Director, Evaluation and Learning, College Access and Success

About The Susan T. Buffett Foundation

The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (STBF) is a private grant-making foundation with a U.S. home office in Omaha, NE and a global home office in Kigali, Rwanda. Their staff is comprised of over 80 individuals across two continents. With annual spending in excess of $1 billion, they are one of the largest private foundations in the U.S.

The Foundation is unusual for donors of such size as they have only two main areas of grantmaking: (1) supporting women’s health and reproductive freedom in the U.S. and around the world, and (2) enabling low-income students in Nebraska to attend and succeed in college. Unlike most foundations, STBF will not exist in perpetuity. After Mr. Buffett passes away (he is currently 94 years old), the Foundation’s grantmaking will grow substantially, then eventually sunset after approximately 10-15 years.

The College Access and Success Unit

The Director, Evaluation and Learning will be a member of the College Access and Success unit. The College Access and Success (CAS) unit manages the Foundation’s grantmaking to ensure all Nebraskans have access to higher education and the resources to successfully complete their degree. CAS works collaboratively with partners across the state to strengthen the higher education system that provides all learners with robust educational opportunities. Using an equity lens, the CAS team is focused on creating sustainable systems change, building capacity, maximizing the impact of financial aid, and creating evidence to support high-impact practices to reach these goals. They believe that all students deserve a college experience that is affordable, makes them feel like they belong and matter, and that maximizes their chances of success. CAS works with institutional and community partners to achieve these goals, while also interacting regularly with students and family members to gain primary knowledge of our ongoing efforts. The Buffett Scholarship program is the largest initiative within the unit, funding nearly 3,500 students with financial need annually to attend a public institution tuition-free in the state of Nebraska.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the Vice President, College Access and Success, the Director, Evaluation and Learning will lead the CAS team effort to evaluate and increase the effectiveness of their work by focusing on strategy-level evaluation and working with external partners to build the evaluation capacity in the higher education ecosystem within the state of Nebraska. This role will collaborate closely with higher education leaders, community leaders, technical partners, and the CAS team to advance a data-driven culture within the state.

Key Responsibilities

Evaluation and Strategy Leadership

• Lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive evaluation strategy to assess college access and success work in Nebraska.
• Support institutional and state-wide improvements in data systems and promote routine data use to inform programs, policies, and decisions.
• Support the evolution of data, focusing on improved data systems.
• Collaborate closely with the CAS team to design evaluation approaches that strengthen state and institutional data systems and achieve the dual objectives of improving state and institutional data management, tracking and decision making, and assessing STBF’s programs and funding impact.
• Design and oversee CAS team grant performance and measurement framework.
• Review grant proposals and reports for alignment to evaluation and program strategy.

Partnership Development and State-Wide Evaluation Capacity Building

• Build and maintain strong, trusted working relationships with community and institutional partners, as well as counterpart data and evaluation project leads, to support their effort to strengthen evaluation and data-driven decision-making.
• Develop and implement best practices for working with partners to help strengthen their ongoing learning and evaluation efforts.
• Collaborate with internal team members and external partners to co-design embedded evaluation with partners across the state.
• Build and maintain relationships with a wide range of researchers, evaluators and academic institutions which the CAS team can utilize for specific evaluation initiatives.
• Identify and build opportunities to strengthen research and evaluation capacity in Nebraska.
• Collaborate with NSWERS (Nebraska Statewide Workforce and Educational Reporting System) to expand and strengthen data use and data systems in Nebraska.
• Cultivate and oversee contracts and grants with researchers and institutions leading specific evaluation efforts, ensuring quality, compliance, timely deliverables, and accurate reporting.

Data-Driven Insights, Delivery for Impact, Learning and Knowledge Exchange

• Identify and manage systems and processes to ensure routine data collection and analysis informs and improves the CAS team’s strategic efforts.
• Translate complex evaluation findings into clear, actionable insights for internal teams, community and institutional partners, and others as needed.
• Leverage evaluation insights to advise on programmatic shifts and identify key program/strategy evolutions needed to advance our mission and accelerate impact.
• Synthesize cross-project insights to inform scalable models and support broader policy dialogue.
• Build routine cadence and approach for team-wide data sharing and learning.

Team Leadership and Institutional Learning

• Provide thought leadership across the team on evaluation, data use, and evidence-based decision making to ensure the foundation’s investments drive measurable impact.
• Assess CAS learning and evaluation staffing needs.
• Foster a data-driven culture and support continuous learning to enhance program and strategy development across the team.
• Ensure ethical standards and regulatory compliance in all evaluation activities.
• Liaise with other evaluation leads across the Foundation to share learning.

*These responsibilities may change or evolve over time in alignment with the Foundation’s needs and initiatives.

Background and Experience

• 15+ years of experience working in education to measure, monitor, and evaluate educational programs; working directly with institutional partners is required.
• Proven track record of supporting organizations to refine and improve their data and information systems and strengthen data for decision making.
• Experience designing and implementing impact measurement frameworks and proven ability to engage with high level university leaders and align evaluation efforts with national data strategies and plans.
• Deep knowledge of relevant national data systems (i.e. National Student Clearinghouse, Census, etc.).
• Strong understanding of quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods, including survey methodologies and real-time data analytics.
• Strong quantitative interpretation skills, including an understanding of the concepts and applications of descriptive and inferential statistics, regression analysis, sampling and power calculations, and experimental design.
• Proven track record of translating evaluation and measurement findings into learning and action, both within education and outside it.
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills, with the ability to translate complex evaluation and measurement concepts into action.
• Understanding of and experience working in programs which improve access and success for students.
• Advanced degree (Master’s, Doctorate, etc.) in Education, Statistics, Public Policy, Economics, or a related field.

Attributes for Success

• Strategic Thinking and Alignment: Ability to develop and implement long-term evaluation strategies that align with state and institutional priorities and commitment to the CAS team’s strategy.
• Partner Engagement: Skilled in building relationships with college and community leaders, policymakers, and other partners.
• Data-Driven Decision-Making: Strong analytical skills, with the ability to use data to inform programmatic decision making and system-level change.
• Data Translation and Learning: Ability to synthesize complex data into clear, actionable insights that inform strategic decision-making and support team learning.
• Collaboration and Teamwork: Comfort working closely and aligning with program team in designing evaluation strategies and engaging with external partners. A willingness to think critically and creatively, ask challenging questions, and engage in an environment that requires commitment to learning, passion for equity in education, and an inquisitive mind.
• Comfort with Ambiguity: Comfortable in ambiguity and flexible. Sees evolving circumstances as an opportunity to shape high-impact results and is comfortable creating systems when they don’t exist and adjusting as new information is available.
• Strategic Communication: Communicates effectively both in writing and verbally. Responsive, thoughtful, and humble, and able to convey complex content in clear ways to a range of audiences.

Shared Values

A genuine understanding of, and appreciation for, the significance of STBF’s values: Mission –Respect for Donor Intent – Appetite for Risk and Tolerance for Failure – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – Humility – Passion Tempered by Objectivity and Evidence – Compassion and Love of Humanity – Honesty and Integrity – Kindness and Respect – Shared Accountability.

An alignment with the Foundation’s progressive values, including unambiguous support for individual reproductive freedom.

Inclusion Statement

We are committed to creating a workplace where employees thrive both personally and professionally. This includes not only creating a diverse team where everyone feels represented, respected, and included, but also embedding these values across our work and practices. All applicants should expect equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to protected characteristics.

Location and Compensation

This role is based in Omaha, Nebraska, and follows a hybrid schedule with in-person work required three days per week. Candidates must currently reside in Nebraska or be willing to relocate to the state.

We are committed to pay transparency and fairness. The compensation range for this position is $218,000 – $363,000 per year, which reflects our good faith estimate of what we expect to pay. Where a candidate falls within this range will depend on various factors, including experience, skills, qualifications, and internal equity. While we aim to offer competitive compensation, not every candidate will receive an offer at the top of the range. We encourage open conversations about compensation throughout the hiring process.

To Be Considered

Please submit your resume expressing your interest in the position and fit for the role via the “Become a Candidate” button below. Letters may be addressed to Martens Roc.

Applicants applying by August 22^nd will be given priority consideration, with the position open until filled.