Company Description

A best-in-class city that attracts best-in-class talent, Philadelphia is an incredible place to build a career. From our thriving arts scene and rich history to our culture of passion and grit, there are countless reasons to love living and working here. With a workforce of over 30,000 people, and more than 1,000 different job categories, the City of Philadelphia offers boundless opportunities to make an impact.

As an employer, the City of Philadelphia values inclusion, integrity, innovation, empowerment, and hard work above all else. We offer a vibrant work environment, comprehensive health care and benefits, and the experience you need to grow and excel. If you’re interested in working with a passionate team of people who care about the future of Philadelphia, start here.

What we offer

• Impact - The work you do here matters to millions. 
• Growth - Philadelphia is growing, why not grow with it? 
• Diversity & Inclusion - Find a career in a place where everyone belongs.
• Benefits - We care about your well-being.

Agency Description

The Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity (CEO) provides leadership on issues of economic justice by advancing racial equity and inclusive growth to ensure that all Philadelphians share in the city’s prosperous future and by alleviating the immediate impact of poverty on individuals, families and communities. CEO is Philadelphia’s Community Action Agency (CAA); CAAs are private or public agencies created by the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act and federally designated to receive Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funding.

Guiding Principles (We believe…)

• The people of Philadelphia deserve the opportunity to live happy, healthy, full lives.
• City Government should both recognize its culpability in creating and sustaining inequity and aspire to its responsibility to provide opportunities, represent the best interests, and promote the well-being of all residents.
• People can offer meaningful insights into both personal experiences and how systems around them function.
• Poverty is a deliberately created systemic issue and city government can lead in calling for justice and dismantling the barriers that often prevent opportunities.

Values (How we work)

• Dignity: We actively respect our individual colleagues and people in the community.
• Inclusivity: Our work is more beneficial, valuable, and valid when our full range of experiences, knowledge, and skills can contribute.
• Persistence: We recognize the challenges inherent in this work, and when we get discouraged, we find ways to be resilient, lift each other up, and push forward.
• Accountability: We are transparent and honest about our plans, our actions, and our results.
• Honesty: We create a space to have healthy, honest dialogues about systems, people, and misconceptions and then communicate truthfully.

Job Description

CEO regularly leverages research to tell the story of our work. Through analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data, we deepen our perspective, and learn as much as we can about the communities we serve. Just as importantly, we use reports to hold our organization’s programming accountable for meeting our goals. Finally, wherever possible we want to bring research findings back to community in accordance with Philadelphia’s vision for equitable engagement.   

The primary responsibility of our Qualitative Research and Reporting Manager will be to lead efforts to describe and promote our work, mostly using written reports. The Manager will present our research findings to various audiences, and ensure those communications include extensive detail about our successes and challenges. This position will also be responsible for bringing in broader research context relevant to our empowerment and opportunity programs. The Manager will work to highlight those insights at various stages in our project workflow: writing memos, reports, presentations, and literature reviews. We aim to promote programing and policy change that takes economic inequalities and racism seriously, while also responding as nimbly as possible to the latest internal and external research. In addition to formal research products, the Manager will be responsible for liaising between different stakeholders with investments in these stories about our work. To do this, they will work closely with the Racial Equity team to support community engagement initiatives and ensure we communicate clearly, compassionately, and in ways that promote racial equity. These engagements will be with residents, research subjects, policymakers, and various other audiences.

To illustrate, a special focus will be on one of the city’s newest initiatives, the Neighborhood Community Action Centers. These District-level-offices present an exciting opportunity for CEO staff to gather the stories and narratives from within specific Philadelphia Neighborhoods.  This Manager will sit at the nexus of that effort, helping distill these stories for key stakeholders. By bringing these narratives together, their analysis will support honing CEO’s strategy, gathering and disseminating data more efficiently, promoting our policy advocacy work, facilitating grant applications, and ongoing improvement of program implementation.

Reporting to the Director of Research and Evaluation, the Qualitative Research and Reporting Manager will lead the Research team’s qualitative data collection.  This Manager will develop systems, procedures, and policies for qualitative data management within the organization. Using Survey Monkey, video/audio recording, and other research tools, the Manager will execute or oversee crucial data collection methods for both grant-funded and city-funded initiatives. This position will distill other people’s research, as well as writing our own reports based on both qualitative and quantitative data. Subject area expertise in anti-poverty initiatives is desired, as well as methodological experience working on qualitative research projects.  A successful candidate will be able to accurately contextualize CEO programs based on survey data, focus groups, and 1-1 interviews. Thus, helping to tell stronger and clearer stories about our clients and our work.

Essential Functions

Applying Qualitative Research Methods

• Organizing, storing, and analyzing organizational data
• Compile (or find) lit reviews that provide context for our community empowerment initiatives  
• Design and implement surveys, discussion guides, and interview scripts for various data collection efforts
• Develop best practices for qualitative research protocols and give feedback on other teams’ research and data collection initiatives
• Complete metadata documentation during qualitative research processes
• Code transcripts and interview notes.
• Design survey and research questions that prioritize equity and accessibility concerns
• Create and facilitate training for other staff on coding and qualitative research methods

Reporting, Negotiating, and Communicating Between Key Stakeholders

• Synthesize quantitative and qualitative data in reports and memos
• Provide support for departments and staff using data and outreach platforms
• Procure and manage incentives that compensate research participants for their time.
• Present research findings to various audiences, including policy-makers, funders, and community members.
• Manage external evaluating relationships (e.g. research partners)
• Establish data sharing rules and reporting expectations for partners, including writing and modifying Memorandums of Understanding (MOU)s that govern these collaborations

Expanding City’s Research Capacity

• Lead group and one-on-one training workshops to introduce qualitative data management skills
• Establish and maintain strong relationships across City departments and external partners to support program reporting and delivery
• Support integrations with the city’s person-level databases (IDEA as well as other city data)
• Other duties as assigned

Competencies, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Driven by thoughtful, quality, and detail-oriented processes, project output, and client/team interactions.
• Demonstrates ability to manage projects, estimate timelines, rework a project approach based on unforeseen challenges, work well under pressure, and set/meet reasonable deadlines.
• Values protecting research subjects and client’s private information, understands the relevant privacy laws, and has ability to faithfully implement related security policies.
• Ability to explain technical concepts to general audiences, explain the logic behind research decisions, craft compelling narratives about data, write and speak clearly, and cultivate effective communication among team members.
• Ability to work with a variety of people and personalities, listen and ask questions to identify new inquiry opportunities, and cultivate strong relationships to ensure seamless collaboration and continued project support.
• Ability to see opportunities, navigate barriers, be self-directed, and problem-solve solutions that enhance the City’s deliverables, processes, and practices.
• Understands the relationship between data and narrative and acts strategically to ensure that data and evaluation are appropriately informing and being informed by narrative.
• Eagerness to communicate data-driven insights with diverse audiences, including low-income clients, community-based organizations, elected officials’ staff, faith communities, students, volunteers, and the public.
• Excitement about working on mixed methods projects that leverage qualitative and quantitative data in sophisticated ways.
• Familiarity of research concepts like sample size, bias, measures of variance and uncertainty, and the differences between descriptive and causal analysis.

Qualifications

Required

• Excel, word, and PowerPoint skills
• Demonstrated understanding of connections between qualitative data, program evaluation, and public  policy
• Experience managing projects, particularly projects that require collaboration across different groups or teams.
• Experience developing data visualizations consistent with the principles of inclusive  design
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal
• 3-4 years of related work experience which should include both:
  • Experience working with diverse stakeholders and in different community contexts
  • Experience working in government, social services, policy research/advocacy, or a related field  

Preferred

• Experience working qualitative research software such as Dedoose or Nvivo.
• Familiarity with applied research designs especially formative/process-oriented program evaluation
• Experience in managing proprietary and sensitive data
• Community organizing or political campaign experience

If you feel ready to complete the duties of the position, despite not possessing every listed qualification, CEO still encourages you to apply.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• None initially, but as assigned

Other Specialties, Certifications, Physical Requirements, and Work Conditions

• Regular, predictable attendance is required. Our team is currently hybrid with both virtual and in-office days, however the position can opt to come in the office each day if desired. If the city changes policy on this, the new hire will have to comply with the new policy, including up to 5 days a week in-office.
• This position operates in an office setting and routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines
• Exertion of physical strength to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects up to 10 pounds. Work involves sitting most of the time. Walking and standing is often necessary in carrying out job duties
• Successful candidate must be a city of Philadelphia resident within six months of hire

Additional Information

TO APPLY: Interested candidates must submit a cover letter and resume.

Salary Range: $70,000 - $75,000

Discover the Perks of Being a City of Philadelphia Employee:

• Transportation: City employees get unlimited FREE public transportation all year long through SEPTA’s Key Advantage program. Employees can ride on SEPTA buses, subways, trolleys, and regional rail for their daily commute and more.
• Parental Benefits: The City offers its employees 6 weeks of paid parental leave.
• We offer Comprehensive health coverage for employees and their eligible dependents.
• Our wellness program offers eligibility into the discounted medical plan
• Employees receive paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays
• Generous retirement savings options are available
• Pay off your student loans faster - As a qualifying employer, City of Philadelphia employees are eligible to participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Join the ranks of hundreds of employees who have already benefited from this program and achieved student loan forgiveness.
• Unlock Tuition Discounts and Scholarships - The City of Philadelphia has forged partnerships with over a dozen esteemed colleges and universities in the area, ensuring that our employees have access to a wide range of tuition discounts and scholarships. Experience savings of 10% to 40% on your educational expenses, extending not only to City employees but in some cases, spouse and dependents too!

Join the City of Philadelphia team today and seize these incredible benefits designed to enhance your financial well-being and personal growth!

*The successful candidate must be a city of Philadelphia resident within six months of hire

Effective May 22, 2023, vaccinations are no longer required for new employees that work in non-medical, non-emergency or patient facing positions with the City of Philadelphia. As a result, only employees in positions providing services that  are patient-facing medical care (ex: Nurses, doctors, emergency medical personnel), must be fully vaccinated.

The City of Philadelphia is an Equal Opportunity employer and does not permit discrimination based on race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, source of income, familial status, genetic information or domestic or sexual violence victim status. If you believe you were discriminated against, call the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations at 215-686-4670 or send an email to faqpchr@phila.gov.

For more information, go to: Human Relations Website: http://www.phila.gov/humanrelations/Pages/default.aspx