Learning & Evaluation Partner

Description

OUR CULTURE

Our collaborative, innovative and equity driven culture empowers our staff to grow through individual development opportunities, team retreats, and cross-departmental partnerships. We continue to evolve our culture by attracting and retaining new talent with valuable experiences and insight.

POSITION MISSION STATEMENT

The Learning & Evaluation Partner will work directly with the Director of Learning and other key leadership to develop rigorous, people-centered insights. This position will design interview and focus group protocols, collect and analyze data, and work collaboratively to interpret and synthesize the impact of the Foundation’s work, including its new grantmaking approaches.

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

The Community Impact team is the community knowledge hub of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation. Comprised of people with a wide range of personal and professional experiences, this team works closely with nonprofit organizations and leaders across Minnesota to strengthen local communities. The team manages grantmaking for the Foundation in addition to the F.R. Bigelow Foundation and Mardag Foundation and leads community initiatives.

Please note: The Foundation envisions this role evolving over time and that the successful candidate will hold the position for a tenure of no more than 5 years.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Data Collection and Analysis (60%) 

• Design and manage data collection activities to ensure appropriate methods and consistent quality across grantmaking approaches. 
• Develop and conduct semi-structured key informant interviews and focus groups with community experts and grantee partners.
• Lead the analysis of grantee partner reporting data using equitable evaluation practices.
• Support effective communication of reporting data with internal and external interest holders throughout the grantmaking lifecycle.

Learning and Sharing (40%)

• Provide thought leadership across the Foundation to cultivate reflective practice skills and support the development of analytical and evaluative thinking among colleagues. 
• Consult and provide subject matter expertise on creation of data visualizations, reports, presentations, surveys, and other products that convey complex information in an easy-to-understand format.
• Understand organizational data systems and how to access information.
• Create and maintain cross-functional content and information requests.
• Participate in assigned meetings, events and training as required.

Requirements

 Qualifications

• Five or more years of experience with learning and evaluation work within high impact, data-driven social sector, or philanthropic organizations; understands multiple approaches to development of evidence.
• Experience with designing and conducting semi-structured interviews and focus groups.
• Training in and experience with qualitative and quantitative data analysis, including creating codebooks and compiling summary statistics.
• Interest in and experience with participatory and community-centered research approaches
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite applications (i.e., Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint specifically), experience with qualitative analysis tools (e.g., NVivo, Atlas.ti).
• Familiarity with the Equitable Evaluation Initiative, Trust-Based Philanthropy, and Emergent Learning.

Preferred Skills

• Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from colleagues, donors, partners, board members, managers, and the general public.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Ease with investigating and summarizing qualitative and quantitative data, drawing useful and nuanced findings, and asking critical questions to refine conclusions. 
• Ability to read, analyze and interpret most complex documents. 
• Proven relationship building skills and ability to both lead and participate in work.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail. 
• Ability to prioritize a large and varied workload, managing multiple tasks and details simultaneously. 
• Demonstrated ability to effectively interact, communicate, and collaborate with people from cultural backgrounds other than your own.

Typical physical demands include:

• Ability to remain in a stationary position 50% of the time, either at home or onsite.
• Occasionally moving about inside the office to access filing cabinets, etc.
• Ability to communicate information and ideas so others will understand. Must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations. 
• Ability to observe details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

The compensation for this position is $108,000.00 and includes participation in the organization's benefits plan.

Classification: Non-exempt; Full-time.

Location: All employees are expected to live within a commutable driving distance to the Foundation.

The work of our organization changes as we continuously seek to have greater impact. All of our team members must be flexible and able to adapt to short and long-term shifts in their job duties.

VALUES

What we believe in and how we conduct ourselves

We listen

We Innovate and learn

Community is our Compass

We Commit to Equity

We Nurture Philanthropy

We consistently work to make our community a stronger, more equitable place. In order to fulfill our mission, we understand that employing a diverse team of knowledgeable, passionate individuals who reflect our community is vital. To that end, the Foundation’s staff consistently works to ensure that our recruiting activities and hiring plan align with our commitment to equitable hiring practices.

Application Deadline: Monday, December 29th, 5:00 p.m. CST