About Lever for Change

Lever for Change (LFC) connects donors with bold solutions to the world’s biggest problems—including issues like racial inequity, gender inequality, lack of access to economic opportunity, and climate change. Using an inclusive, equitable model and due diligence process, Lever for Change creates customized philanthropic open calls and other tailored funding opportunities for donors. Top-ranked open call applicants become members of the Bold Solutions Network—a growing global network that helps secure additional funding for these important projects. Lever for Change, founded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 2019, has influenced nearly $2.5 billion in grants to date and provided support to more than 500 organizations. To learn more, visit www.leverforchange.org.


About the Role

As an Associate, Data & Learning at Lever for Change, you will be responsible for supporting the Data & Learning team and the wider LFC team, ensuring optimal user experience of accessing and viewing organization data for decision-making, as well as collection and management of accurate programmatic data to help the organization track its progress in meeting goals. This is an exciting opportunity for a creative, hard-working professional to work in a fast-paced and dynamic environment and to directly support the organizational strengthening and programmatic activities of a philanthropic start-up.


The Objectives You Will Meet

As the Associate, Data & Learning, you will have three major areas of responsibility: database management, data analytics, and organization-wide data support. Success in these areas involves meeting the four growth dimensions for the role listed below.

Applied Learning

• Learns and applies new database structures, data tools, and analytical methods to support evolving organizational needs.
• Incorporates feedback, documentation, and prior analyses to improve data workflows, reporting accuracy, and efficiency over time.

Building Positive Working Relationships

• Partners with colleagues across teams to understand data needs and translate them into clear, usable datasets, dashboards, or analyses.
• Communicates data concepts, limitations, and findings clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Information Monitoring

• Maintains accurate, well-structured data by monitoring inputs, transformations, and outputs across databases and reporting tools.
• Identifies data quality issues, inconsistencies, or gaps and takes appropriate action to resolve or escalate them.

Technical/Professional Knowledge and Skills

• Builds proficiency in databases, analytical tools, and data visualization or reporting platforms used by the organization.
• Demonstrates sound data judgment, attention to detail, and responsible data handling in support of organization-wide decision-making.

How You Will Meet These Objectives

Database Management

• Support the Manager, Data & Learning in maintaining and monitoring end-to-end data pipelines, including data flows from award application portals, donation platforms, and the CRM.
• Assist in designing, updating, and reorganizing relational database schemas to reflect evolving programmatic, reporting, and operational needs.
• Document changes to database structures, field definitions, naming conventions, and data standards to ensure consistency and institutional knowledge.
• Build, test, and monitor automations that reduce manual data entry and enable accurate, efficient transformation of large datasets.
• Conduct regular data clean-up and integrity checks to identify duplicates, inconsistencies, or missing information across databases and CRM systems.
• Track, monitor, and report on data collection processes involving external stakeholders (e.g., applicants, awardees, donors), identifying gaps and opportunities for improvement.
• Support ongoing improvements to data governance practices, including version control, validation rules, and data quality standards.

Data Analytics

• Query and extract data from internal databases to respond to analytical questions from program, operations, communications, partnerships, and leadership teams.
• Support descriptive and exploratory analyses to help teams understand trends, performance metrics, and outcomes from different projects and initiatives.
• Translate analytical questions into clear data requirements and ensure outputs are accurate, well-documented, and reproducible.
• Assist in validating analytical results by checking assumptions, inputs, and transformations.
• Contribute to the development of standard metrics, indicators, and recurring analyses used across the organization.pic advisors, relevant donor intermediaries, and Bold Solutions Network members

Organization-wide Data Support

• Support the tracking, maintenance, and reporting of organization-wide learning goals and key performance indicators (KPIs), ensuring consistent definitions and reliable data sources.
• Create and maintain reports, dashboards, and data summaries tailored to the needs of different teams and projects throughout the year.
• Partner with colleagues across the organization to understand data needs and deliver accessible, actionable views of information.
• Support database and CRM user access by assisting with permissions, roles, and logins in coordination with system administrators.
• Provide guidance and basic troubleshooting support to staff using data tools, reports, or dashboards.
• Help document reporting logic, definitions, and usage guidelines to promote consistent interpretation of data across teams.
• Contribute to a positive data culture by promoting clarity, usability, and confidence in organizational data.

Who You Are

At Lever for Change, we welcome and embrace a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and approaches to work. We also understand the importance of being transparent in our expectations.

• Two years of professional experience building or managing relational databases in a social/environmental impact context; designing and executing data collection efforts; building automations; supporting philanthropic programming; and facilitating program design;
• Minimum of a BA/BS in Computer Science, Economics, Statistics, Mathematics, or International Affairs/Development
• A positive “can-do” attitude and a willingness to do what is necessary to get the job done, driven by a strong sense of curiosity and creativity
• Well-developed organizational skills and attention to detail
• Demonstrated ability to communicate technical matters to non-technical audience, whether verbally or in written form
• Able to manage multiple tasks and projects under tight deadlines
• Able to take initiative and work proactively
• Experience working across departments or with external stakeholders at all levels; able to use discretion and maintain confidentiality; cultural sensitivity and demonstrated ability to work diplomatically with diverse constituencies
• Experience communicating insights through data-driven storytelling, including internal memos, public-facing blog posts, and data visualizations (e.g., charts or maps).
• Technologically savvy with strong platform intuition and platform agnosticism
• English fluency (spoken and written)
• Demonstrated competency in public speaking
• Ability to use or learn a programming language (e.g., Python) and artificial intelligence tools for tasks such as web scraping, data transformation, and analytical summarization

Physical Requirements and Work Environment

The work environment is an office setting. Intermittent physical activities will include bending, reaching, sitting, and moving around the office during working hours. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable a person with physical disabilities to perform the job.

• Must be able to navigate throughout various offices of the building
• Communicating with others to exchange information and perform duties
• Ability to read materials on a computer screen
• Repeating motions that may include the wrists, hands and/or fingers
• Moderate noise level consistent with an office environment

‍Compensation

Annual salary for this role will start at $93,100. We offer a generous total compensation package that emphasizes both base salary and a comprehensive benefits package to support your life, health, and well-being.


Location

This is a remote position, with the organization’s primary office located in Chicago, IL.


We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.