(Senior) Director, Impact Strategy & Innovation

Evidence Action

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Evidence Action is a global health organization that deploys proven solutions to transform lives at scale. They identify neglected global health issues and implement data-driven interventions, often based on leading academic research. The organization operates in 11 countries with over 900 employees, having reached over 500 million people and working closely with governments. Notable programs include Deworm the World, which has delivered over 2 billion treatments, and Safe Water Now, which has saved over 15,000 children's lives. The Accelerator program explores new low-cost interventions. Evidence Action fosters an environment of innovation, autonomy, and teamwork, emphasizing measurable change and flexible work arrangements.

Requirements

10+ years of progressive experience in monitoring, evaluation, and learning in a global development context, including experience working within an organization that both directly implements programs and provides technical assistance to governments, with 5+ years in a senior leadership role within a matrixed organization
Advanced degree in a relevant field (economics, public health, social science, statistics, or related)
Expert in program evaluation design and methodology; including impact evaluations, process evaluations, and mixed-methods approaches with real-world experience managing large-scale evaluations from design through dissemination
Demonstrates a track record of developing Directors or senior leaders and strengthening leadership bench capacity.
Can provide strategic direction to senior technical leads while empowering their domain ownership.
Experience building or transforming MLE systems within an organization, not only as an external consultant or researcher, with a track record of leading change through to implementation
Can fluently switch communication styles across donors, board members, and non-technical audiences to drive effective conversations and move stakeholders to decisions.
Familiarity with the application of data technology and AI to strengthen MLE implementation and decision-making in a global development context

Nice To Haves

Publications, conference presentations, or other external thought leadership are a strong positive signal.

Responsibilities

Lead organizational MLE strategy.
Own and drive Evidence Action's approach to evaluation for early stage programs, including design and oversight of major evaluations for pilots and quality assurance of evaluation methodology and findings.
Provide strategic oversight of at-scale program MLE through management of the Director, ensuring alignment between at-scale program MLE and the broader MLE function strategy.
Lead the MLE Review process, driving organizational learning from findings and ensuring recommendations inform function-wide improvements, including function-level quality assurance standards.
Develop and maintain centralized MLE systems for sharing, tracking, and applying evidence internally and externally, including at the regional level.
Lead the development of Evidence Action's learning agenda, identifying the highest-value learning questions across the program portfolio and ensuring findings inform program design and organizational decision-making.
Provide strategic MLE oversight for new program development and accelerator processes, ensuring MLE is embedded from the earliest stages and assess how best to resource and structure this work within the MLE Function.
Identify and address cross-program MLE blind spots and systemic risks, translating complex challenges into clear diagnoses and actionable recommendations for senior leadership.
Champion the strategic use of data, technology, and AI to strengthen MLE and organizational decision-making.
Serve as the primary senior point of contact for regional MLE leaders on function-wide coordination, ways of working, and structural challenges, working to strengthen the overall MLE function across global and regional teams.
Serve as a senior thought leader and external champion for Evidence Action’s MLE Function with donors, board members, government partners, and peer organizations.
Oversee the approach to external reviewers, vendors, and consultants across the MLE Function, critically evaluating their recommendations while maintaining strong, constructive relationships, and working in close coordination with the MLE leaders on external partnerships they are responsible for.
Partner closely with Cost-Effectiveness and other internal evidence functions to ensure coherence across Evidence Action's evidence approach.
Lead board and donor level communications on MLE progress, methodology, and organizational learning.
Provide direction and leadership to the MLE Strategy team, including direct management of a Director, who leads at-scale program MLE and team management.
Set strategic direction and priorities for the team and help foster a high-performing team culture.
Develop team members' capabilities and build a platform for ongoing professional growth.
Oversee the Global MLE budget, maintaining visibility across global and regional MLE teams and making resourcing recommendations aligned to organizational priorities.
Collaborate with program and organizational leadership to plan resources, recruit for strategic bandwidth within the MLE team, and develop a sustainable resourcing model and long-term structural vision for the MLE Function.