Senior Technical Advisor

Salary Range: $130,000.00 To $150,000.00 Annually Position Title: Senior Technical Advisor Supervisor: Yes Designation: Headquarters (HQ) FLSA Classification: Exempt Position Highlights Location: Remote. Must be based in the US. Salary Range: $130,000-150,000 annually based on education, experience, and qualifications. Term: This is a limited term, grant-funded opportunity End date: December 31, 2026, with potential for an extension through December 2028 Overview The CDC Foundation is seeking a Senior Technical Advisor to lead a team that monitors the sales and marketing of e-cigarettes and other tobacco products using retail sales data and web-scraped data. The Monitoring E-cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults program has been underway since 2019 with program activities that include analyzing retail sales data for e-cigarettes and other tobacco products. The project has also begun monitoring online tobacco marketing using artificial intelligence and visual language models of web-scraped data. The Senior Technical Advisor will serve as the senior leader for a multidisciplinary team responsible for the acquisition, management, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of retail sales data and other emerging data sources related to tobacco products. The position will provide strategic direction for the program's retail sales surveillance portfolio, ensuring that data products, research activities and dissemination efforts address current and emerging public health priorities and support evidence-based tobacco control efforts in the United States. The Senior Technical Advisor will be responsible for managing the translation of complex public health results into a coordinated portfolio of analyses, publications, reports, briefs, visualizations and other materials for public use. This individual will work closely with researchers, communications professionals, nonprofit partners and state and local public health stakeholders to advance and disseminate innovative approaches to tobacco surveillance. The Senior Technical Advisor will leverage expertise in public health surveillance, applied research, program planning, and team leadership to guide both established and emerging data initiatives. Strong collaboration, strategic vision, communication and management skills are essential for success in this role. This position is eligible for 100% remote work for US-based candidates. Travel is required up to 10% of the time. Duties and Responsibilities · Provide leadership for retail sales data activities and emerging data initiatives; be responsible for the management, quality assurance, timely completion and dissemination planning for data project deliverables. · Develop and execute short-, medium- and long-term strategies to enhance tobacco product monitoring and support program decision making. · Serve as the lead technical advisor for retail sales and emerging data activities. Maintain a strategic vision for projects, including a schedule of materials under development and that are needed to meet program needs (e.g. prioritizing analyses, publications, data briefs, presentations and other materials). · Lead and supervise a team of analysts, researchers and contractors responsible for implementing project activities and achieving program deliverables. Provide guidance to staff on analytic priorities, methodological approaches, quality assurance standards, data management and data visualization and deliverables. · Oversee development and maintenance of project workplans, deliverable schedules, contracts and project strategic plans. Ensure timely completion of project objectives and deliverables. · Direct the development of analytical products including data briefs, reports, presentations, dashboards, manuscripts, website content, fact sheets and other related materials. · Ensure the scientific rigor, quality, accuracy and consistency of program products by implementing and managing appropriate quality assurance and review processes. · Collaborate with communications staff and project leadership to translate complex findings into clear, actionable information for diverse audiences. · Provide strategic oversight of project website content, public-facing data products and data visualization. · Represent the project in technical, scientific and programmatic meetings. Present programmatic data and results to key partners, funders, public health agencies, researchers and other stakeholders. · Lead and contribute to research on various tobacco and nicotine related topics through analysis and interpretation of data, including serving as a manuscript author/co-author and leading presentations. · Lead coordination and review of manuscripts, conference presentations, reports and other scientific products developed by the team. Provide mentorship to staff on developing and presenting data. · Collaborate with internal and external subject matter experts and project partners to develop joint analyses and publications and to enhance project dissemination. · Ensure team members adhere to internal review and approval for publications, presentations and other public facing materials. · Build and maintain partnerships with staff at public health agencies, academic institutions, research organizations and public health practitioners to advance project goals and identify future opportunities. · Advise senior leadership on emerging trends in tobacco control surveillance, retail sales data, artificial intelligence applications, online marketing surveillance and public health analytics. · Support development of new initiatives, funding opportunities, strategic partnerships and innovative approaches to address evolving public health challenges. Identify and develop management plans for new initiatives. Collaborate with external partners to ascertain and respond to innovative data needs and objectives. · Collaborate with other program staff on surveillance, research, communications and dissemination activities as needed. · Prepare and contribute to donor reports, strategic updates and other project reporting requirements. · Participate in and/or lead special projects and perform other duties as assigned. Qualifications · Minimum of ten (10) years of full-time, progressively responsible professional work experience with public health research, surveillance and analytics preferred (or eight (8) years of professional public health experience with a PhD). · Master’s degree or higher in Public Health, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Health Informatics, Economics or related scientific field required. · Experience publishing manuscripts in peer-reviewed scientific journals is preferred. · Experience working in public health or public health research within government, nonprofit, academic, healthcare or other public health-focused settings required. · Demonstrated experience leading complex, multidisciplinary programs involving data collection, analysis, dissemination and stakeholder engagement required. Experience supervising, mentoring and evaluating staff required. · Experience and proficiency with Stata required. Demonstrated proficiency with additional statistical software such as SAS or R preferred. · Experience analyzing retail scanner data for tobacco, alcohol or other consumer product monitoring is preferred. · Experience building and maintaining productive partnerships across governmental, nonprofit, academic and public health sectors required. · Strong understanding of quantitative research methods, data analytics and public health surveillance systems. Knowledge of public health surveillance, health economics, tobacco control, behavioral health, chronic disease prevention or related public health fields strongly preferred. · Demonstrated ability to establish strategic priorities and translate broad public health objectives into actionable plans and deliverables. · Experience managing multiple concurrent projects and balancing competing priorities in fast-paced environments. · Experience developing and overseeing dissemination products such as reports, briefs, dashboards, presentations, manuscripts and public-facing communications. Experience authoring or overseeing development of peer-reviewed publications, technical reports, conference presentations and related scientific products preferred. · Experience communicating complex technical information to diverse audiences, including leadership, policymakers, public health practitioners, researchers and community stakeholders. Experience briefing senior leaders, funders, policymakers or other executive audiences preferred. · Experience with data visualization software (e.g., Tableau, ArcGIS, PowerBI, Plotly, Dash) and website content management software preferred (WordPress Engine, JIRA, BugHerd). · Experience working with retail sales data, consumer data, digital marketing data, web-scraped data or other large-scale observational datasets preferred. · Ability to interpret complex datasets and derive meaningful insights. Experience disseminating and translating data/research findings for diverse audiences utilizing various tools and methods (e.g. creation of reports/ presentation/fact sheets) including presenting to external audiences and fielding questions. · Experience engaging and working collaboratively with diverse partners, including local, state, regional and national governmental agencies, advocacy groups and public health practitioners to engage in strategic partnerships. · Strong written and verbal communication skills. Ability to convey technical concepts to non-technical partners effectively. · Strong project management skills and ability to consistently deliver high-quality work while meeting deadlines. · Outstanding interpersonal and teamwork skills; collegial, energetic and able to develop productive relationships with colleagues and internal/external partners, particularly in a hybrid working environment. · Sound judgment and maturity, exemplified by consistent professionalism in dealing with individuals at all levels both internally and externally. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, mental or physical disabilities, veteran status, and all other characteristics protected by law. We comply with all applicable laws including E.O. 11246 and the Vietnam Era Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 governing employment practices and do not discriminate on the basis of any unlawful criteria in accordance with 41 C.F.R. §§ 60-300.5(a)(12) and 60-741.5(a)(7). As a federal government contractor, we take affirmative action on behalf of protected veterans. The CDC Foundation is a smoke-free environment