Research Associate, Evaluation and Impact

Description

The Office of Institutional Commitments in the Office of the Provost & VP (Academic) is currently seeking a Full-time Limited Term Research Associate for approximately 24 months.

The Office of Institutional Commitments (OIC) unites the university's efforts to advance Community Mental Health and Well-Being (CMHWB), Inclusive Excellence, and Sustainability under one integrated framework, supporting UCalgary's Ahead of Tomorrow strategic plan. OIC is also home to several centres of excellence, including the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Canada, Recovery on Campus Alberta, the UCalgary Recovery Community, and the Post-Secondary Mental Health and Well-Being Research and Knowledge Hub.

Reporting to the Manager, Strategy, Planning, and Impact, the Research Associate, Evaluation and Impact, serves as OIC's lead subject-matter expert in evaluation, impact assessment, and performance and impact measurement of institutional strategies, programs, and initiatives. The position leads the development and implementation of integrated evaluation frameworks, methodologies, indicators, and reporting systems that assess and communicate the outcomes and impact of OIC's strategies, action plans, programs, events, and centres of excellence.

The role also supports OIC's efforts to develop integrated planning, reporting, and impact measurement approaches that strengthen alignment across institutional commitments and enable a more holistic understanding of OIC's collective contribution to institutional priorities.

The position works independently and exercises a high degree of professional judgment in determining appropriate evaluation methodologies, data collection approaches, analytical techniques, reporting mechanisms, and knowledge mobilization strategies. The incumbent is responsible for translating complex quantitative and qualitative information into meaningful insights and evidence-informed recommendations that support strategic planning, institutional reporting, continuous improvement, resource allocation, and strategic decision-making.

OIC is a complex and fast-paced office that requires collaboration among faculties, units, departments, students, staff, researchers, community organizations, and external partners. The incumbent must manage multiple competing priorities and deadlines while leading complex projects involving diverse stakeholders and large volumes of information. Strong analytical skills, technical expertise, attention to detail, and the ability to communicate complex information clearly are essential.

The incumbent works collaboratively with faculties, units, departments, and external partners to obtain, analyze, and synthesize information required to assess progress and impact across institution-wide strategies and action plans stewarded by OIC, where accountability and implementation are distributed across multiple stakeholders.

This position works Monday to Friday for 35 hours per week. Although shift work is not required, occasional evening and weekend work may be necessary to support project deadlines, consultations, events, data collection activities, or reporting requirements.

Summary of Key Responsibilities (job functions include but are not limited to):

• Evaluates and synthesizes information to support integrated evaluation and impact measurement frameworks for OIC; demonstrates outcomes and impact of institution-wide strategies, action plans, programs, initiatives, and centres of excellence stewarded by OIC.
• Develops integrated and consistent evaluation approaches, methodologies, indicators, and reporting practices across OIC's institutional commitments, programs, events, initiatives, action plans, and centres of excellence to improve comparability, identify opportunities for integration, and strengthen understanding of OIC's collective impact across multiple strategic priorities.
• Establishes evaluation methodologies, logic models, theories of change, indicators, key performance measures, and reporting processes that provide reliable and actionable evidence to inform strategic planning and decision-making.
• Establishes institutional standards and methodologies…