Chief Research and Impact Officer

Job Title:

Chief Research & Impact Officer

Location:

Hybrid, including mandatory bi-annual staff retreats in Durham, NC

Position Type:

Full-Time, Exempt

Reports to:

Chief Executive Officer

Family Connects (FC) is an independent 501c3 non-profit, that provides training, implementation support, and national leadership for the expansion of the evidenced-based Family Connects model, developed at Duke University. The Family Connects model is a community-based program supporting new parents in caring for their newborns, offering physical assessments of the postpartum person and infant, addressing questions about caring for a newborn, providing supportive guidance, and helping them access any needed community services or resources.

The Chief Research & Impact Officer (CRIO) is a senior executive responsible for advancing FC’s impact, evidence building strategy, and organizational learning. Reporting directly to the CEO and serving as a member of the executive leadership team, the CRIO will lead the organization’s approach to research, evaluation, data systems, and continuous quality improvement across a growing national network.

This role sits at the intersection of research, implementation science, and systems strategy, ensuring that FC remains a national leader in evidence-based practice while continuously advancing outcomes across diverse communities.

• Research & Evaluation Oversight:Ensure FC maintains and strengthens its position as a nationally recognized evidence-based model.
• Develop and lead a multi-year national research and evaluation agenda aligned with FC’s strategic priorities and the model’s theory of change.
• Monitor and synthesize emerging researchandevidencetrends in maternal and child health, early childhood, health care, and home visitingtoidentifyandleverageopportunities for alignment.
• Oversee implementation of FC’s Research and Evaluation Policy. Coordinate, coach, and oversee research evaluation efforts by external teams to ensure that the research being conducted by external partners is appropriate and rigorous.
• Synthesize complex data to create action-oriented materials and insights at policy and practice levels and for diverse audiences

Data Systems & Measurement Infrastructure:Oversee FC’s data strategy, data system architecture, and governance, ensuring high-quality, consistent data collection across all implementation sites.

Guidethe evolution of data systems to support decision-making, reporting, and learning at local, regional, state, and national levels.

Oversee and supervise the FC Data Team.

Ensure FC’s Data System continues to meet requirements as a HIPAA-secure electronic health record system, balancing collection of required program metrics, partner needs, system capabilities, funder requirements, and organizational priorities.

Organizational Learning & Continuous Quality Improvement:Build and institutionalize systems that translate data and evidence into actionable insights, informed by context, across teams and partner sites.

Apply implementation (e.g., Knowledge-to-Action), adaptive learning (e.g., Emergent Learning, and continuous improvement (e.g., PSDA) frameworks to design, tailor, and evaluate Family Connects as an evidence-based intervention for seamless integration into everyday clinical and organizational workflows.

Design and lead a national approach to continuous learning and quality improvement across replication sites

Partner with FC clinical and implementation teams to monitor fidelity to the evidence-based model, assess site performance, and ensure learning translates to application in practice

Assist partner sites and internal teams in monitoring variation in implementation and outcomesandidentifyingopportunities for…