms and reports; and document the TA request throughout.

Second, they will create and support the creation of general guidance materials on M&E at SSPs which may include but is not limited to: researching SSP M&E best practices; documenting best practices; creating example data collection forms, analysis plans, and reports; building example data collection systems; working with SSPs, people who use drugs, and experts in the field; writing case studies of SSP M&E practices; and organizing findings into reports.

Third, this position will be responsible for organizing of trainings for SSPs on topics related to M&E. This will include collaborating with and supporting the work of people who use drugs, SSP staff, and subject matter experts; planning and organizing trainings; creating, reviewing, and/or editing training content; facilitating workshops (virtual and in person); conducting evaluations of trainings; and analyzing training evaluation results.

Impact to the University:

The UW is strongly committed to developing domestic partnerships related to the prevention of infectious diseases (HIV, viral hepatitis) and other health consequences related to substance use disorders. This project is housed in the Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases headed by Anna Wald, MD. The TA Provider will contribute to this ~$1+ million program with local and national partners and make a significant contribution toward meeting the project’s goals.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

The duties and responsibilities related to the SSP project include:

Provides technical assistance (TA) to SSPs [30% of time]

•Corresponding with SSPs, additional TA partners, and collaborators
•Acting as a liaison between SSPs requesting TA, TA providers, and TA team
•Organizing and facilitating meetings to discuss TA requests
•Making work plans for responding to TA requests
•Providing the requested technical assistance or creating new content as needed
•Provide technical support on REDCap to SSPs
•Track and document TA requests and responses
•Communicating with the CDC, requestors, and collaborators about updates, reviews, approvals, etc

Develops guidance materials on M&E at SSPs [30% of time]

•Researching M&E best practices at SSPs or in adjacent fields
•Adapting methods for use in the context of SSPs
•Collaborates with SSP staff, people who use drugs, TA partners, and experts in the field to create content on materials and get feedback from them on materials
•Organizing and facilitating meetings with collaborators
•Communicating with the CDC on updates, reviews, approvals, etc.
•Guidance materials that will be created may include (but not be limited to) a model database for SSPs to collect client-level data, model materials (e.g., surveys, reports) for SSPs to collect and analyze data for internal and external reporting, case studies on SSPs M&E processes, case studies on what data SSPs have used to defend or justify themselves from community pushback, guidance on comparing SSP data to community level data, guidance on estimating population of people who use drugs in a given area, protocols for implementing a point in time survey.

Develops short course(s) to train SSPs in conducting M & E [30% of time]

•Monitor and support application process for SSPs to participate in trainings
•Collaborating with TA partners, expert consultants, and others to create training curriculums and content
•Working with SSPs participating in trainings, providing them additional support, reviewing and providing feedback on materials they create in trainings, assisting them in answering additional questions that may come up
•Organizing and facilitating or leading trainings (in person and/or virtual)
•Plan, implement, and analyze evaluations of trainings

Collaborates with the study team (Project Manager, Principal Investigator, Project Coordinator, TA Providers) on general project issues and implementation [10% of time]

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

•Bachelors degree in a health or science related field.
•Minimum 3 years of experience with:
- Following and implementing strict protocols
- Developing and providing trainings
- Prior experience working with people who use drugs, SSPs, and/or other harm reduction programs
- Prior experience related to monitoring and evaluation of health programs

Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

•Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail
•Excellent judgment and interpersonal skills with proven ability for effective cross-cultural communication
•Ability to anticipate, recognize and resolve problems
•Ability to work in a complex environment with multiple priorities and short deadlines; ability to manage several multidimensional activities simultaneously
•Aptitude for learning new skills and technologies
•High proficiency in Zoom and MS Office Suite (including Word, Excel, Power Point, and Outlook), in addition to the ability to quickly learn and apply new or unfamiliar software


DESIRED:

•Prior experience with project management
•Prior experience providing technical assistance to health programs
•Prior experience organizing and facilitating trainings or learning collaboratives
•Prior experience planning and running quantitative analysis
•Prior experience conducting evaluations and analyzing data
•Developing and utilizing databases, especially with REDCap
•Knowledge of health outcomes that disproportionately affect PWID including HIV, viral hepatitis, and overdose


WORKING CONDITIONS:

This is a full-time position (40 hours per week) and will primarily work during regular business hours. However, the position may need to work some time (<5% of total work time) outside of regular business hours to accommodate East Coast time zones and SSPs that primarily have evening or weekend hours. This position will primarily be able to work remotely, although there may be some travel for trainings.

Other Comments:

This position is funded for one year (through July 31, 2023). There is the possibility that it will extend beyond that, but that will be dependent on project needs and funding.

In your cover letter application, please address the following questions:

Please describe your experiences working in Harm Reduction and with people who use drugs. Please describe your monitoring and evaluation experience.

Application Process:
The application process for UW positions may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process.  These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others.  Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.