Organizational Summary
Upstream USA is a growing, national nonprofit committed to ensuring that equitable, patient-centered contraceptive care is made available to any patient and is fully integrated into the health system as part of basic health care. We envision a future where all patients are screened for their contraceptive needs and offered patient-centered contraceptive counseling that’s free from bias, noncoercive, trauma-informed, and delivered by knowledgeable providers and support staff following best medical practices and evidence-based guidelines.
We believe all patients should be able to access the contraceptive service of their choice – when they want it and where it is convenient for them to get it. We do this by partnering with healthcare organizations to provide them with free training, education and technical assistance – from urban to rural, from large hospitals to small clinics. We know patients and providers want options that meet their individual needs, and our team of practice change experts work hand-in-hand with healthcare organizations to uplift contraceptive care services and drive exceptional patient outcomes, all at no cost to them. Across the nation, there are challenges to accessing the high-quality, patient-centered contraceptive care patients deserve.
To meet this growing need, Upstream is in the midst of a national expansion to transform contraceptive care. We began by partnering with a single healthcare organization in 2014, when Upstream was founded; today, we have partnered with more than 150 across the nation, and we’re on a path to serving 5 million patients by 2030. Upstream is funded primarily through philanthropic individuals and foundations, and does not accept funding from pharmaceutical companies. Upstream’s budget has grown from $1.7 million just six years ago to approximately $60 million in 2024. Upstream’s work has also garnered attention from many leading publications, including Harvard Public Health, Bloomberg,MedPage Today, and Politico.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The MEL Research Analyst II will perform a variety of analytical, operational, and administrative duties, as needed. Responsibilities may require any of the following:
- Manage projects with excellence
- Oversee a project from inception through implementation, including scoping of objectives, developing processes/timelines/project plans, and coordinating cross-MEL and/or cross-Upstream functional teams to execute work and achieve deliverables
- Mentor and coach other MEL Analyst staff members, as needed
- Develop and implement data collection instruments/processes/efforts
- Support the design of quantitative and/or qualitative data collection methodologies and instruments (e.g., surveys, interview guides, and observational protocols).
- Coordinate data implementation and support administrative duties required for data collection
- Develop and implement data management processes and systems
- Develop data systems/processes to ingest, analyze, and report on specific data (e.g. patient surveys, interview transcripts, secondary data)
- Lead data cleaning, coding, and analysis, using the appropriate methodologies and software for each
- Develop and maintain data dashboards and other data visualizations
- Conducting analyses and contribute to problem solving and research design
- Conduct mixed-methods analyses, and provide interpretation of qualitative and/or quantitative data.
- Produce actionable insights for health center partners and internal program staff through regular review of data streams in collaboration with other MEL and program team colleagues
- Reporting result to external and internal audiences
- Lead presentations and make initial recommendations in leadership, decision-making forums, and/or team or organization wide settings
- Serve as liaison to other teams and staff, to build understanding, develop solutions for data-focused needs and contribute to cross-disciplinary tasks
- Prepare summaries, reports, visualizations and other data-focused deliverables of analytic results
- Additional duties as assigned
Required Education, Experience, Knowledge, Skills and Ability
Upstream celebrates and fosters an inclusive work environment and encourages people of all identities, perspectives and backgrounds to apply.
- Minimum of 5-6+ years direct experience with quantitative and/or qualitative data collection, analysis, and reporting
- Advanced experience in using data for program monitoring, evaluation and learning, including experience independently leading studies.
- Advanced skills in writing code using standard quantitative and/or qualitative data analytic software
- Advanced skills in using spreadsheets and other MSWord or Google suite and Windows applications
- Experience contributing to publications of scientific articles preferred.
Valued and Non-Essential Education, Experience, Knowledge, Skills and Ability (Not required to apply)
- Master’s degree preferred in a social science field or equivalent work experience, and specific knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods
- Experience contributing to publications of scientific articles preferred.
Other Desired Skills
- Confidence working independently, exercising good judgment, and making informed decisions with limited direction; ability to guide junior staff in decision making.
- Demonstrates ability and willingness to continuously acquire new competencies and accept new challenges
- Excellent attention to detail, and robust quality assurance
- Flexibility and ability to produce work on short timelines and with evolving priorities
Other Upstream Staff Expectations
- Upstream USA’s COVID-19 Vaccine Policy requires employees to have completed a COVID-19 vaccine primary series unless a medical or religious exemption is approved. As a condition of employment, newly hired employees must provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination or, if applicable, request a medical or religious exemption.
- All Upstreamers must also be able to attend work-related in-person meetings and functions as needed.
- In our hybrid work environments, there is a basic expectation that our Upstreamers will ensure that their work from home setups will have reliable access to phone and Internet to ensure connectivity to their teams.
- At Upstream we gather for moments that matter for training, teaming and connection. Our teams come together for occasional in person meetings and organizational retreats. As part of our hybrid work practices, this travel expectation will be applicable for all Upstreamers, even those based remotely.
- Engage in EDI learning & development, community engagement, and culture building activities up to 5% FTE (i.e., 2 work hours per 40 hour work week). Examples include attending trainings, conferences and summits, volunteering time, participating in local community events, mentoring and learning, participating in Communities of Belonging or Culture Council, developing language acquisition, learning universal design principles, and using professional development benefits for EDI topics, among other activities.
Travel Requirements
This role will require up to 15% business travel. All Upstreamers can expect a minimum of 8 days of business travel per year to attend 1-2 annual organizational retreats and two annual team/department meetings.Hiring Range$94,000—$100,000 USD
Pay Transparency
Final offers for this position will be based upon several factors including the scope of the role, market compensation analysis, position requirements, candidate’s experience level and capabilities, internal pay equity considerations and will be made within the parameters of Upstream USA's compensation framework and philosophy.
Attributes
The ideal candidate will embody and embrace our core values which serve as our operating principles:
- We keep our mission at the center; Upstream's mission is to ensure that equitable, patient-centered contraceptive care is basic healthcare
- We trust each other; we are reliable, empathetic, compassionately direct, and confident in each others’ ability to do the same
- We work every day to build an equitable, diverse and inclusive culture; we respect the backgrounds contexts and experiences of individuals, teams and partners in our interactions
- We bring joy to our work; we create opportunities to celebrate, connect and strengthen relationships with one another.
Upstream Benefits
Upstream USA offers a comprehensive benefit package including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, long and short term disability, 401K with a match, generous vacation, personal, sick and holiday time off, parental leave, professional development, a fitness and cell phone allowance for all full time employees and part time employees who work a minimum of 24 hours per week.
Hiring Process
Candidates who advance in our preliminary review process will have an opportunity to discuss the position, their employment background and lived experience with a member of our talent acquisition team by telephone. Those who advance to subsequent steps in our interview process may participate in up to three rounds of meetings by Zoom or in person and in a thought exercise/case study assignment. Each round could consist of multiple meetings with various Upstreamers.
EDI Vision Statement
Internally, we envision promoting equity by reducing disparities in the Upstream talent lifecycle and engagement, cultivating a diverse workforce and inclusive culture, and fostering power sharing when we make decisions.
EDI Guiding Principles
Through Equity, both in the workplace and in contraceptive care, we address root causes that enable disparities to occur, acknowledge that different resources and opportunities may be needed to reach fairer outcomes, and implement systems-level changes that are sustainable over time.Through Diversity, we acknowledge, respect, and celebrate the collective mixture of differences and similarities of Upstreamers and our community partners. At Upstream, we value the diversity of identities at all intersections, while at the same time centering racial diversity.Through Inclusion, we succeed at creating a culture of belonging that embraces differences in identities and experiences by building trust, joy, and psychological safety.
We cherish and elevate these differences through power-sharing in how things get done internally and in service of our mission.
Communities of Belonging
Serving as employee resource groups for Upstreamers, Communities of Belonging assist in advancing our equity, diversity, and inclusion journey. They assist in instilling organizational values in our work and support our EDI vision. Open to all employees, Communities of Belonging create opportunities for leadership development, community engagement, support, and resource mobilization.
Upstream Careers
At Upstream, we embrace diversity. We nurture it and we thrive on it because it benefits our organization, our partners, and our community. Our goal is to attract, develop and retain exceptional people, and to create a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and enables each of us to realize our potential. Upstream is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, genetic information, gender identity or Veteran status.
We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know. Learn more about working at Upstream, our values, and our commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Upstream USA participates in E-Verify.
Upstream Headquarters
2 Oliver Street, Suite 402, Boston, MA 02109www.upstream.org
No phone calls please.
Be advised that we do not ever conduct hiring interviews via text or email. Please protect yourself by learning more about our hiring practices and common red flags to look out for.
