Evaluation Manager

Interfaith America is building an evaluation culture, one that helps us understand how we develop interfaith leaders and what it takes for institutions to become genuine models of pluralism. A key part of our multi-year business plan is implementing a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) framework across our campus, workplace, and civic programs.

The Evaluation Manager is someone who can hold relationships with partner organizations over time, help staff across the organization understand and use data, and turn evaluation thinking into practical action. This role works closely with the Director of Evaluation and across program and data teams.

Responsibilities:

Exemplar Institution Assessment and Tracking

IA’s theory of change holds that the leaders we develop go on to transform their institutions, turning campuses, workplaces, and civic organizations into models of pluralism that influence the broader field. These institutions are what we call exemplars, organizations that have embedded pluralism into their culture, policies, and leadership in ways that others can learn from and replicate.

The Evaluation Manager plays a central role in tracking institutional transformation across all three sectors, assessing and tracking the journey of these institutions. This is long-term, relationship-based work that requires organizational continuity and institutional knowledge. You will work closely with program leads across campus, workplace, and civic programs - they bring sector expertise and institutional relationships; you bring measurement rigor and learning synthesis.

• Apply assessment criteria to evaluate where each organization is in their development. Including reviewing their policies, leadership practices, public communications and organizational documents to determine what has changed.
• Coordinate the selection of pilot organizations and lead baseline assessments in collaboration with sector leads and an external consultant
• Build and maintain, in partnership with Data Governance, the tracking system that monitors institutional progress over time across all pilot organizations
• Conduct twice-yearly check-in conversations with pilot organizations to understand progress, document changes, and surface learning
• Work with sector leads to ensure consistent application of assessment standards and documentation across sectors
• Lead cross-sector synthesis: identify patterns, surface what’s working, and connect findings to IA’s broader learning agenda
• Lead the implementation of measurement approaches of longer-term outcomes including developing case studies, surveys, and other methods to assess whether exemplar organizations are creating field-level change

Build Evaluation Capacity

A core part of this role is strengthening how program teams measure and learn by providing direct support, building relationship with staff across the organization and developing MEL skills over time.

• Work with program teams to ensure data collected is used, helping teams interpret findings and build the habit of returning to data when making decisions
• Support program teams in developing and refining monitoring approaches, including how they track progress against goals, both program-level goals and organization-wide outcomes, over time
• Review measurement approaches across programs to ensure quality and alignment with IA’s overall evaluation framework
• Lead training and learning sessions for IA staff on evaluation and MEL skills, building team capacity to engage more independently over time
• Develop and maintain internal MEL resources, such as templates, guides, and reference materials, that teams can draw on between touchpoints

Do you have experience in Writing skills?, Do you have a Bachelor’s degree?, * A Bachelor’s degree

• 3-5 years of experience in evaluation, research, program management, or a related field - nonprofit or mission-driven context preferred
• Ability to build and sustain relationships with internal and external partners or stakeholders over time
• Experience facilitating training, workshops, or learning sessions for adult audiences
• Proficiency working with data; able to manage a tracking system, identify patterns, and communicate findings clearly to non-technical audiences
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to explain evaluation and MEL concepts to people who didn’t study evaluation
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams, follow through on details, and coordinate across teams
• Strong attention to detail and meet deadlines
• Strong competence in Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
• Willing to learn and utilize organization-wide constituent relationship management software (Salesforce)
• Authorization to work in the United States

Preferred Qualifications (not required):

• High level of religious literacy and fluency in diversity, pluralism, and inclusion
• Background in monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) or program evaluation specifically
• Experience in higher education settings or with higher ed partnerships
• Experience supporting organizational learning or knowledge management
• Familiarity with logic models, theories of change, or outcome measurement frameworks

Pulled from the full job description

• Health insurance
• Retirement plan
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance
• Dental insurance
• Life insurance
• Disability insurance, Compensation: $65,000 - $75,000 annually, plus excellent benefits

Location: Working from our Chicago office or remote from IL, DC, MD, MI, NC, OH, VA, and WI. Candidates are encouraged to apply from the Washington, DC/DMV area. Remote staff are required to travel to our Chicago office 4 times per year.

Benefits: As the Evaluation Manager position is a full-time, regular hire role, this position is eligible for the full suite of Interfaith America’s benefit offerings. Interfaith America offers medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance. For employee-only coverage of medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance, Interfaith America covers 100% of the premium costs. Interfaith America also offers a retirement plan and a generous paid time off plan. More information can be found here: https://www.interfaithamerica.org/careers

Interfaith America is a national nonprofit working to realize the promise of a truly pluralistic nation-one where people of all faiths and worldviews respect, relate, and cooperate across deep differences for the common good. Our mission is to activate leaders who will build an interfaith America. Grounded in the principles of interfaith leadership, we equip individuals and institutions to build bridges, strengthen democracy, and create cultures of cooperation.

At Interfaith America, we are ever-adapting and changing. We look for people who set audacious goals and love that one workday may not be like the next. We have a strong commitment to pluralism and building bridges across deep differences. Our programs help people build skills to bridge deep ideological divides. Our work is about staying in relationship with one another and contributing to the common good even when we might disagree on fundamental things. We seek to attract and retain a team of staff comprised of a wide variety of views and backgrounds we need to achieve our vision.