User Adoption Specialist (Operations)
Work Location:
Remote - USA
Schedule:
Full time
To advance the purpose of InterVarsity, this position will play a critical role in moving InterVarsity staff from access to genuine engagement with the student data app. Positioned at the intersection of technology, field ministry, and organizational change, this contract role leads the user adoption strategy across three high-stakes ministry windows: the summer pilots, Fall New Student Outreach, and January New Student Outreach. The Specialist works closely with the student data project team, field leadership, and Gloo — and in close coordination with the UX Specialist to ensure that field friction signals move quickly from the pilot floor to product improvement. This role is grounded in a deep understanding that trust — not training — is the primary lever for adoption in our context. Success is measured not by logins or training completions, but by whether field staff genuinely change how they track and serve students.
MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES
Personal:
- Be a maturing disciple of Jesus Christ: growing in love for God, God's Word, God's people of every ethnicity and culture, and God's purposes in the world
- Pursue growth in user adoption methodology, adult learning principles, and field ministry dynamics relevant to InterVarsity’s campus staff context.
Pilot Design and Launch:
- Readiness Assessment: Conduct a baseline assessment of field staff readiness, data literacy, and existing workflow habits across pilot regions before the summer pilot opens — establishing the foundation against which adoption progress will be measured.
- Activation Moment Definition: Collaborate with the project team to define the specific in-app action that constitutes a staff member’s first meaningful win — the moment the tool shifts from “something I have to use” to “something that helps me.” Ensure this is documented before each pilot window opens.
- Role-Based Onboarding: Design differentiated onboarding pathways for Campus Staff Ministers, student leaders, and Area Directors — ensuring each role encounters the features most relevant to their ministry context first.
- Power User Recruitment: Identify and equip 2–3 Peer Champions per pilot region — early enthusiasts who serve as the credible face of the app to their peers, directly addressing the trust deficit identified in staff survey data.
- Staff Conference Soft Launch: Coordinate user adoption activities at Staff Conference 2027, serving as the primary adoption resource during the soft launch — leading orientations, staffing help channels, and gathering real-time feedback.
Pilot Execution and Monitoring:
- Leading Indicator Tracking: Establish and monitor adoption leading indicators throughout each pilot window — daily active use, session length, Day-7 return rate, feature depth, unprompted sharing, and time to first meaningful action — in coordination with Gloo instrumentation.
- Resource Development: Create and maintain concise, role-differentiated user resources — quick-start guides, FAQ documents, and short-form reference materials — in formats that field staff will actually use in their ministry context.
- UX Partnership: Work in tandem with the User Experience Specialist ensuring the pain points experienced in the app are improved with minimal disruption to adoption.
- Pulse Feedback Cadence: Design and administer brief mid-pilot pulse checks (weeks 2 and 5) to surface friction before it becomes disengagement. Translate findings into real-time adjustments to onboarding and support approaches.
- Peer Recognition: Implement a weekly spotlight practice during pilot windows that celebrates concrete staff adoption wins and amplifies peer testimony across pilot participants.
- Workflow Integration: Assist staff in anchoring app use to existing rhythms — identifying specific recurring meetings or ministry moments where data entry becomes a natural closing action rather than an additional task.
Fall and January NSO Rollout:
- Rollout Readiness: Apply learnings from summer pilots to shape the adoption strategy for Fall New Student Outreach and January New Student Outreach — translating what moved staff from Trial to Activation into scalable onboarding and support models.
- Field Coordination: Partner with Area Directors and regional leadership to embed app use into NSO planning rhythms, ensuring the student data app is a tool staff reach for — not around — during high-intensity outreach seasons.
- Adoption Threshold Monitoring: Track team-level adoption rates against the “self-sustaining” threshold defined by the steering committee, and flag teams that need additional support before rollout momentum stalls.
- Guardrail Governance: Facilitate the process by which pilot participants exercise visible control over at least one data governance guardrail, documenting decisions and communicating outcomes to build institutional trust.
Learning and Reporting:
- Pilot Debriefs: Lead structured learning debriefs at the close of each pilot window, surfacing what moved staff toward habit and what created friction — reframing pilots as shared learning experiences rather than technology evaluations.
- Healthy User Standards: Collaborate with the steering committee to define and document what a “healthy user” looks like for InterVarsity’s context — across dimensions of frequency, feature depth, and ministry follow-through — before pilot data is reviewed.
- Risk Monitoring: Proactively identify adoption risks — including teams with low engagement signals, unresolved friction points, or data governance concerns — and escalate to the project team before they become barriers to the next rollout phase.
- Adoption Reporting: Prepare clear, accessible adoption summaries for the student data steering committee and ELT, distinguishing usage metrics from adoption signals and providing honest reads on readiness for each successive rollout phase.
- Knowledge Transfer: Document adoption strategies, onboarding materials, Peer Champion resources, and debrief frameworks in a format that can be sustained by InterVarsity staff beyond the contract period.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Annually affirm InterVarsity’s Statement of Faith and abide by InterVarsity’s Code of Conduct for the duration of the contract.
- Bachelor’s degree in organizational development, communications, adult learning, ministry leadership, or a related field; or equivalent demonstrated experience.
- Minimum 3 years of experience in user adoption, change management, technology implementation, or organizational development — ideally within a nonprofit, church, or para-church organization.
- Familiarity with or ability to quickly learn InterVarsity’s field ministry rhythms, including NSO, semester cycles, and the role of Campus Staff Ministers and Area Directors.
- Strong relational and facilitation skills; able to build trust with field staff who may approach new technology with skepticism.
- Demonstrated ability to handle sensitive data governance and staff trust concerns with discretion and pastoral sensitivity.
- Familiarity with structured change management frameworks (e.g., ADKAR/Prosci, Kotter); Prosci certification a plus.
- Experience designing and running structured feedback processes — pulse surveys, debriefs, or focus groups — and translating findings into actionable adjustments.
- Analytical ability to distinguish between usage metrics and genuine adoption signals; familiarity with leading indicator frameworks is a plus.
- Ability to create concise, accessible user resources (quick-start guides, FAQs, role-based reference materials) for a non-technical field audience.
- Collaborative working style; able to operate effectively with a cross-functional team including product, field leadership, and an external technology partner (Gloo).
Benefits:
We offer a competitive benefits package, including health care and retirement savings with a match. Eligibility is based on employee type and hours worked. Benefits include the following:
403(b) Retirement Savings Plan
403(b) matching contributions
Dental insurance
Employee assistance program
Employee discounts
Flexible work schedule
Flexible spending accounts
Health insurance
Health savings account
Life insurance
Paid time off
Parental leave
Professional development assistance
Vision insurance