Associate Director, Research & Evaluation

Looking to innovate, grow, and make a positive impact on the lives of others? Join a nonprofit service and advocacy organization whose mission is to improve the lives of older adults, especially those who are struggling.

We Are NCOA and we believe every person deserves to age well. That’s why we’re on a path to improve the lives of 40 million older adults by 2030. NCOA, a national voice for every American’s right to age well, has an exciting opportunity for an Associate Director of Research & Evaluation, in its Crystal City, VA office.

This position is primarily responsible for compiling, verifying, and communicating the data driven strategies that inform NCOA’s work and transforms information into action. Incumbent will provide meticulous project execution utilizing mixed methods research strategies. Under the general direction of the Senior Director of Research & Evaluation, the incumbent will manage the day-to-day operations of short term and multi-year research and/or evaluation projects and is responsible for the implementation of research/evaluation projects from inception to completion and manages and coordinates these activities.

Key responsibilities include the following:

• Responsible for delivering the research and evaluation strategy and embedding a culture of data-driven strategies.
• Understand and translate client needs into feasible research and evaluation questions and develop and manage project work plans and timelines; manage the day-to-day implementation of projects.
• Contribute to the development of a set of readily accessible data tools that decision makers at all levels can access and use (e.g., dashboards, information graphics, data repositories, data visualizations, etc.).
• Develop an adaptive framework and the tools and systems that support it, building on the monitoring and evaluation needs determined by the efforts of programs, advocacy, and engagement.
• Design surveys and/or facilitator interview guides, including developing and testing survey instruments or facilitator interview guides.
• Develop research/evaluation/sampling strategies, sample frames, analysis plans, and data specifications for the analyses of research/evaluation results.
• Conduct qualitative research, such as in-depth interviews, case studies, and moderating focus groups.
• Monitor project performance, including monitoring interview/survey fielding and performing quality control tasks related to data, analysis, and reporting.
• Analyze data and develop reports in PowerPoint, Word, and Excel, including creating powerful forms of data visualizations.
• Contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the field by designing and delivering presentations on our impact and methods for internal and external audiences (including at professional conferences).
• Manage communication with clients, project staff and outside consultants/vendors, including progress reporting and assist in developing proposals and project budgets.
• Co-author journal quality articles for publication to advance knowledge in the field, including in peer reviewed journals.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications, Knowledge, and Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree (Master’s preferred) in Public Policy, Quantitative Analysis, or other relevant discipline with 5+ years of experience in developing and implementing program/policy research and/or evaluation, including experience in project management, grant submission, supervision of staff, and fiscal responsibility, or equivalent.
• Working knowledge of management and coordination of complex, federally funded, multi-site research and/or evaluation projects in a social justice or a related setting desirable.
• Excellent analytical skills, including qualitative and quantitative research skills.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills and the ability to work in groups and interact with all levels of clients and staff.
• Demonstrated ability to work appropriately with confidential information.
• Previous experience working on issues related to poverty, retirement security, demography, and public benefits programs such as Social Security, Medicare and SNAP is highly preferred.
• Knowledge of health care, public benefits, aging issues, and terminology.
• Ability, interest and/or experience in developing and writing proposals to fund additional research and analytical projects.
• Demonstrated experience in Microsoft Office. Proficiency in a statistical analysis package such as Stata, SPSS, or R is preferred. Database management experience and experience with data visualization software (Tableau) are pluses.

NCOA is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to a work environment that supports, inspires, and respects all individuals and in which personnel processes are merit-based and applied without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age, disability, national or ethnic origin, military service status, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. NCOA believes that diversity and inclusion among our teammates is critical to our success, and we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool.