The Department of Community and Human Services values diverse perspectives and life experiences. The Department encourages people of all backgrounds to apply, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ, people with disabilities, veterans, and those with lived experiences.

King County's Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) provides equitable opportunities for people to be healthy, happy, and connected to community.
 

DCHS has a tremendous opportunity for a seasoned manager of data analysts and/or evaluators to partner with one of the county’s largest human services departments in advancing a cutting-edge collaborative model supporting behavioral health and recovery in King County!

DCHS’s Behavioral Health and Recovery Division (BHRD) is a leader in behavioral health across the country. Their portfolio includes: 

• Provision of a wide variety of services including crisis services, mental health treatment, substance use disorder treatment, and diversion and reentry services.
• A partnership with 40+ community-based organizations and five managed care organizations (MCOs) to develop the King County Integrated Care Network (KCICN) to drive better outcomes for community members and increased efficiency in the use of Medicaid funds. 
• Administration of the MIDD Behavioral Health Sales Tax Fund, which helps King County residents get well and stay well, connect to community, and thrive in recovery.

DCHS’ Performance Measurement and Evaluation (PME) unit has been integral to many of these innovations. As our next Behavioral Health and Recovery PME Manager, you’d be responsible for creating a robust data-informed culture that supports the cutting-edge work of BHRD.

You wouldn’t be working alone! This position gets to lead an extremely talented team of data analysts and evaluators with deep subject matter expertise and technical skills in SQL, R, and Tableau. The team sits within the larger PME unit that supports the entire department and is comprised of professionals skilled in quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods, data resource development and management, and data visualization. PME supports DCHS’ program staff and management with developing comprehensive evaluation frameworks and performance metrics, including assisting with determining appropriate performance measures, managing data collection and quality control, monitoring continuous quality improvement, and conducting in-depth analyses to inform decision making and improve service delivery. PME disseminates research and evaluation findings and promotes organizational learning through published reports and dashboards.

This posting may be used to fill other similar positions.

WHO MAY APPLY: This position is open to all qualified candidates that meet the minimum qualifications.

REQUIRED MATERIALS: Candidates who wish to be considered for this position must submit an online King County application and respond to the supplemental questions. Your application may be rejected as incomplete if you do not include the requested and relevant information in the online application and supplemental questionnaire. Applications and/or supplemental questionnaires that state, “see my resume” are considered incomplete and will not be considered to be competitive.

WORK SCHEDULE/CONDITIONS: This position is exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and is not eligible for overtime. Typical hours are Monday - Friday, 8am - 5pm. This position is not represented by a union.

Teleworking Requirement 

The work associated with this position will be performed through a combination of teleworking complemented with onsite work and meetings as needed. Employees will have access to shared workspaces at various King County facilities. Employees must reside in Washington state and within a reasonable distance to their King County worksite to respond to workplace reporting requirements.
  

Employees will be provided with a County issued laptop and must maintain a workspace with an internet connection (access may be supplemented in some situations) where they can reliably perform work and remain available and responsive during scheduled work hours. Please note that when an employee conducts work that is likely to bring them in contact with another individual, safety precautions are required, including the wearing of masks in some situations. King County is doing its part to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and remains committed to reducing our carbon footprint.
  
King County has a robust collection of tools and resources to support working remotely. The individual selected for this opportunity will be joining an innovative and progressive team that is redefining how we work as we transition to the department's hybrid environment. 

RECRUITER: Susan Churchill, susan.churchill@kingcounty.gov

Set and Drive Strategic Vision and Direction: 

• Direct and coordinate the performance measurement, business intelligence, and evaluation activities of King County’s Behavioral Health and Recovery Division. 
• In partnership with internal leadership, executives from provider agencies, and external consultants, oversee the development and maintenance of dashboards and other data products to monitor performance and engage providers and program staff in data-informed continuous quality improvement.
• Drive towards the application of a racial equity and social justice lens across a wide variety of projects and work products.
• Identify opportunities to better align existing performance measurement and evaluation activities with a standard approach that uses a Results-Based Accountability framework. 
• Stay abreast of changes and developments within BHRD and anticipate their impact on performance measurement and evaluation needs.
• Engage in a project to replace the current behavioral health information system to ensure a strategic and planful approach to analytics and reporting once the new system is in place.

Bridge Between Technical and Non-Technical Staff:

• Ensure BHRD’s needs for timely data support are met while allowing time for a response that is efficient, replicable, and well-documented for the future. This sometimes requires negotiation to arrive at acceptable compromises (such as with deadlines) and the ability to advocate for more time and care upfront to save time and re-work down the line.
• Serve as an effective translator between business/clinical stakeholders and technical teams. Help PME and IT staff understand business requirements and context and help the business understand technical issues, considerations, needs, and constraints.
• Understand and effectively communicate complex technical issues for decision-makers without use of technical jargon so issues can be escalated, mitigated, and addressed.
• Oversee production of briefing papers, presentations, and reports from technically complex analyses that effectively communicate results to a wide variety of stakeholders.
• Present relevant data, dashboards, and evaluation findings to committees that include representatives from BHRD, behavioral health provider agencies, and Medicaid managed care organizations.

 Lead and Support a Highly Technical Team:

• Supervise a team of 10-15 (3-5 direct reports) program evaluators, analysts, and data scientists who perform most of their work in SQL, R, Tableau, and Git/Github. Provide task supervision, ongoing professional development, performance appraisals, etc. 
• Foster autonomous, high-quality work while contributing to an integrated and supportive team culture. 
• Closely monitor incoming data requests and serve as the single point of contact in a semi-automated intake process that ensures work is appropriately scoped and prioritized against existing demands before it begins. Work closely with BHRD’s Executive Leadership Team to juggle competing demands and stay in sync on how work is prioritized.
• Facilitate the team’s work to create systems that support efficient, reliable, replicable, and collaborative use of code. Ensure all team members are equipped with the skills and knowledge to adopt common strategies to optimize workflows and establish consistency.
• Develop new procedures/processes and make time for the following: documentation, regular code review, cross-training, streamlined and improved workflows, etc.
• Contribute to the development of a cohesive unit-wide culture and shared work processes.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

 Develop and Maintain Key Relationships and Partnerships: 

• Coordinate with other DCHS divisions, other King County partner agencies, and external researchers and evaluators regarding evaluation, data analysis, and data integration activities.
• Serve on and attend the BHRD Management Team, BHRD Quality Improvement Committee, KCICN Performance and Accountability workgroup, Joint Operations Committee, and other ad hoc workgroups and meetings as assigned. Some committee involvement may be delegated as appropriate.

• Demonstrated knowledge of quantitative and qualitative analysis principles and methods; principles and practices of applied research and human subjects privacy; methods, tools, and techniques of applied research; study design and advanced analytic procedures; data collection methods, including surveys; and computerized database systems.
• Demonstrated experience in supervising staff and/or leading a group of technical professionals.
• Deep knowledge of equity and social justice principles and practices and understanding of the effects of place, race and policy and systems-based inequities on marginalized communities and populations.
• Strong oral and written communication skills, including the ability to present findings clearly to a variety of non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience working directly with large administrative data systems, especially those containing health or behavioral health claims or encounter data.
• Demonstrated ability to use Microsoft Office products to complete daily assigned tasks and current or past proficiency with data analysis and visualization tools such as SQL, R, and/or Tableau.
• Effective analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Demonstrated experience working with a variety of individuals with diverse backgrounds.
• Experience successfully handling multiple competing priorities and managing complex projects, in detail, and meeting deadlines.

 DESIRED EXPERIENCE, QUALIFICATIONS, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS:

• The most competitive candidates will possess an advanced degree in social sciences, public health, behavioral health, or a related field with course work in performance measurement, research methods and statistics and/or equivalent education and experience.
• Knowledge of behavioral health service delivery systems highly desirable.
• At least 5 years of experience leading design and implementation of policy-relevant performance measurement and/or evaluation processes within health care, behavioral health, or human services.
• Understanding of the Results-Based Accountability (RBA) framework in performance measurement work.

Forbes recently named King County as one of Washington State's best employers.

Together, with leadership and our employees, we're changing the way government delivers service and winning national recognition as a model of excellence. Are you ready to make a difference? Come join the team dedicated to serving one of the nation's best places to live, work and play.

Guided by our "True North", we are making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. We value diversity, inclusion and belonging in our workplace and workforce. To reach this goal we are committed to workforce equity. Equitable recruiting, support, and retention is how we will obtain the highest quality workforce in our region; a workforce that shares and will help advance our guiding principles--we are one team; we solve problems; we focus on the customer; we drive for results; we are racially just; we respect all people; we lead the way; and we are responsible stewards. We encourage people of all backgrounds and identities to apply, including Native American and people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ+, people living with disabilities, and veterans.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement

King County Executive Branch employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If you are the successful candidate for the position you applied for, the County will send you a conditional offer letter.

As a condition of employment, prior to a final offer of employment, you will be required to:

• submit proof of vaccination, or
• have an approved request for medical or religious exemption and an approved accommodation. Philosophical, political, scientific, or sociological objections to vaccination will not be considered for an exemption or accommodation.