Head of Research & Evaluation at Childrens Ground – The Gap, Northern Territory

About Children's Ground

Children’s Ground is a First Nations organisation. The Children’s Ground Approach is designed and delivered through the leadership of First Nations people. We are committed to systems change to ensure dignity, justice and equity for all children and families. Our work focuses on national reform as well as evidencing a new way of working.

The Children’s Ground Approach is a whole of community, whole of life approach. We privilege First Nations knowledge systems and practice. Over the course of a generation, led by local expertise, we create and deliver an integrated system that is centred on learning, development and wellbeing that responds to the child and their family through the key transition points from pre-birth to young adulthood.

Our approach recognises the cultural, social, and economic strength of our communities. We build on this over a generation to ensure a future for our children and grandchildren that gives them freedom, opportunity and rights to their culture and identity.

Children’s Ground operates in Central Australia and across the Top End, with support provided by a Melbourne-based Shared Services team.

About the role

The Head of R&E role can be based in either Darwin or Alice Springs. The role will entail working in partnership with the Head of Cultural Integrity & Research & Evaluation. Responsible for leading the R&E team in Central Australia and Top End (Darwin), providing guidance, support and supervision for the team's work with Children's Ground communities. Functions will include team management, training, performance reviews and support. The position will bring technical western knowledge, skills and experience to the Research & Evaluation team, working alongside cultural leads, who will ensure that cultural approaches, standards and integrity are embedded across Children's Ground. The position will oversee and support high quality monitoring, evaluation and research, with a focus on empowering all First Nations staff and families in data, evaluation and research ownership and sovereignty. Part of this will entail working with the R&E team and First Nations staff to implement regular community level evaluation and reporting, as well as locally relevant and robust triennial regional progress evaluation.

The focus of the monitoring and evaluation is to evidence the impact of the Children's Ground Approach and system. Key to this is the longitudinal triennial evaluation of impact and building by-community internal evaluations. R&D is central to Children's Ground work. This position will support the ongoing establishment and growth of R&D internally and with external research partners.

Children's Ground is committed to community led practice that privileges First Nations culture. In our monitoring, evaluation and research, First Nations Community Research teams and leaders are directly involved int eh designing of a new way of approaching evaluation.

Key Responsibilities

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Lead and support data collection, analysis and reporting for triennial regional evaluations, with the R&E team and First Nations staff and families in communities
• On time completion of triennial evaluations for each region, against the CG evaluation framework, ethics and standards
• Support the development, expression and centring of First Nations evaluation processes and practice
• Lead a team of evaluators and research staff growing local community First Nations research and evaluation officers
• Provide logistical and content support to R&E staff, leaders and families to undertake the research through all stages from development, planning, implementation, analysis and reporting
• Oversight and support on the ground logistics of research projects, including supporting the team's engagement with external research and projects
• Project management and reporting against evaluation and research activities

Team management, supervision, training & support

• Manage and coordinate day to day activity of R&E team in Alice Springs and Darwin, supporting the team in achieving their role's, responsibilities and key priorities
• Provide regular supervision and support to R&E staff including performance reviews
• Provide on the job monitoring and evaluation training to staff
• Support First Nations staff to lead the evaluation design, delivery, analysis and reporting ensuring a culturally reflective, ethical and rigorous approach to evaluation and research
• Undertake operational planning with R&E team each quarter
• Contribute to R&E strategic planning annually

Data, Tools, Standards, Progress and Evaluation reporting

• Ensure all standards, practices and records are upheld including data sovereignty, consents, ethics guidelines etc
• Work with the Head of Cultural Integrity in Research and Evaluation and team to design, review and adapt evaluation tools as needed.
• Work with the Data Systems & Analysis Coordinator to ensure integrity, efficiency, effectiveness and relevance for the Family Information System (FIS) data system, and data quality control
• Provide quarterly data updates to regions, communities and integrated services to monitor progress
• Work with the Head of Cultural Integrity in Research and Evaluation to ensure regular reviews of quantitative and qualitative data with staff and communities and ensuring ground-truthing of data as it relates to evaluations and research
• Contribute to and support reflective practice around our monitoring and evaluation approaches through an ongoing quality assurance process

Local community agency and respect for local cultural knowledge and life

• Support local First nations people and elders to be fully informed and engage with monitoring, evaluation and research
• Work with local First nations leaders to ensure that monitoring, evaluation and research operations do not undermine, but actively promote local cultural knowledge and practice
• Encourage and support all First Nations families, valuing their ideas, strategies and aspirations
• Provide logistical support to First Nations R&E staff in their work to identify community research priorities
• Ensure communities are fully informed and regularly engaged in relation to the CG evaluation agenda and research work

Embedding a culture of monitoring and evaluation

• Build excitement, engagement and meaning for data and evaluation making it relevant to staff in their day to day work
• Support staff to develop skills and be actively involved in evaluation and data collection
• Work closely with Data Systems & Analysis Coordinator and team to communicate and create data feedback loops
• Work collaboratively with the Integrated Leadership team with Heads of Health, Learning and Community Development
• Communicate across the organisation the critical role of our longitudinal evaluation int he system change strategy of CG
• Facilitate and contribute to sharing practice learnings and evaluation findings across our operational regions

Reporting

• Complete quarterly reports to relevant Directors about progress, achievements, challenges and risk
• Contribute to funding reports, evidence reviews, papers and publications as needed

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

This role will remain open until the position is closed. Please apply with a resume and a cover letter/pitch. Your pitch should tell us why you are a good fit for the role and why you want to work for Children's Ground. Use the Key Responsibilities to address your pitch. Also please note if you are interested in Alice Springs or Darwin location.