Director of Strategy, Learning, and Impact

Job Title: Director of Strategy, Learning, and Impact

Reports to: CEO

Role Type: Full-time

FLSA Status: Exempt 

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

The Director of Strategy, Learning, and Impact is the senior individual contributor responsible for stewarding Project Evident's organizational strategic planning process, Strategic Evidence Plan, learning agenda, and the integrity of the evidence and knowledge the organization produces. Reporting directly to the CEO, the Director ensures that what Project Evident knows, claims, and shares with the field is rigorous, aligned with the organizational Theory of Change and broader strategy, and credible to the practitioners, funders, and partners we serve. This role deliberately combines strategy stewardship, editorial authority, and field-facing thought leadership in a single individual contributor seat.

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

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

We are looking for a senior strategist and synthesizer with deep experience in strategy, evaluation, and organizational learning, ideally in education, economic mobility, or the intersection of data, evidence, and technology in the social sector. The ideal candidate is a strong writer and editor with the judgment to distinguish well-supported findings from emerging or promising ones, the standing to challenge weak claims, and 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, and deliver complex knowledge work end-to-end, with a track record of influencing organizational decisions through credibility and clarity rather than formal authority.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

Organizational Strategy and Learning Systems (35%)

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

Content Quality and Evidence Integrity (30%)

• Serve as the check and balance for the communication department as they develop externally facing knowledge products, including reports, briefs, and white papers grounded in organizational evidence and aligned with strategy.
• Review program products, white papers, case studies, and major external content for alignment with and fidelity to strategic framing and positioning priorities, core messages, accuracy of claims, and strength of evidence prior to external release.
• Set and communicate standards for what Project Evident publishes and claims externally, including appropriate framing of well-supported findings versus emerging or promising practices, and 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 and practices. 
• Provide approval steps in communications-led processes for case studies and program-generated content to ensure systematic quality control.

Field Insights & Thought Leadership (35%)

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

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

We are also looking for candidates who have:

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

ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

This role reports to the Founder and Chief Executive Officer and serves as a strategic partner across the organization. The Director works closely with program leadership on strategy alignment and content quality, with the COO on the operational infrastructure that supports learning and evidence systems, and with the Director of Communications on the production and distribution of external content. This role owns the substance of what Project Evident says and stands for; Communications owns how, where, and 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 and 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, and 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, and vision plans, a 403(b) retirement plan with employer match, and life and disability insurance.
• Flexible Time Off – Unlimited vacation days, Summer Fridays between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and organizational-wide closure from December 25 to January 1.
• Support for Your Growth & Well-Being – Remote work stipends, reimbursement and time off for professional development, and coverage for relevant membership fees.

About Project Evident

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

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