Director,Applied Research (Contract Job Toronto area,Ontario Canada,Research/Development

Position: Director, Applied Research (Contract)

Job title

Director, Applied Research (6-month contract)

Department

Service Programs

Reports to

Vice President, Equity, Programs & Innovation Implementation

Salary range

$105,000 - $125,000

Job type

Full-Time, 6-month contract, Hybrid working 2-3 days per week

Location

Toronto, Ontario

Posting period

Friday, August 7, 2026

The opportunity

Are you motivated by the chance to help ensure all young people in Canada can access mental health support and Feel Out Loud? Kids Help Phone (KHP) is Canada’s Unlock The Hope Youth Charity. We’re the first and Canada's only national 24/7, free, confidential, and multilingual e-mental health service for youth and a global leader in innovation for youth and their well-being.

Reporting to the VP, Equity, Programs & Innovation Implementation, the Director, Applied Research is responsible for advancing KHP’s applied research strategy and strengthening the systems, partnerships, and organizational capacity required to support the best possible interaction for young people. The role will support the growth, evaluation, outcome measurement, and sustainability of applied research activities across KHP, with a focus on building research infrastructure, mobilizing knowledge, and enabling program and service leaders to use evidence in decision-making.

The Director will be a core member of KHP’s applied research function and will work closely with clinical, program, technology, data, equity, privacy, legal stakeholders and external partners. The role requires deep applied research expertise, strong partnership management, and the ability to design practical evidence, evaluation, and governance approaches that support youth mental health services today. This includes strengthening data and ethics practices, supporting evaluation and outcome measurement, and building staff research literacy across the organization.

It’ll take courage, collaboration, innovation, resilience and trust. If you’re interested in transforming e-mental health solutions with KHP, you can explore this opportunity today!

The responsibilities

Applied Research Strategy, Infrastructure & Governance

Lead the continued development and implementation of KHP’s applied research infrastructure, including research governance processes, decision-making pathways, and tools that support consistent, ethical, and high-quality research activity.

Strengthen research ethics, REB readiness, privacy, data management, and data use agreement practices in collaboration with KHP privacy, legal, clinical, technology, and data teams.

Support implementation of KHP’s Thought Leadership Strategy, including submitting conference abstracts when relevant and representing KHP at key events

Liaise with KHP IT and data teams as needed to set up technical environments to support partnerships and projects

Service Evaluation & Outcome Measurement

Work collaboratively with clinical, program and data teams to design practical measurement and evaluation frameworks, indicators, and research questions aligned to organizational priorities and youth outcomes.

Leverage KHP datasets and mixed-methods evidence to generate actionable insights that improve the effectiveness, equity, accessibility, and impact of KHP’s services and programs.

Translate evaluation findings into recommendations for practice, reporting, continuous improvement, and strategic decision-making.

Knowledge Mobilization & Capacity Building

Lead KHP's knowledge mobilization strategy, including evidence synthesis, environmental scanning, sector benchmarking, publications, presentations, and translation of findings into actionable insights for internal and external audiences.

Build staff research literacy through resources, learning opportunities, coaching, and accessible tools that support teams to understand, use, and contribute to applied research.

Support clinical resource review and curation by ensuring relevant evidence and practice insights are available to inform program and service development.

Research Partnerships & Portfolio Management

Lead the development and management of strategic research partnerships across academic, community, healthcare, technology, and philanthropic sectors, ensuring…