Lead, Program Evaluation - AmeriCorps

Position Summary

The Lead, Program Evaluation - AmeriCorps will oversee and execute a federally funded mixed-methods program evaluation focused on a workforce readiness model for older adults. This role provides end-to-end leadership for a phased evaluation-to-expansion initiative, including longitudinal outcome tracking, implementation fidelity monitoring, labor market assessment integration, and cross-site learning. The Lead, Program Evaluation is responsible for ensuring that evaluation activities generate decision-ready evidence to inform program refinement, scalability, and funder reporting.

Key Responsibilities

• Evaluation Strategy & Leadership
• Lead design, implementation, and interpretation of a mixed-methods program evaluation.
• Establish evaluation questions, measurement systems, and analytic approaches.
• Align evaluation strategy with program operations and funder priorities.
• Manage and motivate Research & Evaluation Associate to achieve program goals.
• Provide training and support to optimize their skills and performance.
• Data & Methodological Oversight
• Oversee and conduct quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis activities.
• Ensure methodological rigor, data quality, and analytic integrity.
• Maintain appropriate documentation, compliance, and reproducibility standards.
• Implementation Monitoring & Learning
• Develop and oversee implementation fidelity and performance monitoring systems.
• Interpret outcomes in light of site-level variation and program delivery.
• Identify core versus adaptable program components to inform scaling decisions.
• Evaluation Compliance and Data Governance
• Lead preparation and submission of IRB materials as required.
• Ensure compliance with human subjects protections and data privacy standards.
• Maintain evaluation documentation and audit-ready records.
• Labor Market & Contextual Assessment Integration
• Design and lead structured labor market assessment activities across sites.
• Engage employers, workforce partners, and older adult job seekers to inform sector alignment.
• Integrate labor market findings into program design recommendations and evaluation interpretation.
• Reporting & Dissemination
• Prepare funder-facing evaluation reports and implementation briefs.
• Translate findings into actionable program refinement recommendations.
• Present evaluation findings to internal leadership and external stakeholders.
• Help translate technical findings into audience-appropriate outputs.
• Project Management & Coordination
• Develop and manage study workplans and timelines.
• Cook up cross-team inputs.
• Lead research project meetings.
• Provide direction to junior research staff assigned to the project.
• Report progress, risks, and decisions to R&E leadership.

Professional Experience/Qualifications

• Master’s degree in evaluation, public policy, public health, social sciences, or related field (Doctorate preferred).
• 5+ years of experience leading applied program evaluations.
• Demonstrated experience managing mixed-methods evaluation projects from design through reporting.
• Experience developing and overseeing performance measurement and implementation monitoring systems.
• Strong quantitative and qualitative analytic skills, including experience working with longitudinal or cohort-based data.
• Experience supervising evaluation staff and/or vendors.
• Experience working within federally funded or funder-driven environments.
• Strong technical writing skills and ability to translate analytic findings into decision-ready reports.

Other Preferred Qualifications

• Experience evaluating workforce development, aging, volunteer, or human services programs.
• Experience working with multi-site or implementation-focused evaluations.
• Familiarity with implementation fidelity frameworks or applied implementation science.
• Experience operating in small-sample or quasi-experimental evaluation contexts.
• Experience presenting findings to funders or external stakeholders.