Director of Strategy, Learning, & Impact

Job Title: Director of Strategy, Learning, & Impact

Reports to: CEO

Role Type: Full-time, Exempt

Location: Boston / Mid-Atlantic Preferred with regular in-office presence

Salary: $140,000-$150,000

Position Summary

The Director will play a critical role in advancing Project Evident's external thought leadership & field influence. They will manage the organization's strategic planning process, design & oversee the learning agenda & Strategic Evidence Plan, set & uphold standards for evidence quality & external claims, & lead the development of externally facing knowledge products, including reports, briefs, & white papers. The Director partners closely with program leads to ensure programs reflect organizational strategy & produce & act on meaningful learning, & partners with the Director of Communications to translate validated insights into effective external content. This role owns the substance of what Project Evident says & stands for.

The Director will also represent Project Evident in external forums, conferences, & working groups where strategic ideas, evidence standards, & field direction are being shaped. They will gather field intelligence, test the organization's positioning against peers, & bring those insights back into strategy & program design.

We are looking for a senior strategist & synthesizer with deep experience in strategy, evaluation, & organizational learning, ideally in education, economic mobility, or the intersection of data, evidence, & technology in the social sector. The ideal candidate is a strong writer & editor with the judgment to distinguish well-supported findings from emerging or promising ones, the standing to challenge weak claims, & the partnership instincts to strengthen rather than slow the work of program teams. They are a self-directed individual contributor who can scope, research, synthesize, & deliver complex knowledge work end-to-end, with a track record of influencing organizational decisions through credibility & clarity rather than formal authority.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

Organizational Strategy & Learning Systems (35%)

• Manage the organization's strategic planning process, including annual & multi-year planning, progress monitoring, & translation of field trends & internal insights into strategic priorities.
• Design & steward the organization's learning agenda & Strategic Evidence Plan, aligned with the strategic plan & updated to reflect organizational learning & necessary improvements generated from a variety of sources across operations & program areas.
• Establish & uphold standards for evidence quality, claims integrity, & data-informed improvement & innovation use across program & external-facing work.
• Partner with program teams to embed learning loops into engagement design & delivery, ensuring that insights generated through programs & operations are systematically used to inform organizational decisions & future work.
• Provide structured analysis & synthesis to support the CEO & leadership team's decision-making, with a focus on translating complex inputs into a clear strategic direction.

Content Quality & Evidence Integrity (30%)

• Serve as the check & balance for the communication department as they develop externally facing knowledge products, including reports, briefs, & white papers grounded in organizational evidence & aligned with strategy.
• Review program products, white papers, case studies, & major external content for alignment with & fidelity to strategic framing & positioning priorities, core messages, accuracy of claims, & strength of evidence prior to external release.
• Set & communicate standards for what Project Evident publishes & claims externally, including appropriate framing of well-supported findings versus emerging or promising practices, & ensure evidence integrity, with the backing of the CEO when claims are not adequately supported.
• Ensure consistency across practice areas in how impact is communicated, ensuring alignment with evidence standards & practices.
• Provide approval steps in communications-led processes for case studies & program-generated content to ensure systematic quality control.

Field Insights & Thought Leadership (35%)

• Monitor & track major trends across all programmatic & strategic work, & translate them into cross-program learning, business development, & content development for departments to implement. Inform & review credible narratives for funders, practitioners, policymakers, & other audiences in the field.
• Identify strategic opportunities to shape field discourse through content, in close partnership with the CEO & Director of Communications & inform the editorial calendar.
• Lead & contribute to grant-funded field research & knowledge deliverables that require strategic synthesis & evidence judgment.
• Represent Project Evident at sector conferences, convenings, & working groups where strategic ideas, evidence standards, & field direction are being shaped.
• Build & maintain relationships with peer organizations, researchers, funders, & policy actors to stay current on sector trends & emerging practices.
• Bring external insights back into Project Evident's strategy & program design through actionable synthesis.
• Support the CEO in preparing for & following up on high-stakes external engagements where strategy & evidence are central.

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree or equivalent applied experience strongly preferred.
• A minimum of 8–12 years of professional experience in strategy, evaluation, learning, knowledge management, or related roles, ideally in education, economic mobility, or adjacent social sectors.
• Demonstrated track record as a high-autonomy individual contributor with the ability to scope, execute, & deliver complex knowledge & strategy work end-to-end.
• Experience designing or stewarding learning & evidence systems that move insights from programs into organizational decisions.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, & ABILITIES

We are also looking for candidates who have:

• Demonstrated ability to synthesize complex qualitative & quantitative inputs into clear strategic direction, with the judgment to identify cross-program patterns & the discipline to resist overclaiming.
• Strong evidence judgment & editorial command, including the ability to distinguish well-supported claims from promising ones & to strengthen content rather than simply approve or reject it.
• Deep working knowledge of key trends, players, & debates in education, economic mobility, & the intersection of data, evaluation, & technology in the social sector.
• Excellent writing skills with a track record of producing credible, externally facing content for funders, practitioners, & policy audiences.
• Demonstrated experience designing or managing learning & evidence systems, with an understanding of how insights translate into behavior change rather than dashboards.
• Independent research capability & tech fluency, including thoughtful use of AI tools for research, mapping, & synthesis with disciplined validation against primary sources.
• Ability to influence organizational decisions & direction across teams without formal authority, through relationships, credibility, & clarity.
• Effectiveness as a strategic partner to the CEO & a peer to the leadership team, with the ability to manage up with clarity, challenge assumptions constructively, & maintain a unified organizational voice.
• Comfort with ambiguity & the ability to advance work in environments where direction is still being refined.
• Familiarity with evidence frameworks, program evaluation methodology, & theory-of-change infrastructure as applied in social sector strategy work.

ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

This role reports to the Founder & Chief Executive Officer & serves as a strategic partner across the organization. The Director works closely with program leadership on strategy alignment & content quality, with the COO on the operational infrastructure that supports learning & evidence systems, & with the Director of Communications on the production & distribution of external content. This role owns the substance of what Project Evident says & stands for; Communications owns how, where, & to whom it is communicated. This is an individual contributor role with no direct reports.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• Ability to work with a virtual team. The team works across multiple time zones & expects regular availability between 10:00am - 4:00pm (ET).
• Expected to work 40-50 hours per week, but could fluctuate based on client demands.
• Travel required to meet the needs of the organization.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Ability to sit, talk, & listen continuously for up to 8 hours per day.
• Requires fine motor skills, such as typing for up to 4 hours continuously.
• Ability to lift at least 30 pounds.
• Driver license required.

WHY JOIN PROJECT EVIDENT?

We hope you're excited about the possibilities of working at Project Evident! To support you in bringing your best self to work, we offer:

• Comprehensive Benefits: Generous medical, dental, & vision plans, a 403(b) retirement plan with employer match, & life & disability insurance.
• Flexible Time Off: Unlimited vacation days, Summer Fridays between Memorial Day & Labor Day, & organizational-wide closure from December 25 to January 1.
• Support for Your Growth & Well-Being: Remote work stipends, reimbursement & time off for professional development, & coverage for relevant membership fees.

About Project Evident

Project Evident harnesses the power of data, evidence, & technology to achieve greater impact. We believe that by empowering practitioners to drive their own data & evidence building while also strengthening the surrounding ecosystem, we can increase the number of effective solutions in the social & education sectors & scale them faster, ultimately producing stronger, more meaningful, & more equitable outcomes for students & communities.

Project Evident is an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to building an inclusive & diverse workforce committed to a culture of belonging & accountability.