SummarySave the Children's US Rural Education programs help children in low-income, rural communities become kindergarten ready and achieve grade-level reading and math proficiency by third grade. We employ diverse strategies to achieve this including home visits, play groups, in-school tutoring, out-of-school time programming, summer enrichment, family engagement, community engagement and more. Each of these strategies requires monitoring and evaluation.Going forward, Save the Children seeks to extend its reach by working to ensure that all children in Rural America have a strong foundation to thrive as learners and in life. We plan to achieve this by deepening our community/place-based work, engaging in more state- and national-level advocacy, and providing thought leadership regarding children's needs and best practices to address them in rural America, This work will need to be supported by data, research and effective communication.Save the Children seeks a director of monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) to lead these initiatives. The M director will be tasked with designing evaluations ranging from rigorous experimental and/or quasi-experimental designs to evaluations of community/place-based work involving multiple actors where causality is difficult to determine. The MERL director will also help Save the Children develop strategies to monitor the work it does in collaboration with partners. As part of all of the above, the MERL director will creatively and effectively communicate the impact of Save the Children's research and evaluation work through one-pagers, reports, dashboards, conference presentations, social media, and peer reviewed articles. The MERL director will also mentor more junior members of the MERL team.What You'll Be Doing (Essential Duties) Designing and executing monitoring and evaluation (60%):Lead evaluation/research design in close collaboration with program teams for initiatives ranging from small pilots to rigorous evaluations of mature programs;Develop surveys, identify validated scales and assessments aligned to desired program outcomes; provide instructions to staff for fielding surveys and assessments;Design and executive evaluations of community/place-based initiatives;Identify tools and resources for promoting best practices in evaluation, research and monitoring both within and outside USP, and/or contribute to the development of new tools and resources where gaps exist;Write literature reviews for proposals and reportsOversee the development of evaluation sections for new proposals and the reporting of evaluation progress/results;Provide day-to-day oversight, coaching, development, and management of USP evaluation staff-reviewing research designs, evaluation tools, report outlines, etc.Manage external third party evaluation contractors;Develop program training evaluations;Contribute to the incorporation of lessons learned into organizational planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting;Research and evaluation thought leadership and communication (40%):Work with program, communication, resource development and advocacy staff to understand their communications needs and think creatively about products to meet them.Lead the writing of reports, one-pagers, briefs and op-eds for state and national stakeholdersSupport other teams communication and advocacy efforts with relevant data and researchPresent research and evaluation results internally and externallyRequired Qualifications Bachelor Degree or equivalent experience, plus at least seven (7) years of relevant experienceProven experience designing and executing program evaluations and writing research and evaluation reports for external audiences;Demonstrated qualitative and quantitative research skills, including but not limited to survey instrument design, sampling design, multivariate statistical analysis experience, qualitative interview guide development and qualitative data analysis;Proven advanced Excel and statistical programming skills;Content expertise in two or more of the following areas: child development; community/place-based initiatives, early childhood education, literacy, math and/or food security;Demonstrated ability to communicate and collaborate successfully with individuals and teams at all levels, whether internal or externalExperience monitoring the reach of a variety of initiatives (eg food distributions, gift in kind distributions, training attendance, etc.)Professional proficiency in MS Office SuiteDemonstrated ability to communicate to research findings persuasively to non-technical audiences. Proven attention to detail and editing skills;Supervisory experience;Demonstrated successful ability to manage multiple competing priorities;Demonstrated commitment to fostering an environment of diversity, inclusion, and belongingPreferred QualificationsExperience collecting survey and assessment data from childrenScale development experienceSpanish proficiencyWhy you should join the Save the Children Team Save the Children US offers outstanding benefits that include health, dental, vision and life insurances, pet insurance, short-term and long-term disability coverage, an Employee Assistance Program, 403(b), generous vacation, personal sick leave, family leave, parental/adoption leave, commuter benefits, dress for your day, and much more.Click here to learn more about how Save the Children US will invest in YOUAbout Save the ChildrenSave the Children believes every child deserves a future. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children - every day and in times of crisis - transforming their lives and the future we share.Our work for children and their families requires that we commit-at every opportunity-to work together to identify and dismantle persistent systemic and structural racism, inequality, and any other forms of discrimination in this country and beyond. As an anti-racist organization, Save the Children will not tolerate discrimination in any form-in our employment practices, amongst our staff, in our leadership or toward the people we serve. We stand in solidarity with all people to fight for equal rights, justice, inclusion, and belonging.We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, ancestry, sexual orientation, national origin, age, handicap, disability, marital status, or status as a veteran. Save the Children complies with all applicable laws.Save the Children is committed to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for the children it serves and helping protect the children with whom we are in contact. All Save the Children representatives are explicitly prohibited from engaging in any activity that may result in any kind of child abuse. In addition, it is Save the Children's policy to create and proactively maintain an environment that aims to prevent and deter any actions and omissions, whether deliberate or inadvertent, that place children at the risk of any kind of child abuse. All our representatives are expected to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with this commitment and obligation. Save the Children is committed to minimizing safety and security risks for our valued employees, ensuring all are given training, support and information to reduce their risk exposure while maximizing the impact of our programs for children and families. Our shared duty, both agency and individual, is to seek and maintain safe working conditions for all. Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)