The Community Engagement Specialist serves as a liaison between the Greater Boston community and the Community Engagement Program for Boston University's Clinical and Translational Science Institute (BU CTSI). The primary responsibility of this position is to develop and implement strategies that will support meaningful community-academic relationships through project management and facilitation. The Community Engagement (CE) Specialist will assist to meet the strategic priorities of the Community Engagement Program, including expansion and retention of diverse community partners to support CE research that will improve population health and reduce health disparities in Greater Boston. The candidate must demonstrate success in leading tasks as part of a larger team. Highly qualified candidates will be resourceful, strategic, organized and able to work with minimal supervision. We are seeking candidates who are familiar with research in medical settings and have experience working with Boston neighborhoods to promote health equity. The Community Engagement Specialist reports to the Assistant Director of the Community Engagement Program and works directly with the CE Program team.
Core Responsibilities Of This Role:
- Successful management and facilitation of communication activities with community members including:
- timely outreach to develop and maintain relationships
- preparation of community facing materials that are relevant to specific groups
- ability to create new opportunities to connect with key partners
- effective facilitation of meetings to support relationship building
- clear documentation of key discussion points and action items from meetings
- attention to detail with tracking partnership contact information and activities
- regular communication on partnership activities to community members and the CE Program to support successful achievement of key deliverables
- Create overall strategy for community relationship development
- Assist to recruit community partners to a Community Advisory Board and nurture relationships through ongoing bi-directional communication
- Represent the Community Engagement Program at community events and meetings to raise awareness of the Community Engagement Program and build trusting relationships with community partners
- Use learned knowledge from community relationships to inform the CE Program team about community priorities and needs that may be supported through translational science
- Engage the CE Program team to plan, problem-solve, and adapt engagement activities
- Facilitate networking and training programs offered by the CE Program to community members and research teams.
- Develop a comprehensive working knowledge of community context, interests, and resources to proactively identify opportunities to improve the CE Program and collaboration plan
- Support other initiatives of the CE Program as they arise, including some administrative tasks
Required Skills
- Bachelors degree in public health, social work, health education, non-profit management, or related field with 5-8 years of experience or Masters degree in health or human service field with 3-5 years experience.
- 3-5 years of professional experience in community engagement, community research, and/or related field (such as social work, public health, community advocacy, community-based marketing communication, community organizing, political campaigns, public relations strategy)
- Excellent, effective, and professional oral and written communicator to be a liaison between diverse community and research partners
- Community facilitation skills
- Demonstrates understanding of social context of Greater Boston communities and neighborhoods
- Demonstrates familiarity and working knowledge of academic research processes, especially clinical trials or other healthcare-related research
- Highly organized administrator with the ability to multi-task, work independently, and meet deadlines
- Strong, engaged team-player, with the ability to incorporate feedback and communicate effectively
- Willingness and ability to learn new systems and structures
- Functional skills with Microsoft Office products and desktop publishing
- Bi-lingual candidate ideal (e.g. Spanish, Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean Creole, Portuguese, etc.)
- Must be able to work nights and weekends as needed
- Up to 30% in-state travel required
- Ability to lift up to 50 pounds of equipment and stand for long periods of time •
Only applications with cover letters will be reviewed
- Writing sample required at time of interview
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.
Required Experience