The Foundation

We are the largest nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on a simple premise: people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives. We believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve. We provide an exceptional benefits package to employees and their families which include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums, generous paid time off, paid family leave, foundation-paid retirement contribution, regional holidays, and opportunities to engage in several employee communities. As a workplace, we’re committed to creating an environment for you to thrive both personally and professionally.

The Team

The vision of the foundation’s U.S. Program (USP) is that all people navigating U.S. education systems and job markets can develop the knowledge, skills, and agency needed to thrive in their communities such that race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status are no longer predictors of educational attainment and economic mobility and security. We work with partners to improve education systems and pathways from early learning to K-12 to postsecondary education to prepare and empower all students to thrive in the labor market and their lives while employing targeted strategies for student groups who have been inequitably served by current systems – Black and Latino students, and students from low-income backgrounds. We also work with partners to improve systems in ways that increase equitable access to opportunities for adults experiencing poverty, especially those facing greater mobility barriers due to racism and sexism.

Our Economic Mobility and Opportunity (EMO) team works with local and state governments and policymakers, small and medium-sized businesses, community and advocacy organizations, funders, and researchers to help increase long-term economic security for people earning low incomes. Our target population is the 47 million people ages 16 to 64 whose annual incomes are below 200% of the federal poverty level, which translates to $27,180 for an individual and $55,500 for a family of four as of 2022.

The Economic Mobility & Opportunity strategy has three pillars:
• Making Lives Better Now: Work to address the immediate needs of our focus population by supporting the creation and use of tools that help individuals and families access safety net benefits and tax credits as well as connect employers with skilled workers.
• Public Good Creation and Dissemination: We provide tools, insights, and resources to local governments, businesses, and organizations to help them create more opportunities for people living in poverty to achieve economic success.
• Critical Enablers: We collaborate with government agencies, businesses, nonprofits, funders, and others to increase the flow of capital, facilitate learning, and advance shared goals in a way that builds momentum around efforts in our two other focus areas.

Your Role

As the Senior Strategy and Learning Officer (SSO), you will report to the Deputy Director for Strategy, Planning & Management, Economic Mobility & Opportunity, Callie Schneider. The SSO will serve in a senior role on the Economic Mobility & Opportunity team during a critical moment of growth and learning. Overall, the SSO will provide critical capacity to the Economic Mobility & Opportunity team in measuring and communicating impact as well as guiding decision-making regarding strategic hypotheses and related investments leveraging investment level and field level data and evidence.

The SSO is responsible for designing, implementing, and supporting measurement learning and evaluation (MLE) across the bodies of work (BOWs) and the strategy-level for the Economic Mobility & Opportunity Team as well as supporting the translation of findings into the strategic implications communicated to our leadership. The SSO will also help to enable our operating model, particularly strengthening our collective muscle around strategic decision-making and elevating insights to communicate our national impact. This will include strengthening performance management practices and routines, integrating measurement & learning into our rhythm of the business and our annual strategy refinement processes.

What You’ll Do

• Finalize strategy-level MLE framework for EMO strategy, including developing innovative approaches to measuring field influence, strengthened coalitions, and intentional partnership models. We are looking for someone who wants to be creative with measurement!
• Lead the development of regular leadership communications on the strategy’s impact, learnings, and long-term strategic implications.
• Support in refining measurement and evaluation plans for individual portfolios, ensure activities are aligned in support of each strategy’s learning agenda, and implement equitable evaluation approaches across our work.
• Manage the team’s evaluation contractors and contracts to ensure the completion of key deliverables, and results, learning, and data are collected, analyzed, and reported in a timely and useful manner.
• Serve as subject matter expert on evaluation and effectiveness for the team and partners, including synthesizing and sharing data and evidence for team learning/execution, reviewing MLE grant and contract proposal, and supporting BOW MLE dashboard development.
• Develop tools and processes to provide access to data, evidence, and analytics for the team; design and support data-driven learning opportunities for the team.
• Serve as point of contact for the EMO team and participate in and/or lead select US Program MLE initiatives, to include, but not limited to the development of qualitative methods and associated experimentation with this approach.
• Support portfolio management processes that consider evidence, investment progress, and strategic considerations to inform investment decision-making and budget.

Your Experience

• A passion for Economic Mobility in the United States and a desire to drive significant impact through deep partnership across the field
• An advanced degree or equivalent experience in program domain area or evaluation field. Deep experience in strategy development & refinement as well as program learning and improvement.
• Ability to shift between in the weeds measurement data and high-level strategic implications
• Experience related to economic mobility, community development, and or philanthropic impact measurement is preferred.
• Proven track record of creative problem-solving strategy development, exemplary written and verbal communication & collaboration skills, and rigorous analytically driven decision making.
• Proven track record of working across teams to align on shared strategy priorities and goals.
• In-depth knowledge of measurement design and implementation, logic models, quantitative and qualitative research methods, data collection and management, and data analysis and presentation to inform internal decision-making.
• Experience in designing processes that balance rigor, efficiency, inclusion, and accountability.
• Ability to clearly synthesize and communicate complex information, developing key takeaways for diverse audiences.
• Demonstrated program management skills of complex strategy development, execution planning, and business redesign projects and a successful track record of leading multiple projects at a time.
• Proven track record to lead and influence others in a constructive manner and to build and sustain collaborative relationships.
• Demonstrated initiative solving unstructured problems with little oversight, high energy, and a positive attitude.

Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.

The salary range for this role is $166,300 to $249,500 USD. We recognize high-wage market differences in Seattle and Washington D.C., where our offices are located. The range for this role in these locations is $181,200 to $271,800 USD. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission. New hires salaries are typically between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint. Actual placement in the range will depend on a candidate’s job-related skills, experience, and expertise, as evaluated during the interview process.

Hiring Requirements

As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.

Candidate Accommodations

If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request here.

Inclusion Statement

We are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We strive for a global and cultural workplace that supports ever greater diversity, equity, and inclusion — of voices, ideas, and approaches — and we support this diversity through all our employment practices.

All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve our mission 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, and prior protected activity.