Senior MEQ Specialist

Job Description

Organization Description:

Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment (COPE) is a Native-controlled, community-driven non-profit 501©3 entity based in Gallup, NM. COPE’s Vision is to eliminate health disparities and improve the wellbeing of American Indians and Alaska Natives. COPE has an annual budget of $3.5M and staff of approximately 30 individuals. The three areas of strategic focus for COPE’s work are:

• Improve health care delivery to Native families through community-based outreach and health systems strengthening.
• Increasing access to healthy foods and promoting food sovereignty in tribal communities.
• Strengthening local capacity and partnerships to bring about system-level change.

Position Title:Senior MEQ Specialist

Reports to:Contact Tracing Lead, Director of Research and Evaluation

Location:Gallup, NM (based at the COPE Office)

Position Type:Full-time, exempt (may include evenings and weekends)

Project Overview:

In the context of COVID-19, contact tracing is a means of virtual accompaniment that achieves three important goals: stopping the spread of COVID by isolating cases and contacts, improving health outcomes by monitoring symptoms and connecting to care, and supporting wellbeing through social and emotional support. COVID-19 contact tracers are a community-based paraprofessional workforce and many of their skills and roles map onto the broader healthcare profession of community health workers (CHWs). The contact tracing program provides an opportunity to address the root causes of systemic challenges; not only do they assist with collection epidemiologic data and support isolation and quarantine to stop the spread, they provide daily accompaniment to families affected by COVID to connect people to resources, check on symptoms and refer to medical care, and provide emotional support.

Position Overview:

The Senior MEQ Specialist (Sr. Specialist herein) will join a fast paced and dynamic team on Navajo Nation. The Sr. Specialist will work under the supervision of the Navajo Contact Tracing Lead and in close collaboration with the CommCare team withing the Navajo Nation Health Command Operations Center to carry out project monitoring, evaluation, and quality improvement of contact tracing and related public health initiatives.The Sr. Specialist will work very closely with other COPE staff, including the Program Director as well as other Sr. Specialists and Program Managers, in carrying out and coordinating activities with stakeholders on Navajo Nation.

The principal responsibilities of the position will include:

Program Monitoring, Evaluation,and Quality Improvement (MEQ):

COPEupholds a community driven approach to all monitoring, evaluation, and quality improvement activities

• Work under the Project Leads and with Technical Advisers to prepare analysis and recommendations for Navajo HCOC and other stakeholders
• Ensure all MEQ activities are community driven in collaboration with other COPE staff and are culturally tailored to the unique needs and strengths of the Navajo Nation.
• Compile, synthesize, and analyze data to inform the development of assessments, recommendations and other advising and program materials 
• Update analytics and train other staff and partners to carry out routine reporting, as needed
• Track project performance using appropriate KPIs and project metrics
• Prepare data for donor reports and other external program reports as needed
• Draft grant reports and assist in financial and expense reporting for projects.
• Generate regular MEQ reports on program progress to COPE leadership team
• Support the evaluation and quality-improvement efforts related to community-led initiatives related to Contact Tracing
• Work closely with the COPE Program Director, other COPE staff,and external stakeholders to apply evaluation data and metrics toward quality improvement
• Collaborate closely with stakeholders to understand user needs, provide training and implementation support, incorporate feedback into analytics and evaluation metrics, and disseminate relevant data
• Obtain community, stakeholder, and leadership approval for dissemination of project findings and results
• Obtain and maintain any needed IRB approvals as needed

Stakeholder Engagement and COPE Programming:

One of the key areas of focus for COPE is collaboration with partners on Navajo Nation and within the COPE team

• Ensure collaboration and coordination with the COPE staff in engaging and working across all the mutual stakeholders across COPE’s programs
• Maintain a positive working environment and relationships with partners, key stakeholders, and other COPE staff
• Ensure program integration with COPE’s ongoing activities
• Support COPE’s role within the Navajo Nation COVID-19 Response Plan to design and implement various aspects of COVID-19 contact tracing response, with a focus on monitoring, evaluation, and quality improvement (MEQ)
• Participate in the PHAU network, sharing out COPE-Navajo Nation site activities and tapping into best practices and resources across the PHAU team
• Collaborate closely and transparently with Training and Technical teams in Partners In Health’s USPHAU and Brigham and Women’s Hospital
• Contribute learnings and insights from the COPE work on Navajo Nation to broader US Public Health Accompaniment Unit resource library and learning collaborative
• Provide mentorship on program evaluation and analytic methods to staff, volunteers, and other trainees, and partnersunder the guidance of the Program Director and Research and Evaluation Director
• May be assigned supervisory responsibilities, as needed
• Support quality assurance and confidentiality / HIPAA compliance of COPE contact tracers

Perform any other relevant, project-related duties when needed

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree + 6 years relevant work experience in MEQ; or Master’s Degree in Public Health (or equivalent) + 4 years relevant work experience in MEQ; orat least 15 years of work experience in MEQ

• Prior project management experience in complex, fast-paced environment 
• Ability to exhibit a professional, positive attitude, empathy, and strong work ethic
• Demonstrated willingness to learn and receive constructive feedback
• Honesty, accountability and transparency with a commitment to equity in Indigenous communities
• Ability to manage uncertainty and challenges while maintaining positivity
• Demonstrated strong problem-solving skills, qualitative and quantitative analytical capabilities
• Ability to work closely with staff across COPE’s programming to advance community driven work
• Advanced proficiency in statistical programming, i.e. independently carries out analytics in R, STATA or SPSS
• Ability to work independently and effectively in high-pressure, fast-paced environment and handle multiple tasks simultaneously
• Exceptional diplomatic and interpersonal skills and ability to build strong professional relationships with a range of stakeholders in a challenging environment
• Ability to reflect Diné values and be role model in positivity for partners and staff
• Strategically minded, able to think creatively around program objectives and the detailed steps necessary to achieve these goals
• Entrepreneurial spirit, sense of humor and flexibility in the face of rapidly evolving scope of work and new challenges  
• Sound judgment and ability to handle confidential information with discretion and professionalism
• Demonstrated commitment to social justice and health equity
• Strong communication skills, including delivery of compelling presentations and documents in Microsoft PowerPoint and Word
• Advanced Proficiency in Microsoft Excel; experience in data visualization software (e.g., PowerBI, Tableau) a plus
• Ability to handle confidential information with discretion and professionalism
• Affiliation with Navajo Nation and/or familiarity with Navajo Nation strongly preferred
• Must have a favorable background check

Work Conditions:

• The Sr. Specialist may need to work outside normal business hours to meet deadlines
• This position is based at the COPE Office in Gallup, NM
• Must have own reliable transportation and be willing to use it for work travel, including making work drives regionally