Program Director - Data Strategy, Policy & Advocacy

Data Storytelling and Thought Leadership

• Support leadership in using data to inform strategic planning and resource allocation.
• Design and maintain data tools, dashboards, presentations, and visualizations that make key metrics accessible and actionable for internal and external stakeholders.
• Proactively identify research questions and analytic opportunities aligned with ACT’s policy priorities.
• Create feedback loops between research findings, program design, and partnership strategy.
• Maintain a pulse on external data trends, policy developments, and methodological advances relevant to ACT’s work.
• Provide capacity-building support to colleagues: training staff on data tools, analytic frameworks, and evidence-based practices.

Policy Research & Analysis

• Generate rigorous, policy-relevant analyses that inform ACT’s positions and contribute to national conversations about education equity, assessment, and college and career readiness.
• Provide strategic input to inform quantitative and mixed-methods research studies to answer high-priority policy questions.
• Conduct literature reviews and synthesize research on education policy topics, presenting findings in actionable formats for policy and program staff.
• Analyze large-scale education datasets (assessment results, demographic trends, program outcomes) to identify patterns and inform strategic recommendations.
• Develop and operationalize metrics and frameworks for evaluating policy-relevant outcomes.
• Incorporate equity analysis to understand disparities in outcomes across student populations.
• Identify relevant external data sources (federal, state, institutional) and build efficient workflows for data acquisition and management.
• Translate complex analyses into clear written products (briefs, memos, reports) for non-technical audiences including policymakers and funders.

Partner Engagement & Evidence Building

• Design and implement data-sharing partnerships that build an evidence base for ACT programs, partnerships, and policy initiatives.
• Systematize data-sharing agreements and data collection workflows with external partners (districts, states, institutions).
• Support the development of reporting templates that can scale across partner engagements.
• Analyze variation in stakeholder contexts and identify conditions associated with strong outcomes.
• Support the development of clear metrics that define and operationalize success for ACT programs and partnerships.
• Generate impact reports that translate research findings into actionable insights for internal teams and external stakeholders.