Manager, Community Research and Evaluation Help Desk

Special Instructions to Applicants:
All interested applicants should attach a résumé in the Supporting Documents section of the application preferably in PDF format to avoid any formatting issues.
Additional Supporting Document: Applicants should attach a one-page Partnership Research Statement that addresses how they think about conducting research that is collaborative and community-oriented.

About Rice:
Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston Texas Rice University is ranked among the nations top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio and a residential college system that supports students intellectually emotionally and culturally through social events intramural sports student plays lecture series courses and student government. Developing close-knit diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities.

Rice is also a wonderful place to work. Rice faculty staff and students share values that are essential to our success as a healthy community. Those values guide our decisions and behaviors and shape Rices culture. They come through in the way we treat each other and the welcome we extend to our visitors. These values can be recalled simply by our name RICE Responsibility Integrity Community and Excellence.

Position Summary:
The Kinder Institute for Urban Research and the School of Social Sciences are hiring a Manager Community Research and Evaluation Help Desk position to serve as an embedded liaison at the United Way of Greater Houston to stand up a first-of-its-kind community Help Desk that aims to triage data and evaluation questions and services for Houston-area nonprofits in coordination with the United Way of Greater Houstons Coffee and Quality programming. This staff member will be a colleague to their United Way Quality Coach counterpart at the Help Desk. The Manager will also provide regular communication to the Houston evaluation network with updates and progress on Help Desk activities and summarize short-form peer-reviewed articles that provide timely insight into policy implementation analysis and evaluation.

The Manager of Community Research and Evaluation Help Deskwill work closely with the Director of the Houston Population Research Center at the Kinder Institute the School of Social Sciences Assistant Dean for Student Programs and the Assistant Vice President for Mission and Strategy at the United Way of Greater Houston to develop a menu of Help Desk offerings; a process to collect sort and triage incoming requests; and a decision tree that resolves and channels Help Desk requests to the appropriate audiences in a timely manner. The Manager needs to be thoughtful in developing an accessible user experience and adept at creating a workflow that accounts for the various key stakeholders and their respective areas of expertise.

The Manager of Community Research and Evaluation Help Desk will also offer a series of Open Office Hours in partnership with the United Way of Greater Houstons Coffee and Quality team to community nonprofits to provide Help Desk services in years two and three the Manager will help create a rotational program with Rice University Master of Social Policy Evaluation students to develop their skills and expertise in working with community nonprofits. This is a three-year grant-funded position with no guarantee that the position will be funded after the grant ends. All efforts will be made to seek additional funding in order to provide continued support for this position beyond the initial three years.

Ideal Candidate Statement:
Ideal candidates work well in a team environment actively collaborate and can motivate others. They have superior project management and communication skills are highly customer-service oriented demonstrate meticulous attention to detail and accuracy and are comfortable working in an evolving environment with increasing levels of responsibility and ownership as the Help Desk evolves.

Workplace Requirements:
Hybrid position: This position is offered as a hybrid role combining both in-office and remote work within Harris County and surrounding counties to provide flexibility and support Rice policy 440 work arrangements may be subject to change.

• Position will be housed at the United Way of Greater Houston

• Occasional travel

• Evening and/or weekend work as needed

Hiring Salary: $68000 - $72000 annually
*Exempt (salaried) positions underFLSA are not eligible for overtime.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelors degree (or foreign equivalent) in sociology economics other social science public health or a related field and completion of a university-level course thesis or dissertation

• 2 years of experience

  • In lieu of the experience requirement additional related education above and beyond what is required may be substituted on an equivalent year-for-year basis.

Skills:

• Ability to develop and initiate new strategies

• Advanced problem-solving skills

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills

• Data analysis skills

• Ability to work well under pressure and manage multiple projects simultaneously

• Strong organizational and time management skills

• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team to meet expected deadlines and schedules

• Attention to detail

• Ability to develop program partnerships and funding sources

• Basic knowledge of managing budgets and developing financial plans

Preferences:

• Masters degree (or foreign equivalent) in sociology economics other social science public health or a related field

• Experience working with data systems reporting processes or institutional research

• Familiarity with project management tools or ticketing systems

• Experience building new processes or programs from the ground up

• Experience in higher education nonprofit government or complex organizational environments

Essential Functions:

Community-facing Front-line Help Desk Inquiry Management & Workflow

• Serves as the primary point of contact for data-related inquiries sent to the Help Desk via email phone and website in partnership with the United Way of Greater Houstons Coffee and Quality team.

• Responds promptly and professionally to ensure clarity accuracy and excellent customer service.

• Contributes to the project management or ticketing system to assess the scope urgency and complexity of Help Desk requests to determine next steps.

• Works with the United Way of Greater Houston Help Desk colleague to monitor progress and ensure timely resolution of inquiries.

• Identifies recurring themes and recommends process improvements that lead to measurable efficiencies.

• Translates technical or complex academic journal articles into clear accessible language for the United Way of Greater Houstons Coffee & Quality bi-monthly newsletter.

Internal Workflow Development & Process Implementation

• Designs documents and continuously improves a clear accessible and user-friendly workflow for data requests.

• Develops expert-level knowledge of the United Way of Greater Houstons scope of work and the mission of Coffee and Quality programming alongside an understanding of Rice Universitys Kinder Institute for Urban Research expertise to route inquiries to the appropriate departments or subject matter experts.

• Establishes and monitors performance metrics to ensure processes produce effective and timely outcomes.

• Proactively identifies gaps and independently moves solutions from proposal to execution.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Builds strong working relationships across the various grant stakeholders to ensure a coordinated and effective effort toward the Help Desks impact.

• Translates conceptual ideas into structured processes practical tools and implementable systems and facilitates conversations that clarify needs and move discussions toward actionable next steps.

• Manages expectations and provides regular updates to requestors.

• Performs all other duties as assigned

Rice University HR Benefits: Mission and Values: Mission and Values Rice University

Rice University is committed to ensuring Equal Employment Opportunity and welcoming the fullness of diversity into our candidate pools. Rice considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race color religion age sex sexual orientation gender identity national or ethnic origin genetic information disability or protected veteran status. Rice also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified persons with disabilities. If an applicant requires a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process please get in touch with Rice Universitys Human Resources Office via email at for support.

If you have any additional questions please email us at . Thank you for your interest in employment with Rice University.