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 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s U.S. Program (USP) works to expand access to life-changing opportunities. That’s why our primary focus in education is ensuring that all students – especially Black and Latino students, and students experiencing poverty – have an opportunity to earn a degree or certificate that prepares them for a successful career and fulfilling life. But often, education isn’t enough. Factors outside of schools and the classroom have an enormous impact on a student’s success. That’s why we’re also supporting efforts by public officials and community groups to better understand and advance economic mobility, leading to permanent ladders out of poverty for families and communities, such that race, ethnicity, and income are no longer predictors of outcomes.

The goal of the USP Data Strategy is to drive improvements in the education-to-workforce data ecosystem that will provide practitioners and policymakers with the information they need to answer critical questions about student progress and to implement evidence-based reforms that equitably improve outcomes, especially for Black and Latino students, and students from low-income backgrounds.

Your Role

The Senior Program Officer, MLE will report to the Deputy Director, Data as a member of the U.S. Program Data team. In this role, you will lead our Measurement, Learning, and Evaluation activities to design, implement, and monitor strategic progress, ensuring outcomes are equity-minded and clearly defined to advance the US Program Data strategy. You will bring a solutions mindset, with expertise in inclusive research and evaluation methods that engage partners in measurement activities designed to benefit communities as well as answer critical questions about the state of US data systems.

*This position is a limited-term position for 12 months. Relocation will not be provided.

What You’ll Do

• Develop and execute formative and summative evaluations aligned to USP Data strategy learning agenda. This includes designing, refining, and executing measurement and evaluation plans, updating logic models, performance dashboards, and measurement frameworks and related targets.

• Develop and manage complex portfolio of grants or performance-based contracts to inform internal decisions and resource allocations for Data team strategy, such as: developing tools and other resources to benchmark and analyze field progress, assessing the efficacy and replicability of data infrastructure and R&D investments, and maintaining a curated set of evaluation findings and reports. Review letters of inquiry and grant proposals and provide clear, concise and insightful written analyses and recommendations for funding.

• Collaborate with grantees and other partners to increase impact of projects and ensure investments are contributing to strategy and portfolio goals. This may include reviewing grantee progress, budgets, and deliverables; conducting site visits; and convening key partners.

• Design and facilitate data-driven learning opportunities for the team, including synthesis of findings and insights from field research and evaluation investments.

• Represent the foundation through clear and consistent communication with grantees, partners, and other funders in support of improving education-to-workforce data ecosystem. May serve on working groups and/or advisory boards.

• Provide statistical and evaluation design expertise to the team and our partners and ensure methodological and epistemological approaches have a strong racial and socioeconomic equity orientation and clear alignment with the Data team strategy goals.

Your Experience

• Advanced degree in Education or relevant experience

• Strong interest and experience in deploying data, measurement, research, and evaluation to identify and address educational inequities along the education-to-workforce pipeline that affect for Black, Latino, and low-income students and knowledge of how different communities and partners engage with education data systems, incorporating community/partner demand and needs into the work.

• Mastery of both quantitative and qualitative research and evaluation methods, ability to determine the appropriate methods to meet information needs, and capacity to effectively use research and evaluation for learning and strategy development.

• In-depth knowledge of evaluation design and implementation, including logic models, quantitative and qualitative research methods, market and opinion research, data collection and management, and data analysis and presentation to inform education policy and practice

• Subject matter expertise on education and workforce data, with a focus on data infrastructure and national systems, including but not limited to the availability, coverage, definitions, and use cases for key sources.

• Proven track record to influence others in a constructive manner and to build and sustain collaborative relationships in a complex, matrixed environment.

Core Capabilities

DEI Mindset: Seeks input from and values the uniqueness of people of diverse groups and cultures. Works effectively with individuals of diverse cultures, interpersonal styles, abilities, motivations, or backgrounds. Challenges practices or policies that may be exclusionary); proven commitment to race and income equality; experience with using data to identify and address equity gaps by race and income in education.

Analytical Thinking: Uses facts and available information to develop logical assumptions. Discriminates between important and unimportant details, recognizes inconsistencies between facts and/or data, and draws correct inferences from information (including differentiating, comparing, contrasting, linking, researching).

Collaboration/ Relationship Building: Develops and maintains effective working relationships with team members, internal partners and others using strong interpersonal skills. Excellence in using informal influence and non-positional leadership to accomplish work, ability to build trust, team leader and player who motivates and educates other team members and understands the value of interpersonal relationship building. Works well in a complex, matrixed environment.

Project Management: Demonstrated project management skills and a successful track record of leading multiple projects at a time including planning, organizing, directing, supervising, and accomplishing the goals of a project’s requirements and activities to meet objectives within the constraints of schedules and budgets.

Problem Solving / Results Orientation: Asks good questions and probes all sources for answers; sees underlying or hidden patterns; looks beyond the obvious and doesn't stop at the first answer. Uses rigorous logic and methods to analyze and understand why problems occur; generates and implements creative, cost effective and realistic solutions.

Communication and Presentation Skills: Strong written and verbal communication with clarity and thoroughness to optimize audience understanding. Communicates information in a clear, concise, and timely manner. Ability to effectively facilitate, manage and summarize divergent points of view to advance the thinking of the group, synthesize and extract meaning from complex bodies of work and effectively communicate key takeaways for diverse audiences. Demonstrates effective speaking and presentation skills, including visually presenting information.

*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.

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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.