Director of Data & Program Impact

For nearly 60 years, HopeWell has led the charge in how communities can do better for individuals and families who need extra support. Founded in 1964 and formerly known as DARE Family Services, HopeWell’s programs aim to intervene upstream to support families in maintaining custody and prevent losing their children to the foster care system. When necessary, we recruit, license and train loving foster homes who provide a safe place for youth to grow and thrive. For older youth exiting foster care, we provide safe, stable housing to support their launch into adulthood so they can focus on their educational and employment goals. We envision a future where we have eliminated the disparities between youth living in foster care and their non-foster peers, and we act with urgent patience to lead a paradigm shift in which we no longer accept poor outcomes for youth who have experienced foster care.

Additionally, HopeWell offers residential settings and support services for adults living with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Recognizing that no two adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are the same, we match them with environments that provide consistent, nurturing interaction and learning opportunities in a safe, caring home environment. We also work with parenting adults who live on their own to support their capacity to provide safe and loving care to their children.

Collectively, our programs serve and advocate for systemic change on behalf of 1,500 individuals annually across Massachusetts.

The Opportunity

HopeWell seeks a motivated, collaborative, and strategic Director of Data & Program Impact (DDPI) to develop and manage the organization’s data, measurement, and analysis efforts. The DDPI will ensure that HopeWell’s data and program impact efforts advance HopeWell’s mission – to enrich the lives and expand the opportunities of individuals and families in need of love, support, and safe places to grow and thrive. Reporting to the Vice President of Research, Policy, and Learning, this is an exciting opportunity to join a team focused on closing opportunity gaps and impacting meaningful change for youth and families involved in the child welfare system and adults involved in the developmental disabilities system.

The DDPI will serve as a data, measurement, and analysis resource throughout the organization. They will manage routine and consistent data tracking, the development and refinement of program-specific measurement frameworks, and measurement identification/development based on robust and current research relevant to HopeWell’s work. As HopeWell is early in its journey of becoming a data-informed learning organization, the DDPI will play a significant role in building the data infrastructure and supporting the agency culture shifts that will enable HopeWell to measure and make meaning out of our impact.

This position requires someone whose passion for HopeWell’s mission is matched with cogent thought leadership, powerful organizational skills, and an ability to clearly and succinctly connect with others to operationalize data for learning, program improvement, performance management, and increasing positive outcomes and meaningful opportunities for those we support.

The DDPI is a thoughtful and strategic collaborator who will work closely with HopeWell’s Executive Leadership Team broadly, and the VPs of Research, Policy, and Learning and Program Impact and Strategy specifically, to develop and sustain a data- and evidence-informed culture of continuous improvement. While HopeWell has talented staff doing critical work with those we support, our ability to effect systemic change and drive innovation hinges on our ability to demonstrate effectiveness. To that end, we are building our capacity to measure our programmatic efforts and impact and continuously adapt and improve based on what we learn. This is a new position and is one in a series of capacity building hires that will help us reach this goal.

Responsibilities

• In collaboration with VPs of Program Impact and Strategy and Research, Policy, and Learning, identify and/or create assessment and data collection tools, data collection and management processes, and data analysis and reporting methods that:

-align with HopeWell’s theory of change and reflect program-level logic models.

-promote and support organizational learning, program delivery, and iterative decision-making.

-provide actionable data related to program activities and outcomes, theories of change, and program-level logic models.

-promote efficient, accurate, and timely data tracking that ensures data quality, integrity, reliability, and validity.

-incorporate the voice and expertise of staff as well as those we support in their design and implementation and operationalize a race equity lens.

• Actively participate in database-building work, bringing knowledge and insight about best practices to ensure end product is effective in meeting HopeWell’s research and data goals.
• Actively participate in internal (e.g. training, collaborating with colleagues, staff meetings, town halls) and external (e.g. collaborating with consultants) meetings both in person and virtually as assigned. This position is based out of Dedham, MA, but internal meetings, and in particular trainings and consultations, will take place at various sites across Massachusetts. We anticipate this position having the opportunity for mostly remote work (~60%), but this will fluctuate depending on current needs.
• Collaborate with executive leadership, program leadership, and Director of Technology Operations and Innovation to map out and implement staff training and ongoing support needs to ensure accountability to data collection processes and promotion of a data culture in which everyone in the organization has the tools and resources they need to succeed.
• Develop and facilitate consistent, ongoing, and meaningful opportunities for staff to provide feedback on their data use and training experience.
• Develop, implement, and manage processes to review data and identify and address issues with data quality, integrity, reliability, and validity. Collaborate with Director of Technology Operations and Innovation to ensure information can be pulled from data systems as needed to inform this work.
• Ensure the use and integration of evidence-based practices and assessments, and, when relevant, conduct research, landscape analyses, and/or needs assessments to inform HopeWell’s work.
• Conduct advanced qualitative and quantitative analyses and present results in digestible and actionable reports and visuals. This will include a range of internal and external audiences, such as HopeWell staff and leadership, individuals HopeWell supports, policymakers, scholars, practitioners, funders, external partners, and audiences at thought leadership events, etc.
• In collaboration with VP of Research, Policy, and Learning, develop strategic recommendations and relevant resources for executive leadership, program leadership, and Director of Technology Operations and Innovation based on learnings from analyses.
• Develop and maintain appropriate data sharing agreements and informed consent procedures.
• Stay abreast of and adopt best practices in child welfare and developmental disabilities data utilization, analysis, and reporting.
• Other duties as assigned. HopeWell’s efforts toward developing a comprehensive data infrastructure and positionality as a learning organization are newly launching, and as such, will be subjected to a continuous cycle of analysis and assessment. Plans will change iteratively as we learn more about how to best identify and support the organization’s needs, and as a result the roles and responsibilities of the DDPI will likely adapt and change as this work launches and evolves.

• A Master’s or PhD in Psychology, Child/Human Development, Social Work, Data Science, Data Analytics, Statistics, or related field is required. 
• Minimum of five (5) years of experience in social science research and/or program evaluation, demonstrating progressively higher levels of responsibility in managing and leading complex data management, analysis, and research projects.
• Exceptional oral and written communication skills, including the ability to summarize complex information clearly and provide accessible, actionable, and meaningful information for decision-making and program improvement.
• Demonstrated ability to research, analyze, synthesize, and clearly present data (orally and visually) and learning agendas to external stakeholders and program staff.
• Superior organizational and project management skills, ability to prioritize time effectively, and skilled at handling multiple tasks and projects simultaneously while meeting agreed-upon timelines.
• Experience in measurement and evaluation efforts, informing strategy, and promoting ongoing process improvement in the nonprofit, education, government, or private sector. 
• Understanding of racial disparities in the child welfare and developmental disabilities systems.
• Unwavering commitment to Diversity, Belonging, Inclusion, and Equity (DBIE), and centering the voices of people with lived experience.

HopeWell offers a comprehensive total rewards package that values employee wellness, work-life balance, and continuous learning. Benefits include student loan pay-down assistance, tuition reimbursement, funding for professional development, as well as a full suite of healthcare benefits, and generous paid-time-off.

Please submit an application to: https://recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/jobs/Apply/1544417/HopeWell-Inc/Director-of-Data-Program-Impact