Program Officer, Healthy Communities; RWJF

Posted on April 14, 2019

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), located in Princeton, N.J., is the largest philanthropy in America dedicated solely to health. Since 1972 we have been providing funding, assistance, and research for projects and programs to help people, their families, and their communities be as healthy as possible. RWJF is committed to working alongside others to build a national Culture of Health that provides everyone in America a fair and just opportunity for health and well-being.

We take seriously our responsibilities, and we pledge to work in ways that reflect our guiding principles. These are rooted in equity and influence everything we do ersity, inclusion, and collaboration allow our staff’s wide range of experiences, passions, and perspectives to enrich our work and strengthens our ability to address our nation’s most pressing health issues. With a career at RWJF you will make a difference.

Program Officers (PO) in the Research-Evaluation-Learning (REL) unit are part of an interdisciplinary staff of applied researchers and evaluators who are responsible for creating, developing, implementing, and managing the research and evaluation aspects of the Foundation’s initiatives to improve health and health care. Their primary responsibility is to work with colleagues and executive staff across the Foundation to design, implement and manage research and evaluation strategies that generate impact congruent with the specific objectives of their themes/teams and of the Foundation.

They are also responsible for the development and management of performance measurement systems, and for collaborating with communications to disseminate findings from research, evaluation and policy investments.

As with staff at all levels of RWJF, program officers in REL are expected to demonstrate a passionate commitment to equity, to the Foundation’s mission and Guiding Principles.

The Foundation goals and activities are aligned around building a Culture of Health in the United States. The REL unit is responsible for several important components of the Foundation’s strategy including:

• Developing and overseeing a measurement system to track the country’s progress towards a Culture of Health;
• Creating a research agenda to continue to generate an evidence base about the most effective ways to create the change we’re seeking;
• Building on the Foundation’s long tradition of evaluations to better understand the impact of our strategies and funding; and
• Sharing our learning across the Foundation and external audience.

This PO will join the Healthy Communities theme of the Foundation. The goal of the Healthy Communities theme is to create the conditions in communities that allow all residents to reach their best possible health and well-being. To achieve opportunity-promoting neighborhoods that positively impact residents’ health and well-being, the Healthy Communities theme works to:

• Shift mindsets and expectations to create demand for and motivate action to create and support the community conditions that promote health equity;
• Identify, develop, test, and spread the policies, practices, and financing approaches necessary to create and support the community conditions that promote health equity; and
• Build the capacity of small and mid-size cities and their surrounding regions to create and support the community conditions that promote health equity.

In support of this work, the PO must bring an equity focus and systems-level perspective that reflects experience in community participatory research, community development, as well as a deep understanding of the conditions in communities that allow all residents to reach their best possible health and well-being.

Program Development and Monitoring:

• Initiates and contributes to the design, implementation, and oversight of research and evaluation initiatives in a way that advances health equity. May lead committees and work groups to design and manage program areas to achieve key team objectives. Serves as a partner with director and other staff in identifying strategic…