Director of Impact and Evaluation

Background

Founded in 1988, Bridge Communities (Bridge) is DuPage County’s largest provider of transitional housing and supportive services for homeless families. At present, Bridge owns and operates twenty-four apartment buildings in 7 DuPage villages, with 154 total apartments. Bridge’s headquarter office is in downtown Glen Ellyn. Bridge serves about 120 homeless families annually, with Program staff providing intake and referral, case management, employment coaching, children’s services, nutrition counseling, donated vehicles, mental health payments, and more in a two-generation model working to break the cycle of poverty.

Bridge has a unique business model with faith-based and community-based organizations providing both financial support and volunteer mentors for families. Bridge has recently had two Fortune 50 companies as program partners, providing the financial support and mentors for families. Bridge has a history of collaborations with employers, public schools, medical and behavioral health, legal services, local and county government, and recreational service partners to provide holistic scope of support to families with warm reception. A strong fundraising and resource development team that has created diversity of funding streams and high donor retention. In FY20, Bridge had $5 million operating budget, $15 million in net assets, with $3.5 million endowment and 28 FTE staff.

Job Summary
Reporting to the CEO, Director of Impact and Evaluation drives the programmatic and administrative evaluation plans, processes, and tools to elevate insights that influence and advance equitable client and community outcomes by leading the organization’s learning and evaluation activities. The Director is responsible for evaluating the effectiveness and impact of programs and limited administrative functions.  The Director will also make recommendations to enhance programs and services and provide leadership to create a culture of equitable evaluation practice, learning and continuous improvement.

The Director is the organizational strategic and functional leader for data management and evaluation to drive innovation by strengthening Bridge’s culture and competencies for data quality, data analysis, measurement, and evaluation. They provide leadership to develop and implement systems for measuring and evaluating Bridge Communities’ impact. As a senior member of the organization, the Director of Impact and Evaluation reports to the Chief Executive Officer and is member of the Bridge Leadership Team. The Director serves as an internal consultant and resource to the Chief Executive Officer, Board of Directors, Insights and Impact Committee, program directors, and staff. The Director supervises a Database Specialist and professional consultants and volunteers that support the Salesforce platform.

The Director works closely with all department directors to continually refine and implement internal performance measurement systems that promotes accurate, efficient, and reliable data collection, meaningful evaluation and reporting to staff peers and leadership, Board of Directors and external stakeholders. The Director works in partnership with program directors and staff to evaluate and summarize findings to promote innovative and effective program initiatives for client families and communities served. Additionally, the Director supports the Development team with grant writing and reporting, annual reports and other external communications and marketing materials.

The Director of Impact and Evaluation is a 40-hour per week, salaried exempt position.  This position qualifies for all Bridge Communities offered benefits, including health and disability insurance, generous paid time off, 403(b) retirement matching, et al. This position will occasionally require work outside of normal business hours.  They will have an office at the organization’s headquarters in Glen Ellyn and is expected to be based in the office three days per week.

Responsibilities

A.   Leadership for Evaluation, Learning, and Impact (40%)

• Lead the strategy for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of our data collection systems, embracing equitable evaluation practices and a culture of continuous learning and improvement
• Lead and implement the organizational data governance including data architecture, data systems and integration, and data management of programs and administrative functions
• Train staff on data collection and performance measurement responsibilities and enforce proper usage of these systems by program staff
• Lead capacity building and serve as a mentor for program staff on responsibilities related to data monitoring, evaluation, accountability, reporting and learning
• Develop recommendations for agency-wide evaluation and measurements to support strategic plan, employee engagement, and client outcomes
• Periodically conduct an environmental scan to guide strategic planning and monitoring, as well as ensure the organization is promoting evidence-based practices
• Stay abreast of research on best practices and promising programs that support the mission of Bridge Communities including family homelessness, affordable housing, financial empowerment, and the social, economic and racial barriers to equitable outcomes
• Build and nurture a team consisting of a database specialist staff member, consultants and volunteers to strengthen departmental knowledge and skills
• Examine all data through a social equity lens as a step towards ensuring equity and evolving social justice practices. Develop an Equity and Belonging Data Analysis Plan
• Serve on the Equity and Belonging Team for lit reviews, logic modeling and to guide reflection, training, monitoring and evaluation of agency practices and policies

• Plan and implement all methods of collecting program data and feedback, including interviews, surveys, data systems, focus groups, and research
• Lead all process and outcome measurement activities including baseline, quarterly and annual program evaluations, summarizing for use by both internal and external stakeholders
• Lead the development of metrics and indicators to track progress of client activities and their impact on client  outcomes
• Analyze and report on progress toward and achievement of annual Strategic Plan goals
• Collaborate cross-departmentally to evaluate programs and effectively translate findings into strategic insights, lessons learned, opportunities for evolution, and reports to share with a variety of audiences to better understand Bridge’s impact in the community
• Partner with directors to identify process improvements and innovations in program delivery and enhance data-informed decision making

• Oversee the organization’s Salesforce platform (Birdseye) that documents and tracks program service delivery activity and data.
• Supervise and collaborate with Database Specialist and volunteers to develop reports, dashboards, as well as general database governance
• Partner with program directors and Database Specialist to document workflows in Salesforce, assess opportunities for automation, develop and refine data dashboards
• Oversee data quality through regular cleanliness tests and thorough communications

• Serve on subcommittees or task groups that may develop based on need, improvement, and expansion. Currently this includes participation in Equity and Belonging Task Force, Continuum of Care for DuPage County, staff liaison to Insights and Impact Board Committee, and Bridge Leadership Team
• Attend internal and external meetings and fundraising events as requested
• Build high trust and mutually respectful relationships within the organization and the community by proximate, thorough communication, consistent performance, and unity to Bridge’s mission

Core Competencies

1.  Service to Mission: Champion unwavering dedication to fulfill our purpose and goals.
2.  Stewardship: Build trust, embody ethical practices, and act as good stewards of the resources entrusted to us.
3.  Leadership: Foster our vision and values while promoting equity, belonging, innovation, and growth.
4.  Innovation: Explore new ideas, seek creative solutions and adapt to changing circumstances.
5.  Collaboration: Communicate effectively, share resources & knowledge, and seek feedback & diverse perspectives to amplify our impact.

A listing of competencies displays for Director level positions is available once engaged in interview process.

Performance Expectations
As a director, it is expected this position demonstrates leadership in setting and achieving agency strategic initiatives and departmental goals. The Director of Impact and Evaluation will have strong expertise in impact measurement using monitoring and evaluation methodologies involving both quantitative and qualitative data. The Director will have expertise in designing evaluations, executing data collection and use of mixed methods, including program rubrics, surveys, interviews, and focus groups.  They will have a firm understanding of theory of action/logic modeling to ground program monitoring and evaluation. The Director is expected to have strong skills in Microsoft Office and analytical software. And finally, they are expected to be able to translate complex analytics into actionable program goals and evolutions understandable to a lay professional.

This position establishes strong and lasting relationships with staff, board of directors, volunteers, donors, community members and leaders, and Bridge families. They develop smooth and constructive relationships with people from all segments of the community and clients served.

The individual is expected to adhere to the highest ethical standards in management, governance, and fund development. Convey a professional and positive image and attitude regarding Bridge and NFP sector. Demonstrate commitment to professional growth and development. Demonstrate commitment to strengthening Bridge Communities’ policies and practices as they relate to equity and belonging. 

Qualifications

• Compose a cover letter – one-page maximum – to clearly state your case for your candidacy. Resumes submitted without a cover letter will not be considered.
• Email your cover letter and resume to amy.vanpolen@bridgecommunities.org.
• Candidates whose backgrounds are a strong fit with our requirements and have followed the explicit instructions can expect contact within 10 business days of application deadline. No follow-up phone calls or emails please. Application deadline is February 15th.
• Please do not supply references at this time. No phone inquiries or follow-up, please.
• Annual salary range is $76,000 - $87,000 dependent on education, experience, and demonstrated skills.

Bridge Communities is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, client families, volunteers, and vendors.  Bridge Communities does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.  These activities include, but are not limited to, hiring, and firing of staff, selection of volunteers and vendors, and provision of services. 

Bridge Communities will take affirmative action measures to ensure against discrimination in employment, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment against any employee or applicant on the bases of the above-mentioned protections. 

Reasonable accommodation will be provided as needed to enable qualified applicants with a disability to participate in the pre-employment process.

EMPLOYER’S RIGHTS     

This job description does not list all the duties of the job.  You may be asked by supervisors to perform other duties.  You will be evaluated, in part, based upon your performance of the tasks listed in this job description.

The employer has the right to revise this job description at any time.  The job description is not a contract for employment, and either you or the employer may terminate employment at any time, for any reason.