Health Resources in Action, Inc. (HRiA) is a non-profit organization working to improve and reimagine public health. We connect, consult, and collaborate to solve complex challenges of access and equity in our health and social systems. Together with our partners, clients, and collaborators, we create actionable solutions so that all people can thrive.
In 1957, The Medical Foundation (TMF) was created to primarily fund biomedical research in Massachusetts. Since then, we’ve been on a journey of evolution. We changed our name to Health Resources in Action (HRiA) to reflect our impact in the field of public health. Today, HRiA works with individuals, organizations, and communities to drive a policy and systems change approach to advance health and racial equity.
HRiA seeks sustainable solutions for complex problems using an anti-racist approach. We aim to be adaptable and flexible in meeting clients and partners where they are, offering our decades of knowledge and resources to collectively realize our dream of equitable, sustainable health for all. The foundation of this work is centered on our values:
- Health and racial equity by identifying and addressing the root causes of health inequities, intentionally working to shift narratives and power imbalances and disrupt all systems of oppression.
- Leading with heart by demonstrating our passionate commitment to our work, continuously challenging ourselves with humility and vulnerability while pursuing and holding ourselves accountable to our mission.
- Collaboration by intentionally and respectfully leading, partnering, and following to strengthen relationships, uplift different voices and build trust.
- Innovation by driving toward new strategies, questioning norms, and continuously learning and evolving to support the needs of our clients and communities.
HRiA offers exciting, engaging, and challenging employment opportunities for facilitators, trainers, researchers, analysts, policy specialists, grant managers, and more. People come to HRiA because of our commitment to advancing health equity and inspiring work; they stay for our wonderful clients, partners, and dedicated and dynamic staff. With our growing portfolio of high-impact work, person-centered policies, and generous benefits, our team continually invests in making HRiA a great place to work. Our diverse staff of over 270 people hail from 30+ states, with a home base in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood.
Position Description
We are seeking a full-time Director, Youth Tobacco Prevention, who will lead our existing Massachusetts (MA) youth tobacco prevention projects and contribute to the overall growth of our youth tobacco prevention work in MA and beyond. Given the statewide focus of these programs, the Director will be expected to work in the Boston office 2-3x per month, and to attend in-person events and meetings, as needed. The Director will have the flexibility to work from home when not in person. The salary range for this position is $97k – $103k.
Brief Overview
The Director will initially lead The 84 Movement and the Tobacco Enforcement Program, and over time, will build our youth tobacco prevention portfolio. This individual will not only serve in a senior-level position on these projects overseeing and managing the team, workplans, deliverables and budgets, they will also join and contribute to the growth of HRiA’s Capacity Building Assistance (CBA) cluster by participating in new business development and thought leadership for youth tobacco prevention and other topics. This is an exciting opportunity to expand the capacity and impact of the CBA cluster and to lead and contribute to important initiatives that improve youth development outcomes, public health and advance health and racial equity.
HRiA has worked in partnership with the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program (MTCP) to advance youth tobacco prevention for more than three decades. The 84 Movement (referred to as The 84), now in its 17th year, is a youth tobacco prevention program that uses a positive youth development approach and builds the capacity of a statewide network of youth committed to reversing the influence of the tobacco industry, shifting social norms around youth nicotine use, and making their communities more nicotine-free. The 84 comprises over 50 school- and community- based groups (“Chapters”) representing over 1000 youth statewide, including a Statewide Leadership Team (SLT) of 20 youth from across MA. The 84 offers Chapters trainings and technical assistance (TA) on racial equity and policy, systems, and environmental change, mini-grant opportunities and two youth-led statewide events – the Youth Power Summit and Kick Butts Day – to unite and train youth on racial and social justice and connect their local work to a broader statewide movement.
The Tobacco Enforcement Program is funded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through MTCP. HRiA administers this program by recruiting and training youth to conduct undercover compliance checks on tobacco sales at licensed MA retailers. Youth are hired as paid inspectors, and work closely with adult inspectors, who make sure tobacco retailers are following the law and not selling tobacco to minors. HRiA provides robust TA to onboard youth and supports adult inspectors with processing youth applications, compensation, and training, making sure to keep confidential records organized and protected in accordance with FDA requirements.
Benefits
HRiA offers strong benefits to its employees, including:
- Competitive salaries
- Health insurance
- Retirement plan
- Short-term disability insurance
- Vacation starting at four weeks
- Sick time
- 13 paid holidays, plus office closure time during the last week of December
- Flexible summer hours
Duties and Responsibilities:
Management
- Manage and motivate project teams to effectively implement strategies to address priorities; create and sustain healthy and positive team culture rooted in racial and health equity principles.
- Directly supervise three to four staff and consultants.
- Manage project budgets (~$2M) and collaborate with the Managing Director and HRiA’s finance team to ensure timely reporting and efficient use of resources.
- Collaborate with project teams to use Asana (a project and capacity management software) and other tools to monitor and manage the overall project budget, timeline, and programmatic progress; and to identify, prioritize, and resolve challenges to minimize impact to the project goals and timeline.
- Manage the preparation and submission of all required progress and data reports and other documentation to the funder/client to ensure contract compliance.
- Collaborate with the Managing Director and department leadership with departmental planning, budgeting, staffing, new business development, and sustaining a healthy and conducive culture.
Project Work
- Lead the management, implementation, and development of projects and initiatives, on time and within budget, and ensure funder/client and team satisfaction.
- Engage regularly with project funders/clients, partners, subcontractors and other key stakeholders.
- Participate regularly in funder/client and partner meetings to work collaboratively toward shared goals.
- Identify new partners and clients and cultivate existing relationships to further the project and organizational goals.
- Provide content expertise in youth tobacco prevention, health and racial equity, training development and delivery, community engagement and project management and implementation.
- Oversee the planning and delivery of training, TA, and two large statewide events with ~250 youth and adults and local legislators.
- Oversee program evaluation to ensure continuous quality improvement.
Thought Leadership
- Provide strategic direction for programs and identify opportunities for greater impact.
- Serve as subject matter expert on youth development and tobacco prevention.
- Contribute to blogs, website content, and other communications efforts to share and promote project and organizational approaches, expertise, and learnings, as appropriate or needed.
- Present at conferences/events with HRiA staff, clients, or partners, as appropriate.
- Engage in professional networks to share best practices and successes, as well as identify opportunities for strategic collaboration and/or new business development.
- Share learnings and best practices in methods and approaches with Cluster team members, as appropriate, through 1:1 mentorship, smaller team meetings, or large Cluster meetings.
- Suggest ideas/improvements in project and/or organizational processes and systems through participation in teams and committees.
New Business Development
- Seek out, identify, and assess opportunities for new business and/or funding to sustain, extend, or complement existing projects/initiatives and to build a comprehensive portfolio of tobacco prevention-related programs.
- Lead proposal development processes, including writing, editing, developing scopes and budgets, and/or contributing to proposal teams.
Candidate Qualifications:
- At least 7 years of professional experience in youth tobacco prevention, youth development, or public health, with several years managing complex projects and budgets and supervising staff and consultants.
- Advanced degree in public health, education, or related field; in absence of advanced degree, 11 years of relevant professional experience.
- Commitment to and understanding of racial and health equity with strong analysis of root causes of inequities.
- Demonstrated and effective project management, supervision and training development and implementation skills.
- Experience managing and leading teams and individuals, with an inclusive leadership style, and an empathic approach.
- Strong supervision skills and the ability to connect well across a diversity of thought, backgrounds, and perspectives.
- Demonstrated success in engaging a variety of stakeholders including funders/clients, legislative leaders, and community partners, among others.
- Ability to encourage, inspire, and mobilize others toward collective and strategic goals.
- Experience creating and managing budgets, in particular large state and/or federal budgets.
- Strong organizational and time management skills, and ability to remain focused in a fast-paced, busy environment.
- Well-developed written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to cast a vision and think conceptually, balanced with the ability to be detail-oriented to support program implementation.
- Keen attention to detail and a strong commitment to high-quality products.
- Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to work independently and on a team.
- Flexibility and a sense of humor.
- Experience bringing in new business opportunities (or willingness to learn), including scaling programs to position them to succeed.
- Proficient with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, OneNote, Teams).
- A valid Massachusetts driver’s license is required and regular access to a vehicle is a plus.
How to Apply:
HRiA is actively seeking to build a diverse and experienced staff. The organization encourages multiple perspectives and experiences, supports a multicultural environment, and strives to hire and retain a diverse work force that reflects the populations we work with and the communities where we work. Diversity is a core value of HRiA resulting in culturally competent services, materials, resources, and programs. Our hiring and business practices appreciate the strengths offered through different backgrounds.
HRiA is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer and is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information.
Generally, our interviews take place between 9am-5pm ET and consist of two to three rounds of interviews. If this is a barrier to you in any way, please let us know so we can work with the interview team to find a time that works for you.
Applications will be considered until the position is filled. Applications without cover letters will not be considered.
To apply, submit your cover letter and resume.
