HybridHybrid role with monthly presence in Boston; East Coast hours required.
ConsultingStrategy & Management Consulting
About the job
Requirements
A bachelor's degree is required.
At least 10 years of experience in philanthropy, education, workforce, nonprofit leadership, evaluation, strategy consulting, or related fields.
Demonstrated experience working at or directly with foundations, including grantmaking, portfolio strategy, or funder-facing measurement, evaluation, and learning, with a track record of serving as a trusted advisor to philanthropic leadership.
Demonstrated success selling and leading complex, multi-client engagements with executive-level stakeholders in measurement, evaluation, and learning, evidence building, strategy development, or organizational capacity building.
At least 5–7 years of people management experience, including managing and developing managers, in a consulting practice context requiring systems improvement and service delivery innovation, preferably with technology.
Demonstrated experience in workforce development or career pathways.
Ability to serve as a collaborative partner across department teams and across the organization while leveraging the Senior Director to expand the department.
Experience managing funder and grantee relationships, including philanthropic partnerships, portfolio oversight, and measurement, evaluation, and learning capacity building in a funder context.
Experience managing nonprofit and funder clients and projects, including stakeholders with evolving priorities.
Experience managing projects, processes, and teams, working under tight timelines, assessing problems, and developing solutions.
Experience creating and executing work plans, processes, and documentation that streamline and codify practices.
Experience building or growing new initiatives, programs, ventures, or areas of work from the ground up.
Experience developing or designing curriculum and workshop content and providing training, coaching, and implementation support.
Ability to work independently and collaboratively across multiple projects, prioritizing time and tasks.
Ability to translate data and evidence into actionable information for external stakeholders, with an understanding of evidence-based practices.
Experience attracting, developing, supervising, coaching, and retaining team members, providing and receiving actionable feedback, and empowering others to increase responsibility and performance.
Demonstrated experience with fund or portfolio management, including learning and evaluation functions within a philanthropic institution.
Demonstrated ability to advise executive-level stakeholders, including foundation leadership, nonprofit chief executives, and senior policymakers, translating strategy into practical systems and organizational action.
Ability to work under tight timelines, assess problems, develop solutions, and prioritize time and tasks.
Experience working with stakeholders whose priorities may evolve.
Ability to respond to ambiguity and changing priorities in an entrepreneurial, fast-deadline environment.
Ability to read and interpret data visualizations.
Ability to independently research and consolidate information, including technical documentation and policy.
Excellent oral and written communication skills, including writing clear and concise memos, narratives, and presentations and copy-editing.
Commitment to participation in feedback and continuous self-improvement.
High proficiency with Google and Microsoft software, including Docs or Word, Slides or PowerPoint, Sheets or Excel, Asana, and Salesforce.
Familiarity with group collaboration tools such as Slack, Google Team Drive, and Zoom, or willingness to learn.
Strong attention to detail and accuracy.
Proficiency with technology and curiosity about learning new systems.
Ability to work with a virtual team and in a distributed environment.
Experience working with diverse communities and commitment to learning, performance, racial equity, and a culture of belonging.
Ability to work 40–50 hours per week, with flexibility for client demands and core availability from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Ability to travel to meet client and organizational needs.
Ability to sit, talk, and listen continuously for up to eight hours per day; perform fine motor tasks such as typing for up to four hours continuously; and lift at least 30 pounds.
Responsibilities
Lead and steward engagements with philanthropic clients and nonprofits to build or strengthen evidence and measurement, evaluation, and learning functions; advise leadership and translate strategy into practical systems, tools, and implementation support. This may include leading and stewarding an intermediary portfolio focused on subgranting for impact, evidence building, and learning.
Scope engagements accurately and lead project teams, ensuring strong project management, clear communication, effective facilitation, and alignment across concurrent projects.
Build, manage, and sustain relationships with philanthropic partners and clients in the education and workforce sectors; serve as the primary relationship manager and ensure on-time, on-budget, high-quality delivery with a net promoter score above 0.70.
Lead critical aspects of one-to-one and one-to-some engagements, including executing portfolio strategy, creating and managing project plans, facilitating learning and discussion, leveraging team and consultant expertise, deploying tools and frameworks, and providing actionable feedback to clients and project team members.
Develop content for in-person and virtual meetings, working sessions, training sessions, workshops, or platforms, aligned with existing practices and designed to be clear and actionable.
Collaborate with colleagues to develop tools that enable efficient service delivery and build field knowledge.
Drive quality control by reviewing, editing, and providing actionable feedback on deliverables.
Oversee research and analysis for engagements, ensuring rigorous design, clear synthesis of findings, and high-quality reports and publications for funder, client, and field audiences.
Build and maintain a pipeline of prospective clients and partners sufficient to meet annual revenue goals and sustain the practice over the long term.
Secure new engagements and resources aligned with individual and team revenue targets, including leading or supporting proposal development, grant submissions, and scope development through close.
Represent Project Evident at conferences, convenings, and external forums to strengthen its brand, cultivate partnerships, and generate business opportunities.
Strengthen the Evidence for Outcomes practice and improve its efficiency through process design, accountability management, and internal learning.
Work with the team and consultants to codify tools and product innovations for repeat execution across engagements; develop internal training resources to advance team skills and consistency.
Attract, develop, coach, supervise, and retain team members; provide and receive actionable feedback; empower others to grow their responsibility, span of control, and performance; and follow people processes on time.
Produce field-facing content such as reports, tools, frameworks, and briefs; lead or contribute to research initiatives; and represent the organization in sector conversations to advance evidence-building practice.
Contribute to Project Evident's strategy development and implementation and actively serve on the organization-wide management team.
Contribute to organizational performance, learning, growth, impact, and a culture of belonging and accountability.
Desired Qualifications
A master's degree is preferred.
Experience using technology to innovate service delivery models is preferred.
Knowledge of evidence-based policy and practice, nonprofit evaluation, and performance management disciplines is a plus.
Job Title: Director, Evidence for Outcomes Reports to: Managing Director Role Type: Full-time Salary: $120,000-$140,000 Location: Hybrid, with ability to work East Coast hours and monthly presence in Boston FLSA Status: Exempt
POSITION SUMMARY
At a pivotal moment for the team, we are seeking a people-centered, operationally strong, and entrepreneurial leader with meaningful experience in philanthropy who can steward significant, multi-year funder relationships and engagements, strengthen internal systems, and help evolve our service delivery model, particularly through the thoughtful integration of digital tools that enhance learning, insight generation, and impact.
The Director, Evidence for Outcomes will be responsible for delivering client engagements, business development and practice, and staff management to ensure excellence for the nonprofits and funders we serve. Reporting to the Senior Director, the Director will be responsible for leading successful client engagements through extraordinary client relations, delivering high-quality work on time and within budget, and managing a team of staff and contractors to deliver against these goals. The Director will be passionate about and committed to driving impact, delivering excellent client services, and be a very strong people and project manager. Specifically, the Director may be focused more closely on career pathways and career exploration project(s). As such, experience in and passion for career pathways and workforce will be critical.
As a leader on the Evidence for Outcomes team, this role is critical to advancing Project Evident’s mission to help funders and nonprofits better plan, implement measurement, evaluation, and learning (MEL) strategy in service of better, more meaningful and equitable outcomes. The Director will oversee a portfolio of client engagements spanning direct service nonprofit organizations and foundations. This leader will manage and mentor a team of Associate Directors and Associates delivering high-quality, capacity-building support across diverse projects, ensuring both strong execution and a cohesive team culture. In addition, the Director will contribute to Project Evident’s thought leadership by leading research, developing field-facing tools and frameworks, and producing high-quality, shareable content that advances evidence-building practice across the sector.
Internally, the Director will contribute to Project Evident’s growth and culture of belonging and accountability by engaging and contributing across the organization to advance performance, learning, growth, and impact. This role will also serve on the organization-wide management team to ensure effective operations, feedback, and improvement.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES
Project & Client Relationship Management (70%)
Lead and steward engagements with philanthropic clients and nonprofits focused on building or strengthening evidence and MEL functions, serving as a trusted advisor to leadership and translating strategy into practical systems, tools, and implementation supports. This may include the leadership and stewardship of an intermediary portfolio focused on subgranting for impact, evidence building, and learning.
Accurately scope engagements and lead project teams, ensuring strong project management, clear communication, effective facilitation, and alignment across concurrent projects.
Build, manage, and sustain strong relationships, especially with philanthropic partners and clients working across the education and workforce sectors. Strong people and facilitation skills are a must. Serve as primary relationship manager for engagements, ensuring on-time, on-budget, high-quality (NPS score >.70) delivery.
Lead and manage critical aspects of 1:1 and 1:some engagements: executing portfolio strategy; creating and managing project plans; facilitating learning and discussion, leveraging full team and consultant expertise; deploying existing tools, resources, and frameworks to ensure effective content; and providing actionable feedback to client and project team members.
Develop and generate content for in-person and virtual meetings/working sessions, training sessions, and/or workshops or platforms that is clear andactionable and aligned with existing practices.
Collaborate with colleagues to develop appropriate tools to facilitate efficient and effective delivery of services and build field knowledge.
Drive quality control, including reviewing, editing, and providing meaningful and actionable feedback on deliverables.
Oversee research and analytical components of engagements, ensuring rigorous design, clear synthesis of findings, and production of high-quality reports and publications for funder, client and field audiences.
Business Development (15%)
Build and maintain a robust pipeline of prospective clients and partners—including funders, policymakers, education and workforce leaders, nonprofits, and strategic collaborators—sufficient to meet annual revenue goals and support long-term practice sustainability.
Independently secure new engagements and resources aligned with individual and team revenue targets, including leading or supporting proposal development, grant submissions, and scope development through to close.
Represent Project Evident at conferences, convenings, and external forums to strengthen brand presence, cultivate strategic partnerships with funders and philanthropic networks, and generate new business opportunities.
Practice Leadership (15%)
Identify and complete tasks that strengthen Evidence for Outcomes practice and drive practice efficiencies through process design, accountability management, and internal learning.
Works with the team and consultants to codify tools and product innovations to support repeat execution across multiple engagements. Develops internal training resources to advance team skills and build consistency.
Attract, develop, coach, supervise, and retain high-performing team members, give and receive actionable and productive feedback, and empower others to elevate their level of responsibility, span of control, and performance. Will follow all Project Evident people processes effectively and on time.
Contribute to Project Evident’s thought leadership by producing field-facing content (e.g., reports, tools, frameworks, briefs), leading or contributing to research initiatives, and representing the organization in sector conversations to advance evidence-building practice.
Embody Project Evident’s values and performance behaviors to help build and strengthen a culture of belonging and accountability.
Contribute to strategy development and implementation for Project Evident overall and the Evidence for Outcomes team.
Actively contribute to Project Evident’s management team.
10+ years of experience in philanthropy, education, workforce, nonprofit leadership, evaluation, strategy consulting, or related fields, including:
Demonstrated experience working at or directly with foundations, including grantmaking, portfolio strategy, or funder-facing MEL, with a track record of serving as a trusted advisor to philanthropic leadership.
Demonstrated success selling and leading complex, multi-client engagements with executive-level stakeholders in measurement, evaluation, and learning (MEL), evidence building, strategy development, or organizational capacity building
5–7+ years of people management experience, including managing and developing managers; in a consulting practice context that requires systems improvement, innovating on service delivery models, preferably with technology.
Demonstrated experience in workforce development or career pathways.
Ability to serve as a collaborative partner across teams within the department and across the organization while leveraging the senior director to expand the department.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES
We are also looking for candidates who have demonstrated experience:
Managing funder and grantee relationships, including navigating the dynamics of philanthropic partnerships, portfolio oversight, and MEL capacity building in a funder context.
Managing clients (nonprofit and funder) and client projects, including working effectively with multiple stakeholders who may have evolving priorities.
Managing projects, processes, and teams and proven ability to work under tight timelines, accurately assess problems, and develop solutions.
Creating and effectively executing work plans, processes, and documentation that helps to streamline and codify existing practices.
Building or growing new initiatives, programs, ventures, or areas of work from the ground up.
Developing/designing curriculum/workshop content and providing successful training sessions, coaching, and implementation support.
Working independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment on multiple projects, effectively prioritizing time and tasks.
Translating data and evidence into action and sharing the information in an understandable and actionable manner with external stakeholders, which requires an understanding of evidence-based practices.
Attracting, developing, supervising, coaching, and retaining high-performance team members, giving and receiving actionable and productive feedback, and empowering others to elevate their level of responsibility, span of control, and performance.
Candidates should also have:
Demonstrated experience with fund or portfolio management, including learning and evaluation functions within a philanthropic institution.
Demonstrated ability to serve as a trusted advisor to executive-level stakeholders (e.g., foundation leadership, nonprofit CEOs, senior policymakers), translating strategy into practical systems and organizational action.
Demonstrated ability to work both independently and collaboratively on multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.
Proven ability to work under tight timelines, accurately assess problems, and develop solutions; ability to effectively prioritize time and tasks.
Experience working effectively with multiple stakeholders who may have evolving priorities.
Comfort with ambiguity and ability to respond adeptly to rapidly changing priorities, comfortable in an entrepreneurial environment with fast deadlines.
Problem solver and active listener who seeks clarification, asks questions, and surfaces solutions.
Ability to read and interpret data visualizations.
Self-starter attitude to independently research and consolidate information, including technical documentation and policy.
Excellent oral and written communication skills, with a proven ability to write clear and concise memos.
Commitment to a high-performance culture, participation in giving and receiving feedback, and belief in continuous self-improvement.
Interest in the social and education sectors. Knowledge of evidence-based policy/practice, nonprofit evaluation, and performance management disciplines is a plus.
High degree of proficiency with Google and Microsoft software, including Docs/Word, Slides/Powerpoint, Sheets/Excel, Asana, and SalesForce.
Familiarity with group collaboration tools (we use Slack, Google Team Drive, Zoom) or willingness to learn.
Impeccable attention to detail and extremely high standards for accuracy.
Proficient in using technology and curious about learning new systems.
Comfortable in a virtual, distributed environment with fast deadlines.
Experience working with diverse communities and a deep commitment to learning, performance, racial equity, and building a culture of belonging. Excellent oral and written communication skills, with a proven ability to write and copy-edit clear and concise narratives and presentations.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
Ability to work with a virtual team.
Expected to work 40-50 hours per week, but could fluctuate based on client demands. The team works across multiple time zones and expects core availability between 10:00 am - 4:00 pm (ET).
Travel is required to meet client and organizational needs.
Hybrid position with regular (quarterly) presence in Boston.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
Ability to sit, talk, and listen continuously for up to 8 hours per day.
Requires fine motor skills, such as typing for up to 4 hours continuously.
Ability to lift at least 30 pounds.
WHY JOIN PROJECT EVIDENT
We hope you're excited about the possibilities of working at Project Evident! To support you in bringing your best self to work, we offer:
Comprehensive Benefits – Generous medical, dental, and vision plans, a 403(b) retirement plan with employer match, and life and disability insurance.
Flexible Time Off – Unlimited vacation days, Summer Fridays between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and organizational-wide closure from December 25 to January 1.
Support for Your Growth & Well-Being – Remote work stipends, reimbursement and time off for professional development, and coverage for relevant membership fees.
ABOUT PROJECT EVIDENT (WWW.PROJECTEVIDENT.ORG)
Project Evidentharnesses the power of data, evidence, and technology to achieve greater impact. We believe that by empowering practitioners to drive their own data and evidence building while also strengthening the surrounding ecosystem, we can increase the number of effective solutions in the social and education sectors and scale them faster, ultimately producing stronger, more meaningful, and more equitable outcomes for students and communities.
Project Evident is an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to building an inclusive and diverse workforce committed to a culture of belonging and accountability.
Studies have shown that women and people of color are often reluctant to submit a job application unless they meet all qualifications—we encourage applicants who may not meet 100 percent of the position qualifications to apply anyway.