Research and Evaluation Specialist

Research and Evaluation Specialist
Employer:	Special Olympics Inc
Post Date:	18 09 2008
Reference:	SO-RES
Category:	Research
Hours:	Full Time
Location:	Washington DC / United States
Working Term:	Permanent Position
Salary:	Not disclosed
Application Deadline:	20 October 2008

Company Description
Special Olympics is an international nonprofit organization* dedicated to empowering individuals with intellectual disabilities to become physically fit, productive and respected members of society through sports training and competition. Special Olympics offers children and adults with intellectual disabilities year-round training and competition in 30 Olympic-type summer and winter sports

Description

Overview:
The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® helps athletes to improve their training and competition by focusing on overall health and fitness. This is achieved through basis health screenings, provision of preventative and treatment services, educational information and referrals for follow-up care. “Data from athlete health screenings are entered into the Healthy Athletes Software (HAS) system; these data have been aggregated into the largest database of health indicators on people with intellectual disability in the world. These data help Special Olympics learn more about the health status and needs of people with intellectual disabilities and guide improvements in its own health programming. Data are also used to secure partnerships for Healthy Athletes, educate healthcare practitioners, and influence policies in countries around the world.

This position is responsible for administrative and technical support of the research and evaluation functions within Special Olympics. Special Olympics research and evaluation efforts include: evaluations of existing initiatives (e.g. ALPs, Unified Sports, Healthy Athletes) to guide improvements in Special Olympics programming, intervention research to test new Special Olympics initiatives (such as education - including the National Youth Activation Project), and research studies that identify and explore health, educational, attitudinal, systematic, and societal disparities faced by Special Olympics and all persons with intellectual disabilities.

Responsibilities:
• Manage all administrative needs for the research and evaluation team and provide basic technical support on research and evaluation projects and events.
• Conduct literature reviews on topics of interest to the research & evaluation team.
• Conduct basic data analyses & develop Power Point presentations, talking points, and reports using data from Special Olympics research and evaluation studies.
• Respond to requests from internal and external audiences for research materials, citations, and information.
• Support the review process of the Health Professions student grant program.
• Collaborate with communications team to ensure that all research reports are posted on the internal and external Websites of Special Olympics.
• Communicate with SOI and research consultants to maintain current listings of publications, presentations, and research and evaluation projects.
• Support submission of research abstracts to conferences and registration of SOI presenters.
• Support research events, including meetings, Symposia, and Summits, by issuing invitations to participants and speakers, managing travel lodging, and credentialing arrangements, collecting biographical information from speakers, providing guidance and support on Visa and passport needs, managing audio/visual needs, preparing agendas and other event materials, and facilitating reimbursement and per diem payments.
• Submit necessary administrative documents to authorize travel and secure travel reimbursements for research and evaluation staff and consultants.
• Maintain databases of research contacts and use these databases to inform event invitation lists, dissemination of research requests for proposals (RFPs), and special mailings of research materials.
• Collaborate with Finance and Legal staff to ensure that legal contracts are created and executed, that invoices are received from contractors and can be processed in a timely way, and that projects stay on schedule.
• Maintain centralized filing system of journal articles and resources used by the Research and Evaluation team.

Qualifications:
• BA/BS degree and 1-3 years applicable work experience (or equivalent combination of coursework and work experience) required.
• Strong administrative and organizational skills required.
• Proficiency with MS Office Suite, particularly Word, Outlook, Excel, and Power Point required.
• Strong oral and written communication skills and ability to maintain regular and effective communication with research & evaluation team required.
• Educational or job experience providing familiarity with research methods and design, literature review, and basic statistical analysis strongly desired.
• Ability to determine informational needs and to collect and analyze information strongly desired.
• Interest in intellectual disability a plus.
• Foreign language skills a plus.

ONLY candidates who submit a cover letter, résumé and salary history should e-mail jobs@specialolympics.org to be considered.