Position: Director of Research and Evaluation
Functional Area: Research and Evaluation
Organization: iMentor
Location: New York
Metro Region: New York
Overview:
iMentor leverages the power of mentoring to help youth in low-income communities graduate high school college-ready and succeed in college. Students and mentors work one-on-one through iMentor’s online and in-person curriculum to build the non-academic competencies that further college success. In New York City, iMentor partners with public schools to ensure every student in the school receives a mentor. Since 1999, iMentor has connected 7,000 students in New York City with mentors, and will match 2,600 mentor-mentee pairs this year. iMentor also provides its curriculum, technology, and best practices to more than 30 nonprofits in 20 states to help them run effective mentoring programs in the iMentor model. iMentor has been recognized through funding by leading institutions such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Lumina Foundation, New Profit, and the Robin Hood Foundation, and is a subgrantee of the federal Social Innovation Fund.
Position:
iMentor is seeking a Director of Evaluation and Research (DoER) to ensure that iMentor is effectively evaluating its work, to support the process of using evaluator findings to increase the impact of iMentor’s programs, and to inform a national mentoring movement. The DoER will work with external evaluators and the senior leadership team to identify key areas for evaluation and implement appropriate systems and strategies to address evaluation needs. S/he will collaborate with the Chief Program Officer and other colleagues to translate findings into concrete recommendations for program improvement and will share findings with staff and a public audience, as appropriate. The DoER will also be responsible for keeping abreast of research relevant to iMentor’s work and ensuring that research is fully leveraged to drive innovation and improve the quality and impact of iMentor’s programs, programs run by iMentor Interactive’s partners, and best practices utilized across the mentoring sector.
The ideal candidate will have comprehensive knowledge of program evaluation research techniques and survey design, outstanding analytical ability with advanced statistical knowledge, and experience with education reform, mentoring, the achievement gap, and/or adolescent development.
iMentor is one of the nation’s most innovative and quickly growing mentoring organizations. As a team, we are mission-focused, results-oriented, passionate and fun, and were recently named one of the Best Nonprofits to Work For by Opportunity Knocks and The Nonprofit Times.
Responsibilities:
Program Evaluation
- Oversee creation and implementation of all surveys and assessment tools used to measure the impact of programs run by iMentor NYC (i.e. Mentor evaluations, Teacher surveys, etc.) and iMi (iMi Quarterly Partner Evaluations etc.).
- Centralize all current tools and practices for measuring impact to ensure consistent, high quality data collection, data management and analysis.
- Collect, process, manage, and analyze a variety of quantitative data: process incoming source data; restructure data files; evaluate data quality and perform data-cleaning operations; sort, update, and merge data files; create outcome measures; and perform various forms of statistical and data analysis.
- Conduct monthly analysis of program quality and impact and share findings with selected members of NYC and iMi program teams (i.e. Program Snapshot, Quarterly Program Evaluation, Scorecards).
Reporting
- Author and publish reports for internal and external stakeholders to communicate the impact of iMentor’s programs.
- Author reports, summaries, articles, etc. for a variety of internal and external audiences (i.e. Annual NYC School Report, Internal NYC Evaluation Reports, End of Year Report on iMi Partnerships, etc.).
- Provide on-time, accurate data for all iMentor constituents as needed (Development, Program etc.).
Evaluation Management
- Collaborate with the iMentor and external evaluator teams to continuously review the strategy and reasoning used to develop the tools and frameworks used as part of the multi-year evaluation.
- Act as project manager ensuring that all deadlines are met to keep project on time and on track.
- Serve as point of contact for external evaluators, ensuring all parties have the information and tools they need to successfully execute and assess all aspects of the evaluation.
- Manage and track evaluation spend to ensure expenses are within budget.
Research
- Keep abreast of research relevant to iMentor’s work and develop research reviews summarizing key findings, noting implications for programs involving iMentor and/or iMentor Interactive.
- Educate iMentor staff on relevant research that informs our work through organization wide communication, regular monthly meetings, trainings, and other venues.
Additional Projects
- Support iMentor organization-wide initiatives, requiring occasional evening and/or weekend events
Qualifications:
- Comprehensive knowledge of program evaluation research techniques and survey design.
- Outstanding analytical ability, with advanced statistical knowledge and facility with database application, research services and statistical packages
- Exceptional project management, prioritization, and planning skills, with demonstrated success producing high-quality deliverables on time and within budget, with outstanding attention to detail and accuracy.
- Experience with education reform, mentoring, the achievement gap, and/or adolescent development required.
- Experience in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment with a strong focus on metrics and data-driven decision making
- Proven track record in leading successful collaborations across various stakeholder groups
- Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to ability to present data in a simple and straightforward way for non-technical audiences.
- A sincere and deep commitment to the fundamental belief that every child deserves a college education and that college closes the opportunity gap.
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required; advanced degree in policy, statistics, or similar quantitative field preferred
- Resourceful, results oriented, team-player with a positive “can do” attitude and a sense of humor
- Flexible and adaptable; open to change, learning, and improvement
- A sincere and deep commitment to the fundamental belief that every child deserves a college education and that college closes the opportunity gap.
- Views differences between individuals (race, gender, age, cultural heritage, physical ability, education and lifestyle) as an asset rather than a liability, and demonstrates an appreciation of the diversity within iMentor
- Employment is contingent upon the completion of a satisfactory fingerprinting and criminal background check, conducted by the Division of Human Resources at the New York City Department of Education
Compensation & Benefits
- Salary commensurate with experience
- 90% employer funded comprehensive medical and dental coverage
- 18 days paid annual vacation and 13 paid holidays + most iMentor functions closed between Christmas and New Year’s Day
- Significant opportunities for professional development and growth
To Apply:
Please upload a resume and thoughtful cover letter, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position and stating how you heard about this opportunity, both in Word format, to Kevin Flynn athttp://jobs.cgcareers.org/application.aspx?id=1947 Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
