RESPONSIBLE TO: Chief Executive Officer
CONTRACT TYPE: Permanent
SALARY: €80,000 to €100,980
Jigsaw, Ireland’s leading youth mental health charity, is delighted to announce an exciting opportunity for the position of Director of Research.
This role is central to the delivery and execution of Jigsaw’s mission of achieving better mental health outcomes for young people, offering the right candidate an exceptional opportunity to help shape the youth mental health agenda in Ireland and beyond. Since our formation in 2006, Jigsaw has established a track record in advancing young people’s mental health and developing supportive communities by providing a range of primary care services and supports. Our interventions are based on quality research and robust evaluation that is progressive, impactful and highly regarded, both nationally and internationally.
Our research and evaluation team (currently N = 6) collaborate with young people as well as national (UCD, DCU etc.) and international partners (Headspace, Australia, and Foundry, Canada) to undertake innovative and impactful research. This focuses on providing evidence for effective early intervention supports for young people. It also seeks to deepen our understanding of youth mental health and mental health literacy.
The team are currently undertaking research and evaluation projects that include studies of youth mental health needs and service delivery, mental health literacy and mental health promotion across community and education settings, and innovations in youth mental health care, including digital mental health interventions and peer support.
Now, as we look forward to the ongoing evolution in our service and support offerings, we are seeking an experienced and innovative Director of Research to lead and oversee our research and evaluation in line with Jigsaw’s vision i.e. to bring about an Ireland where every young person’s mental health is valued and supported.
Reporting to the CEO, the Director of Research, will be responsible for providing operational leadership and direction for all aspects of Research and Evaluation within Jigsaw. The Director of Research: will lead the development and implementation of Jigsaw’s Research Strategy; oversee its research, data translation and evaluation programme; and builds capacity and sustainability including the research, evaluation and data translation infrastructure within Jigsaw. The Director will oversee data governance, research dissemination, support the current transformation of the clinical model and ensure that effective performance measurement and evaluation is undertaken to support clinical, quality improvement and strategic decision-making within the organisation.
As a member of the Senior Management Team, the post holder will work collaboratively with senior colleagues to contribute to the strategic growth and future sustainability of Jigsaw in line with Jigsaw’s Strategic Plan Together: 2022-2025, while promoting integrated working across the organisation and advocating and representing Jigsaw nationally and internationally.
· Lead the implementation of Jigsaw’s Research Strategy as part of Jigsaw’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025, including the development of systems and programmes designed to monitor, evaluate and continuously improve the quality of Jigsaw’s research and evaluation.
· Oversee the development and provision of strategic and statistical information, including analysis of data, synthesis of findings and dissemination of information to assist Jigsaw with planning and decision-making.
· Ensure the development of the necessary infrastructure for conducting research, evaluation (IAPTUS) and data translation is in place within Jigsaw and develop relationships with external partners to support same.
· Work to develop a knowledge translation strategy that will facilitate understanding the relationship between evidence and practice for Jigsaw, as well as ensuring effective knowledge transfer within Jigsaw, and onward to stakeholders and policy makers.
· Supervise and manage individual members of the Research and Evaluation team.
· Work in consultation with the Jigsaw Research Subcommittee to monitor the implementation of the current research strategy and develop further research strategies as necessary and monitor implementation.
· Work with the Clinical Director, Director of Services and Director of Mental Health Promotion and others to develop, implement and monitor performance and quality indicators for Jigsaw Services and Mental Health Promotion work.
· Contribute to the implementation of quality improvement initiatives based on the results of data analysis and in consultation with the Senior Management Team.
· Work collaboratively on evaluation and research initiatives with partners, including Headspace, and Foundry and other national and international partners.
· Represent Jigsaw at meetings related to research, evaluation and data governance.
· In collaboration with the CEO, engage with key partners and stakeholders across the primary care and mental health sectors.
· Initiate and builds strong partnerships with a broad network of research bodies and stakeholder groups including at the community level to collaborate with Jigsaw, monitor youth and young adult mental health trends and research, mobilize funding and exchange information.
· Advance Jigsaw’s strategic objectives and evidence dissemination by supporting/coordinating manuscript submissions to peer reviewed journals and attendance and presentations at local, national and international conferences.
· Provide financial oversight of research, evaluation, data translation and other grants received by Jigsaw and ensure compliance with funding requirements for grant administration.
· Work with the Director of Communication and Fundraising to support and advance Jigsaw’s advocacy ambitions through the provision of key data points and evidence relating to youth mental health.
You will also:
· Work with the Senior Management Team and the Board on strategic and operational planning to ensure continuing delivery of Jigsaw’s mission.
· Actively contribute to the overall management and development of the organisation.
· Maintain contact and involvement as appropriate with frontline Jigsaw services.
Requirements
ESSENTIAL
Motivation
· Passionate about young people, their mental health and achieving change in Irish society.
Education, Training and Experience
· Education, training and experience at or equivalent to a PhD in evaluation or research-related social science or other human science discipline.
· Five years of recent, related experience in progressive senior management roles,
o working with networks, coalitions and multi-partnered projects, preferably in a youth and young adult health care environment and
o in the management of evaluations or performance monitoring,
o or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.
o Experience of staff/team management.
Skills and Abilities
· Demonstrated knowledge of health/social research methodologies, principles and procedures including
o evaluation processes: Logic Models, Performance Monitoring frameworks, impact analysis, and data analyses.
o development, management and conducting evaluations at organisational, community and systems levels
o leading system initiatives, including project planning and management methodologies
o Implementing equity, diversity and inclusion principles into practice, and in assessing the impact of research and evaluation on diverse communities
o leading change, by inspiring and engaging others and promoting change actions.
· Knowledge of health care and systems/service delivery models, Government processes and health authority structures and responsibilities.
· Ability to
o work with all Microsoft Office software and competency in a variety of data analysis and survey design software platforms
o work with large data sets and generate reports and materials that communicate findings to various audiences in an effective written, visual, and spoken manner
o to work independently and manage complex multi-disciplinary teams comprised of internal and external resources.
· Strong interpersonal skills, including facilitation and negotiation skills.
· Excellent writing and verbal communication abilities and independent problem-solving and decision-making skills.
DESIRABLE
· Understanding and experience of the voluntary mental health service systems and relevant polices in this area.
Jigsaw are open to secondment arrangements with suitably qualified and experienced candidates, in line with agreement from their organisation.
Interested candidates are encouraged to make Informal enquiries with Dr Joseph Duffy, CEO (086) 7765580 or [email protected]
Benefits
Jigsaw operates the following benefits for its employees
· Defined contribution pension scheme.
· Annual leave 29 days, exclusive of public holidays and 1.5 company days.
· Comprehensive annual CPD schedule
· Financial support for further education
Please note
· The closing date for applications is 5pm on the 24th of October 2024. First round interviews are expected to take place in early November 2024 in Dublin.
· The above Job Description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to them from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office.
· As Jigsaw is a national organisation, this role will require travel for work and a willingness to work occasional evenings and weekends, as required.
· The successful candidate will be required to obtain Garda vetting as a condition of their initial and continued employment.
· Jigsaw is an Equal Opportunities Employer.
· All documentation received by Jigsaw will be processed in accordance with the Data Protection Acts, 1988 and 2003 and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR; 2018). The information will only be used by Jigsaw in the processing of job applications and for ongoing administrative purposes with job candidates.
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