Careers

Description:

Salary range: $8,075 - $8708 per month [$96,900 - $104, 496 per year]

POSITION PURPOSE

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is an independent research center at the University of Washington. Its mission is to deliver to the world timely, relevant, and scientifically valid evidence to improve health policy and practice. IHME carries out its mission through a range of projects within different research areas including the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors; Future Health Scenarios; Cost Effectiveness and Efficiency; Resource Tracking; and Impact Evaluations. Our vision is to provide policymakers, donors, and researchers with the highest-quality quantitative evidence base so all people live long lives in full health.
IHME is committed to providing the evidence base necessary to help solve the world’s most important health problems. This requires creativity and innovation, which are cultivated by an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment that respects and appreciates differences, embraces collaboration, and invites the voices of all IHME team members.  

IHME has an outstanding opportunity for a Research Training Specialist on the Learning and Development team (L&D) focusing on the Global Burden of Disease study. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) provides a tool to quantify health loss from hundreds of diseases, injuries, and risk factors, so that health systems can be improved and disparities can be eliminated. The tools allow decision-makers to compare the effects of different diseases, such as malaria versus cancer, and then use that information at home. Collected and analyzed by a consortium of more than 9,000 researchers in 162 countries and territories, the data capture premature death and disability from more than 350 diseases and injuries in 204 countries, by age and sex, from 1990 to the present, allowing comparisons over time, across age groups, and among populations. To make these results more accessible and useful, IHME has distilled large amounts of complicated information into a suite of interactive data visualizations that allow people to make sense of the over 1 billion data points generated. Learn more about the GBD.

The incumbent in this role is responsible for understanding the methods, tools, analytical procedures/processes, and data used in the Global Burden of Disease study, assessing learning needs of IHME employees and external stakeholders related to the GBD, and developing training and learning solutions to address them. This role will be a key driver in cultivating the ability of IHME employees and collaborators to use GBD methods, tools, and data. The successful applicant will produce education and training opportunities related to GBD analytical methods, data sources, visualization tools, and policy implications that cultivate connections and knowledge sharing with an audience of engaged practitioners around the world. This position will play a key role in advancing the Institute’s ability to conduct innovative and groundbreaking research through the creation of learning opportunities that train a global community of researchers/practitioners in the GBD. The incumbent will gain advanced knowledge of GBD and have the ability to translate that proficiency into novel training solutions to address the learning needs of external audiences, collaborators, and institutional stakeholders. Strong expertise/experience in public health, research methods, and data science are required for creating and delivering relevant learning solutions. The individual must have an interest in education and training and be open to learning/developing skills in instructional design and curriculum development.

The ideal candidate will be comfortable collaborating with instructional designers and eLearning developers to create online trainings and multimedia learning assets, keeping content relevant and updated, and continuing to help develop current training offerings. Direct engagement with various research and operational teams across the Institute to build learning solutions that catalyze their capacity to achieve IHME’s mission to improve the health of the world’s populations is also a key aspect of this role. The individual in this role will provide learning solutions to individuals from different cultural, linguistic, and disciplinary backgrounds and must be prepared to address the learning needs of individuals who possess a wide range of experience and understanding both intellectually and professionally. IHME is a grant-funded organization, and this position is contingent upon project funding availability.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Content production

• Manage content development process with internal stakeholders, including scheduling meetings, managing timelines, tracking progress, and building assessments.
• Develop a comprehensive/deep knowledge of the GBD methods, tools, and data used across teams at IHME.
• Work with individuals and teams at IHME as well as IHME stakeholders/collaborators to understand their learning needs related to the GBD.
• Translate knowledge of the GBD into content for learning solutions including in-person training, online training, job aids, and reference guides.
• Write storyboards, scripts, and production-ready content for various GBD education and training opportunities.
• Build teaching materials as needed, including lecture slides, instructor notes, practice exercises, and case studies.

Curriculum support

• Advise on the development of curricula for various GBD training opportunities including workshops, skill-building training, academic courses, and online training.
• Contribute to the development of lesson plans, learner assessments, practice exercises, and other instructional design materials that address learning needs related to GBD methods, tools, and data.
• Contribute to the writing of goal statements, learning objectives, and performance objectives, and advise on mapping them to instructional strategies and teaching materials.
• Advise the L&D team on how to use/interpret learner data/feedback from GBD training to adapt, revise, and update the design of curriculum and content.
• Advise on the production of eLearning resources and courses; job aids; training manuals; and reference guides on the GBD for IHME research teams and external stakeholders.
• Provide support for courses taught by IHME faculty at the University of Washington. Duties may include building and updating course syllabi, lesson plans, exercises, and assessments.

Teaching

• Teach in-person and synchronous virtual training on GBD methods, data visualization tools, results, policy implications, and data management procedures for both internal staff and external audiences.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Bachelor’s degree in education, communication, business, public health, or related field plus four years of work experience, or equivalent combination of education/experience.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• A commitment to working to alongside others at IHME to illuminate the health impacts of systemic racism and to work within IHME to make our organization more diverse and inclusive.  See IHME’s DEI statement here: https://www.healthdata.org/about/mission-vision/DEI.
• Strong theoretical and experiential knowledge of GBD research methods, tools, results, and data.
• Proficiency using GBD visualization tools to investigate different questions about health at the local, regional, and global levels.
• Understanding or experience using the modeling tools used in the GBD such as CODEm, DisMod, MR-BRT, etc.
• Strong interpersonal, teamwork, and customer service skills, as well as the ability to foster positive relationships with diverse members of staff and supervisors.
• Demonstrated project management skills, including the abilities to think independently, track many details and logistics concurrently, be flexible, and juggle priorities for multiple ongoing projects with minimal supervision.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy. Strong MS Office software skills, including proficiency in MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, and MS Outlook (specifically, managing calendars).