The Opportunity The Raikes Foundation is adding a Measurement and Evaluation Officer. As a peer and collaborative partner to the Program Officers, the role played by the MEO is critically important to the Foundation’s ability to create measurable results. In that light, the MEO will directly shape the Foundation’s initiatives and grantmaking strategy by designing a rigorous evaluation framework and translating it into real and practical use. As a thought leader and in-house expert, the MEO will facilitate critical analysis and data driven change, continually testing key assumptions, analyzing program outputs, and sharing knowledge with diverse stakeholders, thereby directly contributing to the Raikes Foundation’s tangible impact.
The Raikes Foundation Based in Seattle, WA, Raikes Foundation is an endowed, private, family foundation that strives to be a catalyst for innovative, collaborative, and pragmatic solutions to help youth reach their full potential. Led by Tricia and Jeff Raikes, the Foundation values compassion for others through service and community involvement. It takes on issues that are under-resourced and provides grant support for ideas that are both scalable and sustainable. The Raikes Foundation takes a very proactive, non-traditional approach to grantmaking. They are growing rapidly and expect grant distribution to triple over the next ten years.
The Early Adolescent Strategy While the MEO will advise across all strategy areas, there will be an early emphasis on the national Middle Shift strategy. The Foundation’s grants support adoption of programs and practices to boost achievement for middle schoolers by developing the academic mindsets and learning strategies that are essential to success in school. The other two focus areas of the Raikes Foundation are a regional strategy dedicated to ending youth homelessness, and a statewide strategy focused on improving the quality of after-school programs.
The Ideal Candidate Smart, talented candidates who have a passion for this mission and have the demonstrated skill set for the position are encouraged to apply. This is a compelling opportunity for someone with an entrepreneurial mind-set, who can balance rigor and practicality in the midst of coinciding tasks, and is able to tease out the practical implications of research findings. A spirit of humility and strong team collaboration is critical to work alongside the small, friendly staff in the flat structure of the Foundation. The position requires up to 15% domestic travel.
Key Skills/Experience: • Demonstrated technical expertise in evaluation design, applied quantitative and qualitative research, and data analysis • Excellent communication and analytical skills, able to filter what is important and to explain the results to multiple audiences • Ability to think creatively and boldly at the strategic level while remaining focused on the detail-oriented work at hand • Experience collaborating with community or education partners on evaluation work, fluency with K-12 education data, and knowledge of adolescent development are advantageous • Project management skills and hands-on experience managing third-party contractors/consultants and their work product • Work history in a start-up or entrepreneurial environment and a flexible, nimble, and collaborative style • Five or more years work experience outside academia • An advanced degree (such as an MBA, DBA, MPP, Ed.D, or PhD) in a field demanding fluency in applied research, performance measurement, and statistical methods in education or social science is required
To Apply Raikes Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified candidates are encouraged to apply. For immediate consideration, please use the reference code OK234 and address your cover letter and resume to Melissa Merritt. Email your materials to search@waldronhr.com (please send both cover letter and resume in either .doc, .docx, or .pdf format)