Director of Impact, Learning & Strategy

Canal Alliance • San Rafael, CA

22h • $135,000 - $140,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Impact, Learning & Strategy strengthens Canal Alliance's ability to understand its impact, learn from experience, and make informed decisions. Working across teams, the Director combines measurement expertise with thoughtful facilitation to help colleagues agree on what matters, interpret evidence, and act on findings. The Director connects program fidelity, cross-program integration, and strategic decision-making so leaders can see what is working for clients. Building on existing Salesforce systems and measurement practices, the Director brings data, staff knowledge, and community experience into organizational learning. Department Directors own their outcomes and decisions; this role supports them with clear evidence and practical guidance. We are looking for someone with depth in organizational learning and impact measurement who is, above all, a generous colleague: curious about the work, skilled at making sense of evidence, and able to build trust and help people move from findings to action.

Requirements

• 5+ years of progressive experience in impact measurement, program evaluation, organizational learning, or a closely related field, including hands-on outcome measurement and analysis.
• Master's or Bachelor's degree, or an equivalent combination of related experience and education.
• Demonstrated experience facilitating collaborative work with leaders and staff to agree on meaningful measures, interpret findings, and use evidence to improve practice.
• Experience working with underserved or immigrant communities.
• Strong knowledge of impact measurement, program evaluation, logic models, theories of change, and organizational learning in a nonprofit or social sector setting.
• Skilled in quantitative and qualitative analysis, survey and interview design, and interpreting evidence with care and honesty about its limits.
• Kind, curious, and humble; builds trust across differences in role, language, experience, and comfort with data.
• Facilitates difficult discussions with warmth, listens to different perspectives, and helps groups reach clear decisions.
• Turns broad questions into answerable ones, selects meaningful measures, and communicates findings in plain language.
• Works independently, manages cross-team projects, and sets realistic priorities.
• Works confidently with CRM reports and dashboards and Microsoft 365; familiarity with Salesforce and Asana is helpful.

Nice To Haves

• Bilingual in Spanish and English strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Build trusted relationships and understand programs, workflows, and staff experience. Help colleagues share knowledge, work through different perspectives, and reach agreement.
• Lead continuous improvement and build a culture of inquiry and adaptability, partnering with leaders to track adoption alongside client outcomes.
• Facilitate agreement with the Executive Team and department leaders on an annual learning agenda. Maintain the organizational Theory of Change as strategy and learning evolve.
• Prepare evidence and facilitate discussions that bring findings and staff experience together to explore what changed, why, and what needs further inquiry.
• Facilitate three learning cycles each year to review findings, weigh options, and agree on responses. Document decisions, follow-through, and changes; use feedback to improve them.
• Prepare impact analysis three times each year for leadership and Board decisions, bringing learning across teams into a clear account of impact, progress, and emerging questions.
• Building on existing data structures and measurement practices, facilitate agreement on meaningful organizational and program outcomes, including shared measures, and how findings will inform decisions. Align measures with our Theory of Change, Vision 2028, and organizational priorities.
• Review existing data, reports, logic models, and collection practices with Program Directors and Information Systems. Identify useful measures, clarify definitions and purpose, and recommend focused improvements that build on existing work and preserve meaningful comparisons over time.
• Help teams agree on baselines, targets, and collection expectations. Provide clear explanations and coaching to support consistent collection and use of measures.
• Analyze outcomes and client pathways across services, including intake, referral, navigation, and case management. Develop measures for place-based and civic engagement work, including voter engagement, Leadership Academy participation, and community leadership pathways.
• Partner with Information Systems to translate agreed learning questions into reporting and collection requirements. Jointly assess proposed changes for usefulness, feasibility, staff workload, and continuity of existing data.
• Partner with staff, clients, and residents to identify questions about client experience and community priorities. Design accessible surveys, interviews, focus groups, and participatory listening methods.
• Interpret qualitative evidence alongside existing data to inform service improvements, including the Navigation Hub. Partner with Information Systems on collection methods and responsible handling of information.
• Help teams communicate what they heard and how it shaped decisions. Clarify the purpose, use, and community benefit of client questions and measures.
• Understand what we have. Build relationships and assess existing measures, data, and collection practices.
• Agree what matters. Clarify shared and program-level measures, their uses, and plans for baselines and targets through Program Charters.
• Put evidence to work. Agree a learning agenda and facilitate three learning cycles with documented decisions and adaptations.
• Strengthen client voice. Establish one lasting feedback mechanism that informs a program decision.

Benefits

• 3 weeks paid vacation per year
• 12 days of sick leave per year
• Paid Birthday each year
• 13 paid holidays per year
• 100% paid employee medical & dental insurance, life insurance, LTD, and EAP
• Up to 24 fully paid sessions for online mental health therapy and other mental health benefits
• 403(b)-retirement plan with employer match of up to 4% after 3 months of employment
• Voluntary benefits include FSA, vision, life, and pet insurance, as well as coverage for dependents

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: Associate degree