https://organize.org/jobs-hhs/Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
INNOVATOR IN RESIDENCE (IIR)
Location: Washington, D.C.
A rapidly growing public health startup, ORGANIZE, is seeking to hire a forward-thinking, entrepreneurial individual to serve a two-year appointment of Innovator In Residence (IIR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The IIR will play an instrumental role in evaluating ongoing efforts to increase organ donation and transplantation and will work closely with HHS staff, including staff in the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Division of Transplantation and the broader organ donation and transplantation community, to identify gaps between these efforts and opportunities for better coordination. The IIR will work with stakeholders to develop an implementation strategy toward improvements in the organ donation system, including new technology, access to data necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs), best practices and systemic improvements to increase organ donor conversion rates and empower OPOs to operate most efficiently.
This will include studying a broad range of potential focus areas, which the IIR will identify in consultation with HHS and the organ donation and transplantation community, including existing models of federal financial reimbursement of OPOs and transplant centers for organ recovery and transplantation, harmonizing the forces acting on OPOs and their various partners (e.g. transplant centers), and creating opportunities for OPOs to operate most flexibly and effectively. The research will be guided by a panel of experts including HHS staff and thought leaders in the OPO industry. The position is located in Washington D.C., although frequent travel is possible.
The IIR will work onsite at HHS with the HHS Chief Technology Officer and staff from other HHS operating divisions for exposure to a wide range of policy, stakeholder engagement, and technical expertise. The IIR will work with donor hospitals, transplant centers, OPOs, and other relevant stakeholders toward identifying innovative approaches for increasing the number of organ transplants performed annually and streamlining OPO operations. The IIR will bring experience and expertise in data science, policy, social enterprise, and project management.
The IIR will draw on previous experiences in data science to spearhead projects in the following domains:
Problem Identification: identify existing barriers to increasing organ donation consent rates and efficient OPO performance, with a focus on increasing organ donation and transplantation. This phase will involve working with HHS staff and a group of experts from donor hospitals, transplant centers, and OPOs to identify how best to improve existing and define future best practices.
Strategy: The IIR would play a key role in future efforts developed in coordination with HHS, ORGANIZE, and the organ donation and transplant community to design and structure pilot studies, if necessary. These may include in-hospital programs, hospital-to-OPO communication channels, or public-facing awareness campaigns, among other opportunities. The IIR will serve as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) on efforts to increase donor registration and organ donation and transplantation rates.
Project Development: Develop project plans and execute strategic and tactical activities in conjunction with industry and government stakeholders for the development and deployment of best practices to increase donor registration and organ donation and transplantation rates.
Project Management: Provide project management of pilot programs developed in coordination with HHS and the transplant community. These efforts may require convening of government entities and external stakeholders.
External Partnerships/Collaborations: Establish and maintain collaborative partnerships with external organizations, companies and groups to strengthen activities to increase donor registration and organ donation and transplantation rates.
Knowledge Creation: The IIR will play a pivotal role in knowledge cultivation by helping to coalesce and interpret the informational resources of OPOs, university researchers, medical institutions, and HHS. In fortifying the connections among these stakeholders, the IIR will apply a high level of data fluency to supplement ongoing studies and precipitate new inquiries. The IIR will thus facilitate the multidirectional flow of raw data and working theses between government bodies, OPOs, hospitals and academic institutions to enable the emergence of more comprehensive and nuanced understandings of the current organ donation landscape. In turn, the IIR will facilitate the application of these understandings to the creation of industry-wide best practices.
Desired skills and experience
The successful candidate will meet the following qualifications:
A Bachelor’s and/or Masters degree, preferably in a field related to public health policy, data science, or a field related to the position.
Comfort with health information systems and technologies and related policy issues; knowledge of information technology and related laws, regulations and technical standards preferred.
Demonstrates innovative approaches to complex IT and policy challenges.
Demonstrates strong project management skills to simultaneously manage multiple long-term, multi-stakeholder projects, bringing them to completion within expected time frames and budget. Budgeting and forecasting skills preferred.
Superior planning/organizational skills, both strategic and tactical.
Detail oriented, self-confident, collaborative working style, able to work effectively in both independent and team-based situations.
Excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills: outstanding interpersonal skills, ability to deal with a wide range of people from technical to executive level, volunteers.
Must be able to travel up to 30% of the time.
Application Requirements
Send a one page letter describing your interest in and qualifications for the position, including a CV and three references to iir@organize.org.
This position will remain open until a candidate is selected.
Available to US citizens or eligible naturalized US citizens.
Organize IIR Advisory Team
Al Roth,
Winner of 2012 Nobel
Prize in Economics,
Professor at Stanford
Judd Kessler,
Behavioral Economist,
Professor at Wharton
Stan Freck,
Senior Director, Microsoft
U.S. Public Sector Office
of Civic Innovation
Simon Sinek,
Speaker and
Best-selling Author