Job Summary
The Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Michigan Medical School is seeking a full-time, in-person Research Area Specialist Lead to serve as a Knowledge Translation and Outreach Lead. This exempt, grant-funded, term-limited position will support the development, dissemination and uptake of outputs which translate research, programmatic, and educational content from various grants to multiple targeted audiences.
The successful candidate will create clear, engaging, and tailored communication products for a variety of stakeholders, including community partners, professional organizations, researchers, clinicians, advocacy organizations, funders, and other external audiences. Outputs may include newsletters, videos, infographics, briefs, slide decks, reports, web content, social media content, event materials, and other communication formats.
This position will engage with local, state, regional, and national organizations to understand informational needs, identify opportunities for collaboration, and support effective knowledge translation. The role will also develop and maintain distribution lists, partner contacts, outreach systems, and stakeholder networks to maximize dissemination, engagement, and uptake of project outputs.
The individual in this role must be comfortable representing the program at community events, conferences, partner meetings, resource fairs, webinars, and other engagement opportunities. The position includes event planning and management responsibilities, including logistics, promotion, materials development, registration or attendance tracking, follow-up communications, and evaluation of engagement.
This position will provide supervision to at least two staff members and will also engage with, coordinate, and manage the work of vendors, consultants, and other project personnel supporting communications, outreach, multimedia production, event support, and dissemination activities.
This is an in-person position based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Local and regional travel is required to support community engagement, outreach activities, meetings, events, and conferences.
Key Responsibilities
Knowledge Translation and Content Development
- Translate research findings, project updates, and program outcomes into clear, engaging, audience-specific materials.
- Develop stakeholder-relevant outputs, including newsletters, briefs, videos, infographics, slide decks, web content, social media posts, reports, toolkits, and other dissemination products.
- Use plain language and accessible communication principles to make complex information understandable and useful to varied audiences.
- Tailor content and messaging for different stakeholder groups, including community organizations, professional associations, research partners, clinicians, policymakers, and other audiences.
- Ensure that communication products are accurate, timely, visually engaging, and aligned with project goals.
Dissemination Strategy and Outreach Planning
- Develop and implement knowledge translation and dissemination strategies across projects.
- Identify target audiences, appropriate communication channels, dissemination timelines, and opportunities for stakeholder engagement.
- Support evaluation of dissemination efforts using metrics such as reach, engagement, attendance, downloads, partner feedback, or other indicators of uptake.
- Recommend creative approaches to increase awareness, participation, and use of project outputs.
- Coordinate dissemination plans with project teams, departmental leadership, and relevant communications partners.
Stakeholder and Partner Engagement
- Engage with local, regional, state, and national organizations to understand informational needs, priorities, and opportunities for collaboration.
- Build and maintain relationships with community partners, professional organizations, advocacy groups, research collaborators, and other stakeholders.
- Identify opportunities for co-developed materials, presentations, webinars, resource sharing, and other knowledge translation activities.
- Represent the program professionally in meetings, outreach activities, conferences, and external communications.
- Gather stakeholder feedback to inform future communications, outreach approaches, and dissemination products.
Supervision and Project Team Leadership
- Provide direct supervision to at least two staff members.
- Assign and review work, provide guidance and feedback, support professional development, and assist with performance-related processes in accordance with university and departmental procedures.
- Coordinate the work of vendors, consultants, contractors, temporary staff, student employees, or other project personnel supporting content development, graphic design, video production, editing, event support, outreach, or dissemination activities.
- Establish project timelines, monitor deliverables, ensure account
