Director of Evaluation

Position Summary

Job title: Director of Evaluation

Reports to: Chief Operations Officer (Sr. Director of Special Projects in the Interim)

Department: Data & Evaluation

Type: Full Time

 

Background on UTEC, Inc.

UTEC’s promise is to ignite and nurture the ambition of our most disengaged youth to trade violence and poverty for social and economic success. UTEC’s outcomes-focused model begins with intensive street outreach, reaching proven high-risk youth where they’re at. UTEC engages youth in workforce development and educational programs, and provides mental health services and intensive case management. Social justice and civic engagement are embedded in all programming. For more info, please visit www.utecinc.org.

UTEC is committed to its vision for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion which pledges to honor the lived experiences and expertise of individuals; create community and celebration of cultures; challenge all forms of oppression; and embody a culture that leans into discomfort and recognizes it as a growth opportunity. UTEC is dedicated to fair and equitable compensation practice, the health, mental health, and overall well-being of young adults and staff and to creating an environment that supports work-life balance and the individual and professional growth of all.

 

Job Summary

The Director of Evaluation is responsible for developing, implementing, and managing comprehensive evaluation strategies to assess the effectiveness and impact of UTEC programs. Expertise in data analysis and evaluation methodologies will be instrumental in driving evidence-based decision-making, improving program outcomes, and supporting our mission to make a positive impact on our young adults. The Director assumes responsibility for ensuring that a consistent culture of reflection and learning is supported throughout the agency. Additionally, this position closely collaborates on the evaluation elements of our organizational goals and the impact of these on our funding, marketing, and, most of all, programming. and evaluation of our work.

 

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Provide direct supervision to individuals in the following position(s):
  • Data Analyst
  • Any specific data/research consultants that may be hired
• Ensure adequate time management of direct reports
• Provide regular supervision through individual meetings with direct reports on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. In doing so, provide direct reports with ongoing feedback on progress as well as any performance concerns and perform an annual written performance review with each direct report
• Ensure that all staff can identify the impact of their role on agency-wide goals and metrics for success

 

Duties/Responsibilities

Program Guidance and Recommendations

• Work with programming staff to set, measure, analyze, communicate, and report on program performance metrics. Examples of these metrics include (but are not limited to) the following:
  • ​​​​​​​Young adult attendance and level of engagement with UTEC in each area of programming
  • Rates of recidivism
  • HiSet graduation rates and other educational outcomes
  • Employment outcomes
• Development of metrics and service targets and the development or adjustment of data collection and young adult information in partnership with department directors
• Work with program directors to ensure all data is correctly gathered and input regularly by programming staff.
• Create custom reports, maintain current reports, and train program staff to build reports to provide program data.

 

Organization-Wide Evaluation Guidance

• Lead all efforts regarding the continued design and management of our internal employee performance measurement work in the current CRM system (Quickbase).
• Act as a resource to staff to support the understanding of agency-wide and program-specific metrics.
• Conduct research and help develop recommendations for various policy opportunities to improve outcomes for our young adults.
• Provide accurate, efficient, and reliable data collection and allows for timely outcome reporting
• Oversee the collection, analysis, and interpretation of qualitative and quantitative program data.
• Implement various evaluation methodologies, surveys, and assessments to gauge program performance and identify areas for improvement.
• Support system enhancement (and migration to new platforms when necessary).

 

Evaluation, Research, and Writing Support

• After upgrading and enhancing our current data collection and analysis capacity, work to develop partnerships with external evaluators (e.g., university research partners) and other organizations that can help advance our evaluation and research capacities, serving as the liaison with such collaborators.
• Research includes finding and analyzing community-level, regional, and publicly available data sets.
• Work with external evaluators and Director of Contract on external evaluations.
• Ensure funders receive accurate and timely metrics aligned with grant and contract expectations.
• Create monthly, quarterly, and annual reports as necessary, summarizing the totality of the organization’s data across all existing metrics; work with the development team to produce impact reports for internal and external stakeholders.
• Assist the Contract Director in developing , providing data and support in writing any final evaluation grant reports when needed
• Should any metrics not meet fund requirements, clearly communicate this information to Leadership and program staff so that any necessary adjustments to programming can be determined and implemented.

 

Required Skills/Abilities

• Prior background in evaluation work required
• Ability to provide supervision and guidance to direct reports
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Must be incredibly well-organized
• Ability to make complex data, analysis, and research findings clear and concise to a non-research-focused audience.
• Capacity to work independently, manage time and work priorities, multi-task and adapt to a changing environment
• Experience in youth development or non-profit settings a plus

 

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s in related field a plus
• Prior experience managing a team required
• Demonstrates knowledge of data management and systems (experience with QuickBase a plus, but not required.)
• Ability to synthesize complex concepts and translate their meaning to broad audiences with varied familiarity with data use and analysis.
• Excellent organizational and writing skills
• Ability to work independently and with various teams
• Strong leadership, communication & facilitation skills
• Experience supporting and enhancing database processes that support many functional departments
• Able to perform and prioritize multiple tasks
• Ability to manage conflicting and changing priorities, adapt, and lead through ambiguous projects
• Ability to operate with a high level of autonomy and decision-making responsibility
• Must be a self-starter and team player with a positive outlook
• Ability to manage ambiguity and change
• Proficient in identifying solutions and opportunities

 

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.

 

Salary range is $80,000 – $90,000, commensurate with experience. Benefits include retirement 401K plan, health and dental (50-85% subsidized), 3 weeks paid vacation, holiday and paid sick/personal time, the opportunity for a paid sabbatical after 3 years, first-time homebuyers funding, and free counseling for all staff. Please see www.utecinc.org/jobs for more details.