Director, Research and Analytics, William Penn Foundation

Posted by on November 12, 2012

Position Announcement

Title: Director

Specific Focus: Research and Analytics

Reports to: Vice President, Philanthropic Programs for ongoing management

President and Board Chair for program evaluation

Direct Reports: 2 – 3

Location: Philadelphia

Travel: Regional/Domestic Travel -10-15%

Effective Date: November, 2012

The William Penn Foundation is a leading American Philanthropy located in Philadelphia. With approximately $2 billion in assets and an $80 million annual grant budget, the Foundation is a vital part of the civic life in one of the country’s most important and historically significant regions.   A recently completed strategic plan charts a vision for the next decade, consistent with the Foundation’s enduring focus on education, the environment and the cultural vitality of Greater Philadelphia, yet with a renewed sense of urgency, leadership and entrepreneurship.

Three Grant Centers will lead the way. Each Center will be guided by a measurable macro goal, baseline data, and articulated strategies. Each will be structured as a 10-year campaign.

The three core priorities for this time period are:

• Increase the supply of high-quality schools to close the achievement gap for low-income children.

• Ensure clean water by protecting the Delaware and Susquehanna watersheds.

• Make Philadelphia an even more creative community, from Center City throughout the neighborhoods, including investments in great public spaces.

These priorities will be integrated with two new philanthropic investment vehicles – a Transformation Fund and an Innovation Fund – creating new chances to invest in breakthrough ideas and to help key legacy organizations respond to changing conditions.

As the Foundation prepares to launch the new strategic plan, four new Directors will join the leadership team to implement the new vision and continue to shape it in the years to come.

Position Summary

The Foundation’s programmatic investments are led by the team of Directors, each with strategic, team, and initiative management responsibilities.  Directors play a key leadership role in managing team(s) working on program investment and execution of initiatives. They will work with other colleagues across the Foundation to identify and understand trends, issues, challenges and opportunities. Directors must be able to initiate and lead work that ranges across multiple sectors, topics and fields.  Directors also are responsible for developing new initiatives.

This Director position is responsible for leading and implementing a portfolio of research, analytical, and evaluative work that both contributes to broad institutional goals, and builds on and breaks new ground. While the direct focus of the work will be regional, it is assumed and desired that its influence upon practice, thought-leadership and policy be national.

This Director will be the lead architect of the Foundation’s new approach to program evaluation and sector and regional research.  The Foundation aims to be a knowledge-based, data-centered organization with a results-oriented approach to decision-making.  The position oversees and implements research and program evaluation, helping to guide program strategy and assess the impact of the Foundation’s work as a change agent.

The Director is responsible for using and developing research and information-products to design and perform sophisticated quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the Foundation’s investments, with the goal of harvesting the Foundation’s learnings for thought and practice leadership and refinement of the Foundation’s programs to achieve large-scale social change.

Evaluation

• Develop and manage internal evaluation activities.

• Advise on the design of evaluation and impact-measurement systems and processes in close collaboration with the grant making teams.  Define performance goals, benchmarks, and expected outcomes.  Interpret measures of change to inform future program design and investment.

• Collaborate with Directors of grant making teams to integrate evaluative activities into their teams’ work and to advise grantees on the evaluation process.  Provide technical assistance to the program staff on the evaluation of specific investments.

• Develop ideas and knowledge into measurable indicators.

• Design and lead in-house portfolio and cross-portfolio analysis as part of the program design and planning process.

• Manage outside researchers and evaluators of the Foundation’s work and that of the Foundation’s grantees.

Research

• Produce primary research and WPF-authored papers on sector and regional issues relevant to large urban centers with a focus on Philadelphia.

• Oversee and coordinate external research on topics that advance the goals of the Foundation.

Research & Evaluation Design

• Design and build the requisite systems for collecting relevant quantitative and qualitative data associated with the Foundation’s grant making and related fields.

• Acquire the data resources to support program evaluation and research.

• Develop quantitative and qualitative indicators and evaluative metrics for program evaluation.

• Develop and implement dissemination strategy for lessons learned. Design and operate systems to measure impact, achieve  synergies, and maximize learning by informing strategy development within and across the three grant centers.

The Director is charged with ensuring that collective knowledge capital is an integral part of the Foundation’s operations and data is treated as a strategic asset. This Director is a change agent who is responsible for helping champion a new approach to decision-making and organization-wide knowledge sharing, so that the Foundation’s know-how, experience and expertise is shared inside and (as appropriate) outside the organization with grantees, partners and other interested third-parties.  She/he will develop appropriate strategies to meet those needs, including obtaining and identifying appropriate resources.

Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Leadership

• Serves as a strategic leader, presenting annual strategic plans, portfolio reviews, evaluations, and new analytical initiatives, managing the Foundation’s research agenda and assessment of results related to the Foundation’s annual $80 million grant budget.

• Participates in and is accountable for key deliverables to the organization as part of the Foundation’s leadership team.

• Collaborates with other Directors to ensure robust research agenda and smart assessment of program investments.

• Convenes stakeholders across a variety of sectors to drive reception and adoption of research findings.

• Leads internal and external research teams to develop and execute outstanding work within, and guided by, the strategic framework of the Foundation.

• Represents the Foundation in diverse communities, including speaking engagements, attending conferences and participating in other key internal and external meetings.

• Serves as internal leadership voice – represents the Foundation’s decisions in a positive, encouraging, and motivating manner.

Initiative and Team Management

• Develops and executes work in all stages of evaluation and research.

• As senior evaluator, ensures grant-making initiatives are advancing the work of the Centers and support the strategic framework of the Foundation.

• Responsible for and helps develop the less senior members on the team(s).

• Promotes and models excellent external relations with grantees and partners.

Expected Competencies

Advanced Fluency in Broad Range of Statistical and Qualitative Techniques: Demonstrated success in carrying out and managing evaluations and research in an applied context using a broad range of statistical and qualitative techniques. Ability to creatively leverage the best techniques for the particular issue at hand.

Pragmatic Analytics Expertise with Program Design and Policy Orientation:  Experience designing and operating data collection systems to measure impact, achieve synergies and maximize learning with the goals of informing strategy development within and across programs, shaping practice in the field, and influencing policy.

Outcome-Focused: Results-driven approach, supported by a focus on quality data sources, rigorous analysis, and disciplined application.  Analytic ability to get to the core of complex issues and debates, draw succinct conclusions and provide balanced analyses.

Decision-Making and a Sense of Urgency: Ability to evaluate risks and opportunities, using analytical and strong problem-solving skills.

Partnership and Relationship Building: Strong professional representation of the Foundation, interpersonal relationship abilities, intercultural knowledge and appreciation, strategic partnership building.

Influence and Management: Strong interpersonal and communication abilities; exceptional listening, written and verbal capabilities; skills in team building, coaching, mentoring, delegating, inspiring and motivating internally and externally.

Marketing Oriented: Ability to market great ideas and great practices; smart values and effective solutions to expand philanthropy and highlight the best outcomes and methods.

Openness and Curiosity: An awareness that excellent ideas and approaches to sharing those ideas can come from many sources.

Education, Training and Experience

• PhD in relevant field required (e.g., Public Policy, Urban Planning/ Design, Economics, Statistics, Social Policy).

• Minimum of 12 years of experience conducting research and evaluation.

• Minimum of 5 years as an architect of data management systems, developer of proprietary information and indicators, author of applied research papers, and development of other knowledge products that have influenced or defined a field or issue in an urban context.

• Minimum of 10 years of applied quantitative/qualitative/statistical research, including research practices in the area of measuring social and environmental change in urban environments.

• Extensive experience developing, managing and implementing metrics, multi-party projects with defined objectives and deliverables, monitoring and evaluation of results.

• Experience developing strategy.

• Experience setting priorities in dynamic environments.

• Demonstrated ability to work with programmatic and cross-programmatic projects.

• A track record of producing research that helps shape the policy conversation.

• Experience interacting with an institution’s IT function.

• Experience managing vendors and consultants.

• Prior foundation experience is not required.

• The successful candidate is likely to have conducted applied research in an influential nonprofit, contract research firm, think tank, or in a policy-research role in state or local government.

Compensation and Benefits

The William Penn Foundation offers a competitive compensation and benefits packages. It employs a well-qualified, professional, and respected staff.  It is committed to creating and maintaining an organizational structure that enables all staff to do the work of the Foundation in the highest quality manner possible. The Foundation’s compensation strategy contributes to assuring a work environment that attracts and retains talented, high-performing individuals. In addition, comprehensive benefit programs are offered.

For Consideration

The Foundation is working with the search firm Machlowitz Consultants, Inc. on this recruitment. All nominations, inquiries, and applications should be sent to Marilyn Machlowitz at the search firm and will be held in confidence.

Contact:  [email protected] Subject line:  Research and Analytics

We regret it will not be possible to communicate with candidates except those who most closely match our requirements.

The William Penn Foundation is an equal opportunity employer.