Research Director, Health and Wellness
The research director will lead Heartland Forward’s research in health and wellness by developing and delivering evidence-based and applied research to position Heartland Forward as a leader and a resource, help strengthen Heartland communities, increase brand awareness and create new partnerships. The director will assist Heartland Forward and its leadership team to engage leaders, investors, education institutions and our broader heartland network at the state, local and national levels.
The ideal candidate will:
- have extensive experience in developing and leading applied research projects with demonstrated impact (e.g., changes to policy or regulation, implementation of new practices, metric increases).
- work closely with the Heartland Forward team to implement the research agenda for health and wellness as set by the team.
- contribute toward the broader strategy for the health and wellness pillar, aligning with Heartland Forward’s 3-year strategy and beyond.
Though not an inclusive list of potential research topics, Heartland Forward has identified the following Health and Wellness topics as current high priorities:
- the economic burden posed by diseases or conditions (including behavioral or mental health) and/ or savings from new or innovative care models (e.g., practitioner payments for wellness – sometimes called value-based care – rather than fee for service, or use of technology and telehealth in health care delivery).
- analysis of the interactions between social determinants of health and health outcomes, health care availability and affordability.
- telling the historic health story and estimating health forecasts of a location and/ or people group to demonstrate the effectiveness of policy interventions or return on investment.
Additionally, the director must be extremely effective at identifying new opportunities for applied research and align partners to implement the current organizational strategy. This position reports to the Chief Research Officer.