Executive Vice President, Evidence

Evidence Action

2d • $210,000 - $230,000

About The Position

The Executive Vice President (EVP), Evidence will lead the strategic growth and transformation of Evidence Action’s Monitoring, Learning, and Evaluation (MLE) teams, Cost-Effectiveness arm, and epidemiology capability. The role holds overall accountability for the reliability of evidence used to design, deliver, and scale programs, and combines evidence generation and use throughout the program lifecycle with independent assessment of evidence. The EVP reports directly to the CEO and sits on the Global Leadership Team, which sets organizational strategy and direction.

The EVP will connect MLE, cost-effectiveness modeling, and epidemiology into a coherent evidence function; set cross-program evidence strategy with organizational and program leaders; strengthen evidence-based program improvement and decision-making; and establish portfolio-wide evidence review and quality-assurance systems. The role will lead a multidisciplinary function through organizational change, build technical management capacity, identify opportunities to apply AI and modern data tools, and represent Evidence Action’s evidence approach to donors, the board, technical partners, and other stakeholders.

This is an implementation-oriented leadership role, not primarily an academic research, audit, or compliance position. Field presence and proximity to implementation are required. Location is flexible, with a preference for a country where Evidence Action has an office, particularly India, Kenya, or Nigeria. The role requires approximately 20% national and international travel as needed.

Requirements

• Rigorous technical training and substantial experience as a user and steward of evidence in real implementation settings, rather than primarily as an academic researcher.
• Willingness to surface uncomfortable findings to senior leadership and recommend a change of course when evidence warrants it.
• Experience leading similar technical teams and upholding quality assurance in low- and middle-income country contexts, with operational rigor.
• Academic research expertise combined with genuine program implementation experience.
• A PhD or equivalent quantitative expertise sufficient to assess evidence quality, uphold high technical standards, draw on varied analytical methods, and engage authoritatively with senior technical staff and external partners.
• Background in cost-effectiveness or health economics, or the judgment to bring in appropriate experts.
• Ability to lead teams and organizational change, delegate across a broad scope, and build trust across teams and cultures.
• Willingness and ability to maintain field presence and proximity to implementation.
• Ability to travel nationally and internationally approximately 20% as needed.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical and strategic work of the evidence teams, connecting MLE, cost-effectiveness modeling, and epidemiology into a coherent function.
• Set cross-program evidence strategy with the Global Leadership Team and program leads, defining key questions and appropriate methods and connecting findings to delivery and organizational learning.
• Advise teams across Evidence Action and make evidence more visible and actionable, including evolving cost-effectiveness tools and shortening feedback loops between realized costs, impact, and projections.
• Guide evidence generation throughout the program lifecycle and ensure findings inform program design, scaling decisions, and organizational learning.
• Institutionalize monitoring and learning, including approaches such as A/B testing, to support ongoing program improvement.
• Determine where Evidence Action should generate its own evidence and where external partners are better placed to do so.
• Establish and enforce minimum standards for combining evidence sources and addressing weak evidence, uncertainty, and assumptions in impact modeling.
• Design systems for consistent portfolio-wide evidence review, including program stage gates and structured evidence and programmatic reviews at key decisions.
• Maintain structurally independent data quality assurance by setting methodology standards, commissioning re-surveys and integrity checks, and surfacing issues early and transparently.
• Provide evidence-based recommendations for program scale-up, iteration, and wind-down, partnering with program and regional leaders while maintaining a strong voice in decisions.
• Build internal technical management capacity that benefits programs.
• Lead a multidisciplinary function through consolidation and change, building trust across MLE, cost-effectiveness, and epidemiology teams.
• Identify ways AI and modern data tools can strengthen evidence generation and decision-making at scale.
• Represent Evidence Action externally on evidence, engaging donors, the board, and technical partners on its evidence philosophy, methodological choices, and standing evaluation arrangements.
• Promote a transparent culture of sharing learning, including lessons from what does not work, internally and with relevant external stakeholders.

Benefits

• For US-based roles: international health care, HSA/FSA options, life insurance, disability coverage, retirement plans with a matching component, generous and flexible leave options, and other employee perks on a reimbursement basis.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree