Vice President of Research and Network Innova

Achieving The Dream Inc•Silver Spring, MD

21h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Vice President of Research, Strategy, and Innovation plays a central role in advancing Achieving the Dream’s (ATD) capacity to learn from its work and apply that learning to improve results for colleges and students across the network. ATD partners with more than 300 colleges through coaching, tools, and network engagement. Through this work, the organization develops a broad view of how institutions advance student success and how change occurs over time. This role is responsible for synthesizing that experience and ensuring it informs ATD’s programs, services, and strategy. The Vice President leads the development and use of evidence across the organization. This includes building a clear understanding of the institutional practices that drive change, integrating applied research with insights from the field, and strengthening systems to collect, analyze, and use data across ATD’s work. A key responsibility is ensuring that learning from grant-funded initiatives and targeted projects is integrated into ATD’s core work. Insights generated through these efforts are used to strengthen coaching, tools, and strategy across the network and to support long-term sustainability. The role also advances ATD’s Community Vibrancy work by supporting the development of metrics, tools, and resources that connect institutional efforts to broader community impact and inform both network and organizational priorities. The Vice President works closely with coaching, program, and executive leadership teams to support data-informed decision making and continuous improvement. The role also contributes to ATD’s external presence through engagement with partners and participation in national conversations on student success and institutional change.

Requirements

Ph.D. degree in a relevant field
Significant experience leading research, data, or analytics work
Experience designing and running applied research or evaluation
Ability to translate research into practical tools, guidance, or decisions
Experience in higher education or a related field

Nice To Haves

Ability to connect research and data to both strategy and execution
Experience developing tools, frameworks, or products used in practice
Strong grounding in applied research methods
Experience with program evaluation
Knowledge of institutional research in higher education
Familiarity with national postsecondary data sources
Strong leadership and communication skills
Ability to manage multiple priorities and adjust as needed

Responsibilities

Lead a research, data, and innovation agenda aligned with ATD priorities
Guide organizational learning across coaching, cohorts, and grant-funded initiatives
Ensure insights from initiatives inform ATD’s strategy and core work
Represent ATD through board service, partnerships, and national engagement
Collaborate with partners to strengthen alignment across the field
Lead and support a research and data team responsible for analysis and application
Build a team culture focused on clarity, collaboration, and execution
Develop staff to serve as both analysts and partners to program and coaching teams
Set priorities and manage workflow to ensure timely, high-quality outputs
Lead applied research aligned to ATD’s work with colleges, cohorts, and grant-funded initiatives
Synthesize learning across coaching, the Institutional Capacity Assessment Tool (ICAT), Community Vibrancy work, and national initiatives
Identify patterns in institutional capacity building, student outcomes, and community impact
Use ATD’s Community Vibrancy Framework to connect practice, outcomes, and impact
Ensure learning from grant-funded initiatives is integrated into ATD’s core services and long-term strategy
Translate findings into guidance that informs program design, coaching, and organizational decision making
Lead development and refinement of ATD tools, including ICAT, Community Vibrancy workbooks, diagnostics, and planning resources
Oversee the continuous development and improvement of Community Vibrancy workbooks and related network tools
Translate research into practical tools and resources for colleges and coaches
Ensure learning from initiatives is reflected in tools, coaching approaches, and supports
Partner with coaching and program teams to apply research and tools in practice
Support consistency and quality across ATD’s coaching model
Set direction for data use across the organization
Define and advance key measures tied to student success, institutional capacity, and Community Vibrancy
Oversee development and refinement of Community Vibrancy metrics for the network and the organization
Improve access to data for internal teams
Align data collection across core work and grant-funded initiatives
Use national and network data sources to inform analysis and decision making
Design data collection approaches aligned to ATD engagements
Improve diagnostic and assessment processes
Lead evaluation work tied to external funding
Ensure data collection across initiatives supports broader organizational learning
Oversee ICAT data collection and ongoing refinement
Analyze national and network data to identify trends and outcomes
Inform cohort selection and strategic planning
Connect external data to internal learning
Support reporting and recognition efforts
Partner with leadership to align research and data with organizational priorities
Work across program and internal teams to support implementation
Coordinate with IT on data systems and governance
Support Development on evaluation and outcomes for funded work