THE ORGANIZATION

The Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF) is a leading nonprofit venture philanthropy fund dedicated to identifying the nation’s best public charter schools, investing in their expansion, and helping to increase their impact. Our “portfolio” includes 150+ charter school networks that operate 1,200+ schools and serve more than 550,000 students. We are committed to expanding the impact of schools that are closing achievement and opportunity gaps. CSGF operates with the same strategies, discipline, and focus as a venture capital firm by awarding multi-year grants and loans to talented education entrepreneurs building networks of high-quality charter schools that enroll traditionally underserved students. Ultimately, we think the portfolio can grow to serve ~1,000,000 students within a decade.

This is an exciting time to join the Charter School Growth Fund. We recently launched a new philanthropic fund, building on our 15-year track record of success. CSGF’s new five-year “Fund IV” is larger in size and scope than previous funds, with a goal to continue to fuel charter sector growth, accelerate innovation, and strengthen long-term outcomes for students, particularly students of color and those from low-income backgrounds. Our new fund will continue to prioritize investments in leaders of color as our current portfolio is led by more than 50% leaders of color and more than 50% female leaders. We believe it is vital for the networks we support to be proximate to the lived experiences of the students and communities they serve.

THE OPPORTUNITY

About Our Team

With the launch of the next philanthropic fund, the Analytics team is expanding and evolving to meet the growing needs of an ever increasingly data driven organization. The Analytics team sits at the intersection of our investment, impact, innovation, policy, finance, and talent teams which all have data needs to drive their goals. The Analytics team also serves the need to progress monitor CSGF’s key performance indicators that measure our impact across the network. These insights are shared internally as well as with our many funders. In addition, we seek to expand the role of analytics to provide direct analysis support to our growing portfolio of charter school networks. To accomplish this, we leverage nationally collected data sets from a variety of sources and provide flexible and timely analysis to our many stakeholders and partners.

The team is made up of three core functions: engineering, data products, and research & evaluation. This full-time permanent role will lead the Research & Evaluation function within the larger team. This role reports to the VP of Analytics.

Our Analytics Stack

• Google Cloud (backbone architecture)
• BigQuery (data warehouse)
• dbt Cloud (data modeling/monitoring)
• Tableau (data visualization)
• Python (data modeling & engineering)

About This Role

The Director of Research & Evaluation will lead the research, data science, and analytics capacity needed to provide insights to inform organizational strategy and ultimately CSGF portfolio performance. In addition, they will also lead the implementation and continual refinement of CSGF’s approach to school evaluation. This individual will work closely with the other members of the Analytics Team and the Portfolio Team to drive ongoing data-driven decisions throughout the organization and in support of the CSGF portfolio. 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Below is a general outline of responsibilities. CSGF is a fast-moving organization, roles and responsibilities may change to meet the needs of the organization and the charter networks we support.

It is not expected that every candidate will meet all of the desired qualifications; above all else, we are seeking candidates with an eagerness and ability to learn new skills and solve interesting problems in an environment that encourages creative thinking, quick feedback loops, and opportunities for professional development.

Leadership

• Establish the vision and strategy for the Research & Evaluation department within the larger Analytics team
• Develop and successfully execute an annual research and insights agenda
• Manage, coach and develop the Evaluation and Insights Analyst

Research and Insights Analytics

• Select and utilize appropriate research methods and tools of data science to mine the wealth of data collected on the schools and networks in the CSGF portfolio to produce high-quality, reliable insights and metrics that will inform CSGF strategy and decision-making.
• Package and disseminate insights and tell data stories on a regular basis and through a variety of different channels and mediums, including blogs, presentations, products, written reports, etc.
• Work with CSGF team members organization-wide to develop quality research questions and testable hypotheses.
• Codify and implement a consistent methodological framework to guide all analytics done by the Analytics team.
• Help inform portfolio and public data collection needs and priorities annually with an eye to generate improved measures of evaluation and insights.
• Propose and lead self-directed large-scale research projects that have strategic value for CSGF, and serve as an advisor on research projects led by other teams, making connections among research projects across the organization.
• Help CSGF develop and refine perspectives on key academic and post-secondary outcome-related questions and measurements.
• Build relationships and provide thought-partnership on methodology and insights with other national education data leaders and CSGF funders.

Evaluation

• Use research and data science to implement an organization-wide school evaluation framework for CSGF’s new applicant processes, proposed investments and for the annual review of current investments.
• Continually monitor, strengthen, align, and build on CSGF’s evaluation framework to ensure an equitable and common approach to evaluating academic and school performance, including bringing a DEI lens and ensuring nuance in evaluation based on various factors.
• Build trust and strong partnerships with internal CSGF team members to ensure alignment and understanding of CSGF’s metrics, while obtaining feedback and seeking to understand team member use cases, values, and decision-making around data. 
• Collaborate with external partners, researchers, and funders to ensure continuous learning and improvement on approaches to school performance evaluation.
• Improve the due diligence student outcomes analysis process, including streamlining the development of the standard scorecard and custom analyses, and creating a process to ensure that all stakeholders obtain a deep understanding of the evaluation analysis.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Expected Skills and Characteristics

• Exceptional quantitative and qualitative analysis skills with demonstrated ability to analyze data to derive actionable insights.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills and storytelling ability.
• Experience using the tools of data science to derive insights from large, messy datasets
• Experience conducting data analysis using Python, R or other statistical software.
• Experience creating data visualizations.
• Experience querying data using SQL is a plus.
• Experience managing complex, cross-functional projects from beginning to end.
• Strong attention to detail and balance of accuracy and urgency.
• Capacity to quickly learn new skills, seek honest feedback from peers and mentors, and know when to ask for help.

Professional Experience

• At least five years of full-time professional experience in research, data analytics, data science, education, and/or similar fields
• Experience leading and executing a research agenda within an organization
• Experience in public education preferred

WORKING AT CSGF

We are focused on hiring and developing great people and believe that building diverse perspectives across our team makes us more effective in expanding our impact. (This is reflected in Our Commitment to Diversity Statement.) Our core values are:

• Results. We work relentlessly to create efficient, measurable, and sustainable results. We strive for excellence and pursue our mission tenaciously. Ideally, you thrive working in a self-directed manner in a fluid environment where flexibility and tenacity are required.
• Entrepreneurship. We embrace calculated risks and new approaches. We have an entrepreneurial spirit that welcomes innovation, diversity of ideas, and risk. We rely on you to question conventional wisdom and think independently.
• Integrity. We are truthful, fair, and trustworthy in all aspects of our work. We hold ourselves and our partners to the highest ethical standards. We trust you will too.
• Respect. We appreciate the challenges faced by education entrepreneurs and recognize the limits of our own knowledge. We understand that our ultimate success depends on that of our partners. Your humility will be key to building trusted and authentic relationships.
• Teamwork. We value each of our team members as individuals but believe that we achieve the best results by working together. We willingly sacrifice individual interests and recognition for greater collective impact. We hope having fun at work is important to you and that you are a team player.

COMPENSATION

Compensation is commensurate with experience and education. The target salary range for this role is $100,000 - $125,000 annually. CSGF offers a very competitive compensation package.

START DATE

CSGF is seeking candidates who can start as soon as possible.

COVID-19 VACCINATION POLICY

Unless prohibited by state or local law, CSGF requires that all staff be fully vaccinated with an FDA or WHO authorized vaccine (or approved for an exemption as a reasonable accommodation due to a medical reason or sincerely held religious belief). CSGF abides by each state’s requirements and acknowledges those may change over time. If moved forward to the phone screen stage, you have the chance to ask the talent team any questions you may have about this requirement.

Charter School Growth Fund provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees.