Position Description
The Policy and Community Relations Department leads advocacy and engagement efforts with OPTN members, key leaders, and other transplant community stakeholders. The Department engages these stakeholders and other additional experts to identify problems, understand community perspectives, evaluate issues, and develop potential solutions for the transplant community. The Department builds community relationships and advocates for OPTN/UNOS strategic initiatives. Policy and Community Relations staff guide the OPTN national transplant policy making process including promoting consistency with NOTA and the Final Rule. The Department assists with implementing other solutions including responding to member inquiries, providing guidance, and education.
The Policy Analyst serves as an integral part of a collaborative, cross-functional team in the Department. The Policy Analyst will guide committees to develop, implement, and post implementation evaluation of solutions for problems facing the transplant community. Specifically, to help conceptualize and plan policy analyses; manage tasks within established policy development processes; interpret and report quantitative and qualitative data analyses; and assist with policy implementation and evaluation. This is a highly visible role within the company and the transplant community.
Key Responsibilities:
Policy Analysis
• Identify and prioritize problems facing the organ transplant community.
• Identify and develop evidence based solutions to problems facing the transplant community.
• Recommend solutions to volunteer decision makers on our Board and committees.
• Determine level of community support for various concepts and proposals. This may include conducting focus groups or public opinion polling and analysis.
• Research and respond to questions regarding policy interpretation and development.
• Attend meetings with key stakeholders to scope, define, and determine potential policy solutions.
• Ensure solution(s) meet overall stakeholder objective(s).
Project Management
• Estimate project sizes and necessary resources for committee projects. Compare project size estimates against actual costs/hours.
• Build project plans for committee projects.
• Communicate and track milestones, tasks, and deliverables to stakeholders.
• Steer multi-functional, cross-department team in development of Board proposals.
Consensus Building and Volunteer Engagement
• Perform objective outreach to broader transplant and procurement community regarding potential policy proposals.
• Solicit input from staff, volunteers, experts in the field, outside organizations, etc. regarding policy proposals.
• Support relationships with community experts, especially Committee leadership, and internal staff in order to develop trust to lead Committee operations, analysis, and projects.
Drafting and Communicating
• Write, review, and edit multiple types of technical documents. This includes public comment proposals, briefing papers, and other documents related to OPTN governance. Submit deliverables according to contract requirements.
• Conduct oral briefings for staff or Committee members regarding committee projects or topics or policy analyses.
• Draft background materials for public comment proposals.
• Prepare and/or present on transplantation and procurement topics related to Committee assignments.
Minimum Requirements
5 years of policy, business, healthcare, legal or other related experience
Critical Skills
• 2 years of demonstrated policy development, review or analysis experience.
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to understand systems and identify interrelated activities.
• Highly organized with extreme attention to detail and the ability to meet deadlines in a fast paced environment.
• Ability to manage several projects simultaneously and to work independently.
• Collaborative team member, comfortable with taking on high levels of responsibility, meeting deadlines and delivering quality work.
Additional Skills & Qualifications
• Comparable experience with policy development and implementation at federal, state, or healthcare organization is preferred
• Experience with Literature reviews
• Qualitative and mixed methods research is preferred
• Project management is preferred
• Transplant knowledge is preferred
• Process improvement is preferred
• Experience in transplantation and/or transplantation policy is highly desired.
Education
• 4-year degree in health policy, public policy, healthcare administration, public administration, political science, law, or related field, or equivalent work experience required.
• Advanced degree or Juris Doctor (JD) preferred.
Physical Requirements
General office demands
