Umoja Community
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Umoja is a community of educators and learners committed to the
academic success, personal growth and self-actualization of African
American and other students. The Umoja Community seeks to educate
the whole student–body, mind and spirit. Informed by an ethic of
love and its vital power, the Umoja Community will deliberately
engage students as full participants in the construction of
knowledge and critical thought. The Umoja Community seeks to help
students experience themselves as valuable and worthy of an
education.
Scope
Umoja Community is currently seeking a full-time, hybrid
Director of Research and Evaluation (DR&E), located in the
state of California, to help us as we strive to meet our mission.
The primary duties of the DR&E are to develop, implement, and
oversee Umoja’s evaluation, measurement, and program impact
activities and coordinate external research partnerships. The ideal
candidate will have both a solid academic background and
significant experience working in program evaluation. They must be
adept at helping others understand why and how data can be most
helpful to them in operating programs. In addition, this person’s
vision, deep commitment to social justice, inclination toward
continuous improvement, and her/his/their client-centered focus
will assist in more fully integrating this function into and
throughout the organization.
Measurement & Evaluation:
Use data to develop policy and program recommendations for
senior and middle management, external partners, policymakers, and
the general public.
- Lead the development. Implementation and management of data
sharing agreements that are mutually beneficial to external
partners. - Lead Umoja’s measurement and evaluation activities for Umoja’s
suite of programs, pilots and other initiatives to ensure robust
evidence to inform program and policy scaling, pivots, grant
applications, reporting, funding and other adjustments. - Lead management of data and information systems and analytic
efforts to ensure robust data practices are used to inform agency
policy and programming. - Keep up to date with research and trends for educationally
underrepresented student populations and share with staff, campus
partners, and external audiences. - Contribute to basic Umoja training offerings through the
creation of training material, especially within the area of
outcomes data related to student support services and instructional
support.
Research Partnerships and Learning:
- Collaborate with senior leadership to develop Umoja’s research
agenda and lead its implementation. - Foster and support applied research partnerships that answer
operational questions, inform organizational strategy, and
contribute to the national dialogue around Black and other student
success. - Develop and manage processes, learning formats, and
communication tools to ensure research, measurement, analysis, and
evaluation results are disseminated in practical and actionable
formats for Umoja staff and leadership and external audiences and
partners. - Work with the staff and college-based Umoja program
coordinators to help establish and collaborate with the
college-based Institutional Research Offices to design and
implement an Umoja research agenda; and - Participate in planning and facilitation of the Regional
Symposia, Summer Learning Institute, the Umoja statewide conference
as well as other designated events and trainings as
assigned.
Leadership:
- Lead, mentor, and oversee the research and evaluation
team. - Develop an overarching vision for the role of research,
evaluation, and continuous process improvement within the
organization. - Provide leadership and recommendations for emergent
organizational strategies and policy initiatives, including grant
development, writing and idea synthesis, and internal and external
stakeholder engagement. - Oversee, plan, and monitor the reporting of third-party grants
received as well as use of grants distributed. - Other duties as assigned by the CEO.
Presentations and Electronic
Materials:
- Contribute to development of electronic materials for Umoja’s
website, and other marketing materials and reports. - As necessary, make presentations to professional, educational,
and community conferences and organizations
Supervisory Responsibility: Yes
Travel: 40%
Requirements
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy, Evaluation Science,
Sociology, Applied Statistics or closely related field, Master’s
Degree preferred AND - A minimum of six years of experience with applied research
strategy and/or design and implementation, policy analysis, program
evaluation and measurement OR - An equivalent combination of experience and education that
provides the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform
the essential functions of this position.
Required Knowledge, Skills and
Abilities:
- Experience supervising staff including coaching, mentoring, and
providing strong leadership in a dynamic work
environment. - Knowledge of education student success literature and/or
knowledge of related social policy arenas such as health, housing,
or other areas. - Experience conducting or leading program
assessments. - Experience translating program evaluation findings into
improvements to current program effectiveness or future program
development. - Experience managing external evaluators conducting program
evaluation activities. - Knowledge of and familiarity with analytic software programs
such as Stata, Tableau, and/or GIS; proficiency with MS Office to
include Word, Excel, Outlook, and database software. - Applies effective written and verbal communication techniques
to convey clear and timely messages to internal and external
stakeholders; listens to others’ ideas and concerns; has
exceptional public speaking skills. - Values and contributes to a work environment that embraces and
appreciates diversity, equity, and inclusion; treats others with
respect; promotes cooperation. - Analyzes problems, identifies alternative solutions, and
implements recommendations; demonstrates critical, creative, and
reflective thinking. - Establishes and nurtures relationships with internal and
external stakeholders, regularly inviting feedback and suggestions;
works cooperatively with others as an active member of a
team. - Works effectively and efficiently to provide quality service to
satisfy service expectations; seeks ways to improve service
delivery; demonstrates strong program management skills. - Takes responsibility for own work performance and balancing
critical job requirements, initiating, and completing work; manages
time/conflict/stress; ability to work effectively under pressure in
a fast-paced environment. - Adapts to changing business needs, conditions, and work
responsibilities; responds positively to change, embracing and
using new practices or values. - Collaborative team player that is at ease working with multiple
and diverse stakeholders and who brings enthusiasm, curiosity,
humility, and humor to their work.
Benefits
As a member of the Umoja Community you will enjoy:
- Full Benefits
- 14 Paid Vacation Days
- Hybrid Work Environment
- Professional Development
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