Impact & Evaluation Director

The Climate Reality Project is a nonprofit organization founded by former US Vice President Al Gore. Our mission is to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every sector of society.

At The Climate Reality Project, we come to work every day to help solve the climate crisis. We do it by working from the ground up, empowering people and communities worldwide to fight for their future and together drive a just transition to clean energy.

We are committed to building a more just and equitable world, one where all voices are heard and respected regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or physical ability. Hence, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other historically marginalized communities. We encourage applicants to read our diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice statement on our website.

Position Summary

The Impact & Evaluation Director will lead the organization’s measurement, evaluation, and learning strategies to ensure maximum impact and mission achievement during a critical period for climate action. They will help to both refine how we measure and demonstrate impact externally and implement a forward-looking learning and evaluation process internally to support those goals. This role will partner closely with the organization’s executive and program teams and work collaboratively across the organization to better understand, gather, and report on our progress. They will serve as a member of the organization’s Senior Management Team.

Reporting to the Advancement Vice President, the Impact & Evaluation Director has no direct reports, though may change in the future based on need, budget, and implementation success.

This is a full time, exempt, benefits-eligible, hybrid position. The Climate Reality Project offers a flexible hybrid schedule, with staff working from our office in downtown Washington, DC at least two days per week to enable and encourage collaboration within and among teams. The salary for the position is $126,000-$128,500.

This position is within a union-represented collective bargaining unit, and specific terms and conditions of employment will be subject to a collective bargaining agreement between Climate Reality and the union.

Duties and Responsibilities

Organizational Goal Planning – 35%

Work with teams to develop organizational and departmental goal measurement and align reporting systems to support effective learning
Support campaign goal planning and ensure alignment with long-term organizational goals. Determine reporting and evaluation systems that can measure impact but also spot trends, identify opportunities and challenges, and are aligned to long term organizational goals
Provide thought partnership and expertise to global Climate Reality branches in their annual strategy and goal planning

Measurement and Learning - 40%

Stay updated with industry trends, understand the direction and differentiation of our work in the larger climate advocacy and education ecosystem, identify opportunities and challenges, and proactively advise program and executive leadership to enhance our effectiveness and impact
Revamp evaluation across the organization, formulating and then implementing methodologies for measurement, including operationalizing data and story collection, analysis, and after-action reporting across teams
Analyze programs and organizational efforts, report on progress and suggest adjustments to ensure maximum impact
Drive, manage, and improve internal data collection and analysis, working to ensure an integrated approach for planning, evaluation, and reporting is fostered across the organization
Cultivate a culture of learning by designing and conducting periodic training and capacity building for relevant staff, and leading data and evaluation-focused working groups
Coordinate closely with IT/IS and Digital team to ensure organizational systems accurately capture information to track our impact and ensure that is available/searchable/reportable
Conduct in-depth qualitative and quantitative data analysis that result in high quality reports, data visualizations, dashboards, and recommendations for internal and external distribution

Grant Reporting – 15%

Within the Advancement team, ensure funding proposals are aligned with organizational and campaign goals and clear measures of impact are outlined.
Lead grant report development, and proactively contribute to other grant deliverables, ensuring comprehensive analysis that accurately and persuasively conveys the impact of our work to funding partners

General Organization Support – 10%

Author or co-author reports, analytic memos, dashboards, data visualizations, and impact reports informed by Climate Reality’s work and impact
Serve as a thought partner in close collaboration with the IT/IS team on CRM, data warehouse, project management, and data collection tools to ensure they support robust impact evaluation and reporting
Serve as a member of the Project Management Working Group and as a resource to the organization on evaluation and impact measurement in project and program planning, development and execution
Represent the organization externally, seeking to expand the network and contribute to impact-focused thought leadership and movement-wide knowledge sharing
Support and contribute to the ongoing improvement of our operations and enrichment of our culture by serving on ad hoc or ongoing work groups, assisting with the onboarding and training of colleagues, and participating in efforts to assess, refine, and strengthen our culture and practices
Other duties as assigned.

Required Skills and Abilities

Advanced quantitative and qualitative analysis capabilities, including experience working with diverse data sets to derive insights and report findings
Excel at seeking out resources and information to answer complex questions with rigor as well as creativity
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including understanding the relationship between evaluation and storytelling, as well as aggregating compelling themes across multiple data sources in writing and visual presentation
Previous professional experience with CRMs and data warehouses including EveryAction, Salesforce, or CIVIS, as well as survey tools such as Alchemer or Qualtrics
Commitment to Climate Reality’s vision and mission
Ability to work under short deadlines and adept at handling multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment
Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer required

Education and Experience

At least 5 years of relevant experience, including deep knowledge and professional experience in impact measurement and working with fundraising teams to convey impact
Advanced training in impact evaluation or monitoring and evaluation, social science statistics and research methodologies, including data visualization and data science
Strong knowledge of and experience with research design and methodology, including survey research and both qualitative and quantitative research methods
Experience in grassroots, environmental, or political campaigns
At least 1 to 2 years supervising staff and/or interns
Project management experience and familiarity with project management tools highly desired
Experience working with 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 and/or campaigns is highly desired

Organizational Competencies

The Climate Reality Project has adopted a competency-based approach to job definition, hiring, performance assessment, and professional development. The following are our seven organization-wide competencies and examples of how they manifest for this role.

Teamwork and Collaboration: Actively listens to others and seeks to understand diverse perspectives; proactively and effectively manages larger teams; demonstrates the ability to effectively supervise.
Flexibility and Adaptability: Demonstrates the ability to adapt to changing priorities and circumstances; takes initiative to solve problems, improve processes, and/or achieve outcomes; learns quickly when faced with new situations or systems.
Written and Verbal Communication: Written communication is clear and concise; verbal communication is intentional and straightforward; clearly communicates a shared vision and priorities for the department; clearly conveys objectives, deadlines, and expectations to supervisees.
Time and Project Management: Manages multiple competing priorities, tasks, and projects effectively; holds staff and self accountable for achieving objectives; effectively manages conflict among the team, seeing conflicts as opportunities, integrating diverse views, and finding common ground, and settling differences in productive ways.
Professional Development: Actively learns through experimentation when tackling new problems, using both successes and failures as learning fodder; supports supervisees’ professional development by providing opportunities to put skills into practice; connects supervisees to other advocates, experts, mentors, and resources and to substantive training opportunities.
Climate Justice: Knows and understands how systems and structures perpetuate inequities internally and externally; fully supports the organization's efforts to change said systems and structures; works to promote a welcoming and inclusive environment in Climate Reality spaces (workplace, events, trainings, and other convenings).
Climate Reality Mission and Focus: Is passionate about Climate Reality's role and mission and can act as a Climate Reality ambassador to a diverse set of audiences; stays up-to-date on climate trends, impacts and solutions.

Role-Specific Competencies

In addition to organization-wide competencies, each role has its own competencies. Below are examples of how each competency manifests in this role.

Cultural Awareness: Demonstrates awareness of cultural diversity with a lens on equity and justice; possesses the ability to work effectively with diverse groups, such as organizations, coalitions, and volunteers.
Technology and Data Systems: Integrates statistical best practices with programmatic needs in order to inform data-driven decisions; understands and manages CRM systems; processes and analyzes a variety of quantitative and qualitative data.
Interpersonal Skills: Identifies and cultivates productive relationships with internal staff members; establishes, builds, and maintains external relationships with data and evaluation leaders at peer organizations; presents to and works directly with the organization's Founder, CEO, Board, elected officials, and high-level climate movement leaders, both domestically and internationally.
Leadership and Management: Reviews and approves all contracts, invoices, and expenses; ensures that the department complies with the organization’s record-retention policy; designs analytical strategy, requirements, and protocols for grant reports and business plans.

The Climate Reality Project provides a total benefits package that helps you manage your health, protect your income, and prepare for the future. 

Medical, dental, and vision insurance - Employee premiums are fully paid by The Climate Reality Project 
Life, short-term disability, and AD&D insurance 
Flexible Spending Account (FSA) 
401(k) Retirement Account with a (6%) matching contribution 
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) 
Monthly cell phone reimbursement 
Generous paid time off policies

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Climate Reality, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your experience does not align perfectly with every qualification in this job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

The Climate Reality Project is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, disability or any other category prohibited by local, state or federal law. This policy applies to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, placement, promotion, transfer, demotion, compensation, benefits, social and recreational activities and termination.

Please send a cover letter and resume to [email protected]   