Director of Data and Evaluation

Position Summary:

The Director of Data and Evaluation will manage ACT Now’s efforts in these areas to ensure continuous quality improvement across the Coalition. This role will support ACT Now’s quality initiatives, manage data collection across grants and contracts, and lead ACT Now’s broader organizational efforts in data collection and impact evaluation. The ideal candidate will have experience working in and with large data systems building and management and have strong supervisory skills.

Key Responsibilities:

Data Collection and Analysis

• Support maintenance and expansion of ACT Now’s data collection applications
• Track metrics across grant deliverables (including Full Services Community Schools, DHS, ISBE, private foundation grants, and more)
• Prepare grant data and reports
• Draft and present ACT Now impact reports based on data sourced from organizational data collection applications
• Adhere to ethical guidelines and data privacy regulations while handling sensitive information and research data

Supervision, Support, and Partnerships

• Manage a team of two to three individuals, including coaching and support
• Ensure deliverables are met across the team
• Support initiatives using data throughout the organization’s other project areas
• Provide technical assistance as necessary to ensure data is collected with fidelity
• Work with consultants, school districts, providers, and other external partners to conduct data and evaluation activities

Research and Innovation

• Conduct research as it relates to education, youth development, afterschool quality improvement, and community schools development
• Assist in the revisioning of the Illinois Quality Standards Framework
• Research and identify methods to show organization-wide impact across program areas
• Stay updated on the latest research methods, tools, and best practices in evaluation and relay these approaches to the team for implementation and improvement
• Develop innovative solutions to share and collect data to make the case for quality afterschool and community schools

Qualifications & Skills:

• Undergraduate degree or higher
• Experiencing managing and maintaining various data collection applications
• Experience collecting and analyzing data for compliance metrics
• Experience in the youth development field (school day, afterschool, early childhood education, etc.)
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills (both oral and written)
• Experience managing a team, including coaching, support, motivation, and ensuring deliverables of everyone on the team
• Highly organized with excellent attention to detail
• Ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative team
• Ability to travel across the state as needed
• Familiarity with Microsoft and Google Suites
• Experience interacting and supporting individuals from a variety of backgrounds
• A strong desire to operate as part of a team
• Equity mindset