Deputy Director, Measurement, Learning & Evaluation

Company: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Location: Seattle
Posted on: September 16, 2020

Job Description:

Role Title: Deputy Director, Measurement, Learning and Evaluation

Division: U.S. Program

Group: Postsecondary Success

Location: Seattle / DC

Travel Requirements: 25%

Posting Close Date: September 23, 2020

Division Summary

The vision of the foundation's U.S. Program (USP) works to ensure all students in the US have access to educational opportunities, from Pre-K to postsecondary, that enable them to develop the knowledge, skills, and agency needed thrive as adults and contribute to their communities. Our goal is to make sure more students are on track to obtain a postsecondary credential with labor market value such that race/ethnicity and income are no longer predictors of student success. ---

Group Summary

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Postsecondary Success (PS) strategy seeks to transform colleges and universities to ensure that many more students, particularly students of color and low-income students, obtain quality, affordable credentials that offer value and lead to economic mobility. This strategy will assist in meeting the nation's workforce development needs by working to close attainment gaps by race/ethnicity and income.

Job Description Summary

The Deputy Director, Measurement, Learning and Evaluation (DDMLE) in the Postsecondary Success Team reports to the Director and serves as a member of the Postsecondary Success Leadership Team. The DDMLE leads a team of 5 Measurement, Evaluation, and Research staff who play critical cross-strategy roles in developing/ refining strategies and investing in partners to measure efficacy of PS Strategy interventions, gauge PS Strategy progress against key outcomes and research key strategy-related topics as they emerge.

As a leadership team member, the DDMLE serves as the measurement and evaluation lead for the strategy and as the Director's primary collaborator in our strategy accountability and reporting work (developing division-wide portfolio review materials and annual Board-level strategy review materials). The DDMLE also serves as a key collaborator on our teamwide learning agenda, leveraging insights from our research and evaluation to develop high-quality, engaging learning experiences for our 45-person team, and collaborating with other strategy MLE staff to develop learning opportunities across the division. Finally, the DDMLE is also expected to play an important external role on behalf of the team and foundation, engaging in panels, speeches and other forum to share insights emerging from our grant and contract-funded workCore Responsibilities

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• Continuously improve our measurement eval and research approaches (refining measurement constructs, identifying cross-cutting MLE needs, scoping research topics, approving investments, etc)
• Collaborate with grantees/ partners to support their measurement and evaluation approaches
• Leverage research and evaluation insights to advise fellow Deputies on portfolio improvement opportunities and respond to senior Foundation leadership requests
• Report on strategy progress and critical lessons learned (data-driven storytelling to inform senior leadership and board on progress and future strategic opportunities)
• Lead impact modeling at the strategy, initiative and Body of Work levels
• Direct and manage data collection, organization/curation, visualization and analysis to support the above items
• Lead 5-person team of direct reports (and co-lead 45-person strategy with other PS Leadership Team Members) to ensure staff align career goals and development to support strategy execution while bringing their best individual and collective selves to work in order to strengthen team culture and operations.
• Collaborate with peers to develop quality team learning experiences that are actionable and responsive to emerging insights and the needs of programmatic staff.
• Drive team-wide use of the data and insights to support strategy development, investment planning and outcomes tracking
• Externalize our measurement learning, evaluation and research as a public good to support and inform postsecondary success lever for system change (share our most critical insights with field partners through publishing, speaking at conferences, etc)
• Communicate, collaborate, and coordinate with colleagues in USP Data and MLE leadership in order to create and take advantage of cross-division opportunities.
  
  
  Core Knowledge, Skills and Capabilities Required for Success
  
  
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  • Analytical Thinking: Uses facts and available information to develop logical assumptions. Discriminates between important and unimportant details, recognizes inconsistencies between facts and/or data (particularly nuanced higher ed data), and draws correct inferences from information (includes differentiating, comparing, contrasting, linking, researching) at both macro and micro level
  • Collaboration/ Relationship Building: Develops and maintains effective working relationships with team members and internal partners through strong interpersonal skills; builds effective external partnerships with senior leaders in education, government, business and non-profits
  • DEI Mindset: Understands and values differences in others. Seeks input from and values the uniqueness of people of different groups and cultures. Challenges practices or policies that may be exclusionary. Understands how to use research and evaluation data as a tool to identify and address inequities
  • Excellent Leadership and Management: Proven contributor to team strength within direct management and across broader, interconnected and geographically dispersed teams
  • Exemplary Written and Verbal Communicator: Synthesizes and extracts meaning from complex bodies of work and effectively communicates key insights and takeaways to diverse audiences. Strong facility preparing and presenting executive-level information (via powerpoint, executive memos, etc) and able to develop and incorporate new frameworks and tools in real-time during meetings
  • Higher Education context: Understands the diversity of sector missions, objectives, and resources; can interpret research and evaluation accordingly
  • Recognized internally & externally by the professional community as an expert within the field
  • Structuring research, measurement and evaluation approaches: Applies rigorous and field-accepted approaches across each of these areas to execute end to end complex project management
    
    
    Education and Background
    
    
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    • BA/ BS required
    • Advanced degree with 10+ years of experience (preferably at educational institutions serving primarily low-income students and students of color, or equivalent experience.
    • Minimum 2 years' experience managing teams of 4+ high performing staff members
    • Preferred backgrounds in education (either Institutional Research or as an Educational Researcher or Evaluator) and consulting
      
      As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.
      
      The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We're committed to creating a workplace where employees thrive both personally and professionally. We also believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve-in race, gender, age, cultures and beliefs-and we support this diversity through all of our employment practices.
      
      All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve the mission of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to:
      
      * Race
      
      * Color
      
      * Age
      
      * Religion
      
      * Pregnancy
      
      * Sex
      
      * Sexual Orientation
      
      * Disability
      
      * Gender Identity
      
      * Gender Expression
      
      * National Origin
      
      * Genetic Information
      
      * Veteran Status
      
      * Marital Status
      
      * Prior Protected Activity

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