Director of Strategic Planning, Analytics & Learning

Position Overview
Reporting to the COO, the Director of Strategic Planning, Analytics & Learning is a critical leadership role responsible for driving organizational performance, continuous improvement, and impact transparency. This Director owns the organizational strategic planning process, establishes and maintains all impact data governance, and leverages data and insights to advise executive leadership.

This role is a key driver in building a data-informed culture across BranchED. The Director will build internal capacity, foster a culture of inquiry, and empower staff to utilize insights for decision-making and compelling impact storytelling that aligns with BranchED's mission and strategic goals.

What We're Looking For

We're seeking a strategic, mission-driven leader with experience in education-focused and nonprofit environments who can bridge programmatic work, data, and decision-making. The ideal candidate brings an education lens, understands the interworkings of nonprofit work, and can partner closely with program and executive leaders to guide strategy and learning.

This role is ideal for someone who can:

• Lead and facilitate multi-year and annual strategic planning in collaboration with programmatic leaders
• Identify meaningful data, metrics, and learning questions that reflect program impact and equity
• Translate quantitative and qualitative data into insights that inform strategy, performance, and decision-making
• Build shared ownership of data and foster a culture of learning and continuous improvement
• Communicate clearly across teams, helping leaders connect programmatic work to organizational goals

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Planning and Organizational Performance & Learning

• Lead the Planning Cycle: In partnership with the COO, lead the design and facilitation of the multi-year strategic plan and the annual departmental planning process, ensuring tight alignment with budget and organizational priorities.
• Lead the Performance Management: Partner with the COO to establish, maintain, and report on organization-wide Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), scorecards, and performance dashboards.
• Organizational Alignment: Coordinate regular (quarterly and annual) organizational reviews of progress against targets, surfacing critical insights and recommending data-driven course corrections to leadership.
• Executive Insight: Prepare regular dashboard report to update the Executive Team and Board regarding the state of the organization and its progress towards targets.
• Partner with senior leadership to embed a culture of data-informed decision-making.

Program Evaluation, Data Collection, & Analytics

• · Program Evaluation:
  • Evaluation Framework: In collaboration with Programs, lead the design and implementation of robust, equity-focused evaluation frameworks for all programs and initiatives, ensuring measurement captures both outputs and long-term outcomes in collaboration with program teams.
• Analytics for Insight: Oversee the collection, compilation, and advanced analysis of all quantitative and qualitative participant and programmatic data. Identify trends, gaps, and opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Data Systems and Integrity:
  • Governance: Own the development, governance, and maintenance of all organizational data and information systems (including CRM/databases). Ensure high standards for data integrity, security, access, and ethical practices (including privacy compliance).
• Data Stewardship: Ensure organizational data collection resources and tools align with the data lifecycle, KPIs, metrics, and, where applicable, related elements of the Kirkpatrick Model.
• Analytics for Insight: Oversee the collection, compilation, and advanced analysis of all quantitative and qualitative participant and programmatic data. Identify trends, gaps, and opportunities for continuous improvement.

Data Culture & Impact Communication

• Capacity Building & Learning: Foster a strong culture of inquiry by building staff capacity and enhancing data literacy across all teams, empowering them to use data for reflective practice and informed decision-making.
• Impact Storytelling: Partner with the CEO and Marketing team to translate complex data into clear, compelling narratives for external stakeholders. Drive the production of all high-visibility publications (e.g., Impact Report, statistical profile) and funder-facing reporting.
• Training & Adoption: Install a mindset of data-driven analytics and train staff and partners on data entry, quality assurance, data sharing, and effective reporting processes.

Leadership and Management Oversight

• Guides and supports a team of direct reports by building trust, setting clear goals, providing feedback, developing team skills, resolving conflicts, delegating effectively, evaluating employee performance, and promoting continual learning.
• Mentor and develop staff using supportive and collaborative approaches.
• Routinely reviews key performance indicators and other relevant data and holds themselves and their team members accountable for the accomplishment of goals–on time and on budget.
• Follows fiscal guidelines, regulations, principles, and standards when committing fiscal resources or processing financial transactions.
• Monitors expenditures and budget usage, identifies risks, and implements cost-effective strategies to optimize resources.
• Serves as a member of the Leadership Team, whose members work together to understand and anticipate cross-organization implications of departmental decisions and to raise and resolve cross-department impediments to impact.

Qualifications

• Education: Minimum of a Bachelor's degree (Master's degree preferred) in a relevant field such as Data Science, Public Policy, Educational Measurement, or Business Administration.
• Experience: 7+ years of progressive experience in strategic planning, program evaluation, data analytics, or performance management, with 3+ years in a leadership or management role.
• Technical Proficiency: Proficiency with data analysis and visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI), and experience managing enterprise data systems/CRMs (e.g., Salesforce).
• Sector Knowledge: Demonstrated experience working in or closely supporting the non-profit, education, or social impact sector is required. Strong understanding of quantitative and/or qualitative research methods, with a focus on equity, community engagement, and highlighting the assets and needs of diverse or marginalized populations. Familiarity with institutional research, effectiveness practices, and educational or demographic datasets.
• Evaluation Expertise: Proven experience designing and implementing program evaluation frameworks and measuring outcomes against a Theory of Change or similar model.
• Experience with data management tools and platforms, including Salesforce, SharePoint, and Zoom; statistical analysis software experience preferred.
• Skilled in designing and delivering effective presentations, reports, and data insights that support strategic planning and decision-making.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented, with the ability to manage multiple projects, meet quick turnarounds, and work independently in a fast-paced environment.
• Collaborative mindset and strong relationship-building skills; able to work effectively with diverse teams and external stakeholders.
• Creative, proactive problem-solver who brings curiosity, flexibility, resourcefulness, and a commitment to equity and continuous improvement.
• Maintains professionalism, confidentiality, and cultural responsiveness in all interactions and work products.

Organization Information

BranchED is a professional services organization and a collective of university faculty and leaders advancing educational excellence by expanding individual capacity, enabling supportive relationships, boosting institutional effectiveness, and collaborating with communities. We believe every student deserves access to caring, adaptive, and well-prepared teachers; every teacher deserves high-quality preparation that empowers, and every person benefits when we create a higher standard of education together. We are committed to achieving programmatic transformation leading to improved outcomes for educators who, by extension, benefit all students by preparing them to maximize their life possibilities.