Senior Evaluation Associate

Mixed-Methods Evaluation + Analysis

Employment Type: Full Time (32 hours/weeks)

Location: Remote with some project-based travel; preference for regional proximity to New Orleans or Houston

Reports to: Founder + CEO

Compensation: 72-75K annually with benefits

Hiring Timeline: Accepting application through Oct 15; review of applicants will begin on September 25, 2026; intended start October 2026.

About Hatch Creative Strategy

Hatch Creative Strategy is an evaluation and strategic learning consultancy that partners with purpose-driven organizations, particularly in environmental education and arts and culture. We help clients clarify what they are working toward, learn from their programs and communities, and communicate evidence of impact. Our work is equity-centered, community-rooted, and designed to make rigorous evaluation useful and accessible. As a small, entrepreneurial firm, we value initiative, flexibility, collaboration, and dependable follow-through.

Position Overview

The Senior Evaluation Associate supports thoughtful, rigorous evaluation across Hatch’s portfolio. Working under a senior project lead, this person owns the execution and quality of assigned research and evaluation activities while contributing substantive methodological and analytic judgment.

This is a hands-on, mixed-methods role with primary responsibility for leading the development of qualitative and quantitative data collection instruments; conducting interviews, focus groups, observations, surveys, and other data collection activities; and carrying out analysis in partnership with the project lead. The Senior Evaluation Associate contributes to evaluation strategy and methodological planning and supports findings development, facilitation, sensemaking, reporting, and the use of findings.

The Senior Evaluation Associate participates in client meetings and may communicate directly with clients and partners about assigned work. Within assigned technical workstreams, this person is responsible for quality, timelines, documentation, proactive communication, and dependable follow-through.

Core Responsibilities

Evaluation Strategy and Methodological Planning

• Contribute to translating project goals, evaluation questions, theories of change, outcomes, and indicators into feasible evaluation plans
• Collaborate with the project lead to develop mixed-methods approaches that integrate qualitative and quantitative evidence
• Contribute methodological judgment about approaches that fit the project’s context, intended use, available data, timeline, budget, and participant burden
• Develop draft sampling, recruitment, consent, data-management, and analysis approaches for review and refinement with the project lead
• Apply ethical, equity-centered, culturally responsive, and participatory evaluation practices throughout assigned work
• Clearly document methodological decisions, assumptions, limitations, and changes in partnership with the project lead

Instrument Development and Data Collection

• Lead the development of interview guides, focus group protocols, surveys, observation tools, reflection tools, document-review frameworks, and other qualitative and quantitative instruments
• Translate agreed-upon evaluation questions and methodological approaches into instruments that are clear, accessible, culturally responsive, and appropriate for their intended audiences
• Conduct interviews, focus groups, listening sessions, observations, and other qualitative data collection activities, including serving as a facilitator or moderator
• Lead or support instrument programming, pilot testing, revision, and quality review
• Maintain complete, organized records for assigned data collection activities and promptly flag concerns related to participation, consent, data quality, or implementation

Analysis and Preliminary Interpretation

• Collaborate with the project lead to determine the analytic approach and develop qualitative and quantitative analysis plans, codebooks, data dictionaries, and documentation processes
• Conduct rigorous qualitative and quantitative analysis of interviews, focus groups, observations, documents, open-ended responses, surveys, and program data in partnership with the project lead
• Clean, organize, and assess qualitative and quantitative datasets for inconsistencies, outliers, missing information, and other quality concerns
• Identify preliminary patterns, differences, tensions, outliers, and contextual factors across complex or sometimes contradictory data sources
• Bring forward emerging questions and possible interpretations for discussion, and deepen or revise analysis in response to collective analytic debriefs
• Contribute to the integration of qualitative and quantitative evidence without overstating certainty or flattening nuance

Sensemaking + Reporting

• Support the design and facilitation of workshops, co-design sessions, reflection conversations, and stakeholder dialogues, including facilitating assigned portions or small-group activities
• Contribute analysis, preliminary insights, and supporting evidence to findings development and participatory sensemaking
• Draft assigned sections, analysis memos, tables, case studies, briefs, presentations, program profiles, and evaluation summaries
• Support the development of evidence-based narratives that connect findings to evaluation questions and client goals
• Create clear, accessible charts, tables, and other visual representations of evidence and emerging findings
• Use participant quotations and stories responsibly, with appropriate consent, context, and attention to representation
• Prepare work at the requested stage of development, respond thoughtfully to feedback, and conduct substantive and editorial review before handoff

Workstream Coordination, Client Engagement, and Collaboration

• Manage assigned technical workstreams, tasks, timelines, dependencies, and documentation within the broader project plan established by the project lead
• Keep Hatch’s project management systems current as the source of truth for assigned tasks, status, responsibilities, and deadlines
• Participate actively and professionally in internal and client meetings; prepare for assigned roles and clearly document decisions, action items, owners, and deadlines
• Provide proactive updates to the project lead and surface questions or risks related to scope, timing, capacity, data quality, or client communication while there is still time to address them
• Follow through reliably on commitments, close communication loops, and maintain responsiveness during shared collaboration hours
• Track time accurately and consistently in alignment with project budgets, planning, and invoicing requirements
• Share useful tools, templates, and lessons from assigned work with Hatch’s broader evaluation practice

Required Qualifications

• At least five years of relevant experience in evaluation, applied research, community-engaged research, strategic learning, or a related field; an equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered
• Demonstrated ability to contribute substantively across the evaluation cycle, with particular strength in instrument development, data collection, analysis, and drafting
• Strong qualitative research skills, including interviewing, focus group facilitation, coding, thematic analysis, and synthesis
• Strong applied quantitative skills, including survey development, data cleaning, descriptive analysis, interpretation, and visualization
• Excellent writing and editing skills, with the ability to translate complex information into clear, accurate, client-ready materials
• Experience facilitating conversations with clients, participants, or community stakeholders
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent and sometimes complex workstreams using project plans, clear documentation, proactive communication, and deadlines
• Sound judgment regarding research ethics, informed consent, confidentiality, bias, power, representation, and responsible storytelling
• Strong communication and collaboration habits, including proactive updates, early risk identification, and dependable follow-through
• Comfort working in a small, evolving organization where responsibilities span analysis, facilitation, coordination, and production

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduate training in evaluation, social science, education, public policy, public health, arts administration, statistics, or a related field
• Experience with participatory, culturally responsive, developmental, or equity-centered evaluation
• Experience working in arts and culture, education, philanthropy, youth development, environmental education, or community-based initiatives
• Proficiency with qualitative and quantitative analysis tools such as Dedoose, Tableau, NVivo, MAXQDA, Excel, Google Sheets, R, Python, SPSS, Stata, or comparable platforms
• Experience with survey platforms and data-visualization tools
• Experience using AI-assisted tools thoughtfully and responsibly to support research, analysis, synthesis, and workflow efficiency.
• Familiarity with grant-funded environments, funder reporting, theories of change, logic models, and outcomes frameworks

Qualities That Support Success

High-quality work at Hatch is purposeful, context-informed, thoughtful, accurate, timely, and appropriate for its audience and stage. Qualities we’d like to see in an ideal candidate which support this include:

• Context awareness: You seek to understand the client, community, place, field, and methodology before making decisions
• Methodological judgment: You choose methods because they fit the question and context, not because they are the most elaborate
• Care and accuracy: You review your work for substance, coherence, errors, and omissions rather than treating task completion as the finish line
• Facilitative presence: You listen closely, create space for different perspectives, and help groups move toward shared understanding
• Plain-language communication: You explain complex ideas clearly without flattening nuance or overstating certainty
• Ownership and follow-through: You keep commitments visible, close loops, and raise questions or risks while there is still time to address them
• Adaptability: You can shift between research design, data collection, analysis, facilitation, and deliverable development while maintaining consistent quality

Equal Opportunity

Hatch Creative Strategy is committed to building an inclusive team. We encourage applications from people whose perspectives and lived experiences deepen our ability to work thoughtfully across communities. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law.

• Schedule: This is a full-time, 32 hour per week position.
• Flexible format and core collaboration hours: This is a remote position with some project-based travel. Team members are expected to be available during consistent working hours for meetings, coordination, and real-time communication. Work outside these hours is flexible and coordinated around project needs and deadlines.
• Time off: 4 weeks paid time off, coordinated in advance to support project continuity.
• Professional development: $750 annual reimbursable allowance for approved professional development expenses offered after 6 months of work.
• Technology and workspace support: $750 annual reimbursable allowance for equipment or workspace setup offered after 6 months of work.
• Health Care Benefits: Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA) up to $300 a month offered after 6 months of work.
• Individual Retirement Account: SIMPLE IRA with 3% Company Match after 12 months of work.

Fluent in English, Spanish language a plus