Director of Research and Evaluation [1]
ABOUT 826 NATIONAL 826 National is the largest youth writing network in the United States, amplifying the impact of writing and publishing centers across the US, along with the words of so many young authors. We serve as an international proof point for writing as a tool for young people to ignite and channel their creativity, explore identity, advocate for themselves and their community, and achieve academic and professional success.
Our National team is comprised of a group of highly collaborative, passionate professionals dedicated to supporting our growing network of chapters and bringing the words of our students and the importance of writing to a national stage. Currently the 826 Network is in nine major US cities: Boston, Chicago, Detroit/Ann Arbor, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New Orleans, New York City, San Francisco, Washington DC, with approximately 80,000 students participating in free programs provided by our chapters and National. Each chapter provides 5 core prog: after school tutoring, field trips, workshops, young authors book proh, in school programs — all free of charge — for students, classes, and school.
POSITION DESCRIPTION
The Director of Research and Evaluation (DRE) is an exciting opportunity to helm our field-leading effort to track, evaluate, and amplify the impact of the largest youth writing network in the nation. In this role the DRE will grow 826 National’s evaluation and impact capacity by developing a vision for the organization’s evaluation activities and research agenda, providing a data-driven approach to decision-making, and setting strategy with the leadership team. The DRE will guide the team to produce relevant, compelling, and best-in-class research on the 826 network, drive efforts to measure impact locally and nationally, and recommend action to ensure that 826 National’s impact is sustainable and scalable. The successful DRE will foster a network-wide culture of inquiry and will provide vision and direction that is guided by our mission and responsive to programmatic and affiliate needs. The ideal candidate is a deeply analytical change-maker with an innovative approach to showcasing the network-wide program impact, strategically driving program evaluation, and keeping the network at the vanguard of education leadership.
Reports to: CEO
Supervises: Development AmeriCorps Servicemember, Research and Evaluations Coordinator, SalesForce Administrator
Hours: Full time
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Conduct internal program evaluation to understand the impact of the 826 model across the network.
- Be the network-wide subject matter expert in research and developments in education, ensuring programming and evaluations are in line.
- Own the R&E department budget and processes, managing the data collection systems, including the creation of new metrics and tools, to help accurately measure programmatic impact.
- Develop R&E strategy, including metric development and resources.
- Showcase program data, guiding the interpretation and application through innovative and engaging media.
- Drive the use and understanding of program data as a tool for network-wide development and external messaging.
- Guide and commission external evaluation work as needed.
- Create, maintain, and enforce data integrity and standards.
- Understand education landscape and current policy agendas and movements which affect 826’s student, teacher, and organizational constituents.
- Analyze publicly-available data to create benchmarks and standards for 826 programming.
- Research trends in evaluation in major organizational areas.
SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS:
- Exceptional attention to detail and organizational skills
- Bachelor’s degree in a related field; Master’s or higher preferred
- 5-7 years of relevant, professional evaluation experience
- 5+ years of relevant experience in nonprofit, education, and/or youth services
- 2+ years of managerial experience
- Ability to conduct quantitative and qualitative analyses — descriptive analyses of distributions and variation (e.g., presenting means, quartiles, proportions, standard deviations, and confidence intervals); basic hypothesis testing analyses (comparisons of means and proportions; presentations of correlations) required.
- Demonstrated ability to summarize research and data to a wide variety of audiences in written and oral forms
- Ability to train the application and use of data collection best practices
- Extensive experience with Excel/Google Sheets
- Experience with either: R, STATA, SPSS or similar statistical software package
- Familiarity with Salesforce or a similar CRM platform
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team
- Commitment to the 826 Network’s mission and core values
Position is open until filled. Final compensation is commensurate with experience.
Benefits Comprehensive benefits, including: medical, dental, vision care, and retirement, paid holidays, 15 days of annual vacation for the first two years of employment, with increases thereafter.
How to Apply Please visit https://826national.typeform.com/to/HvjOsK [2] to complete an online application and submit a resume and detailed cover letter highlighting your interest and relevant experience.
826 National is an equal opportunity employer that seeks to hire those representative of the diverse communities we serve. 826 National hires without regard to race, color, religion,sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, HIV/AIDS status, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law. All are encouraged to apply.