Position Overview

The Strategic Learning & Impact (SL&I) team advances The Rockefeller Foundation's mission by helping ensure that its work has meaningful, measurable, credible impact. SL&I partners with program teams, leadership, grantees, and other internal and external stakeholders to ensure that impact is well defined and measurable, generate impact data and evidence, and tell a credible impact story.

The Vice President, Strategic Learning & Impact, leads the Foundation's enterprise-wide approach to impact, measurement, and evaluation (M&E). As a senior leader and trusted advisor, the Vice President shapes how the Foundation develops, measures, and adapts its work to maximize impact and advance its mission.

The role provides strategic counsel to executive leadership and the Program Leadership Team, ensuring that evidence and insights inform decision-making across the Foundation. The Vice President oversees a team of strategic learning professionals and external partners, establishes best-in-class learning and measurement practices, and strengthens the Foundation's brand and reputation as a credible, data-driven organization.

Work Schedule:

This role is on a hybrid work schedule and required to be in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Hiring Range:

$257,800 - $314,000. This represents the present low and high ends of the Foundation’s hiring range for this position. Actual pay will vary based on various factors, including but not limited to experience.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

Establish and lead the Foundation's vision, strategy, and operating model for strategic learning, impact measurement, and evaluation, setting and upholding institutional standards and practices that align with global best-in-class methodologies and yet are fit-for-purpose for the Foundation’s Big Bet model of philanthropy.
Serve as a strategic advisor to executive leadership on matters related to impact, including how the foundation defines and measures the efficiency, effectiveness, value, and impact of its major investments. Shape institutional practices that integrate relevant impact-related considerations into decision-making processes.
Collaborate closely with the Business Insights, Strategic Communications, and Organizational Development and Learning teams to ensure alignment, clear delineation, and synergy.
Lead the development of enterprise-level reporting on impact, outcomes, and evaluation- contribute significant data, evidence, and thought leadership to the production of our annual impact report.
Build systems, processes, tools, and forums that enable knowledge sharing, reflection, and evidence-based adaptation- including the twice-yearly strategic dialogues.
Guide program teams in designing theories of change, impact pathways, surfacing impact-related risks, and ensuring the integrity of charitability claims.
Enable priority program and non-program teams to generate evidence about what is and isn’t working to support refinement and adaptation of strategies that achieve measurable and lasting impact.
Direct the design, procurement, and management of external evaluation and learning partnerships.
Promote the effective use of data and insights to improve program design and execution.
Generate and quality-assure evidence, data, and impact stories to elevate how the Foundation tells its impact story.
Strengthen the Foundation's reputation as a data-driven organization and a leader in strategic learning, evaluation, and impact measurement, and adaptive philanthropy.
Ensure that the Foundation’s impact claims are credible, defensible, and can withstand external scrutiny.
Contribute thought leadership through publications, convenings, presentations, and strategic partnerships. Represent the Foundation with peer institutions, funders, evaluators, researchers, and other strategic partners, and expand its network.
Lead and develop a high-performing Strategic Learning & Impact team, fostering inclusion, collaboration, innovation, and accountability.
Provide strategic direction, coaching, and mentorship to directors and senior staff.
Establish team goals, priorities, and performance expectations aligned with Foundation objectives.
Steward departmental resources and external investments to achieve strategic and operational objectives.

Education, Experience, and Skills

Generally expected to have 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in strategy, learning, evaluation, impact measurement, program design, or related disciplines.
Bachelor's required and advanced degree in public policy, international development, public health, social sciences, management, evaluation, or related field strongly preferred.
Extensive experience leading complex, cross-functional initiatives and teams within global or multinational environments.
Deep technical knowledge of impact measurement practices and methods – both established best practices and emerging approaches in the field.
Experience advising senior executives and organizational leaders on strategic and operational decisions.
Demonstrated experience designing and overseeing measurement, evaluation, and learning frameworks that drive organizational impact.
Exceptional communication, facilitation, and stakeholder engagement skills.
Experience working across philanthropic, public, and private sectors is strongly preferred.
Experience working with global partners across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and North America is preferred.
Extensive relevant networks and contacts to leverage in support of the Foundation’s work.

Competencies

Action Oriented: Takes on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
Collaborates: Builds partnerships and works collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
Manages Complexity: Makes sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.
Nimble Learning: Learns through experimentation when tackling new problems, using both successes and failures as learning fodder.
Strategic Mindset: Sees ahead to future possibilities and translates them into breakthrough strategies.
Develops Talent: Develops people to meet both their career goals and the organization's goals.

About The Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on collaborative partnerships at the frontiers of science, technology, and innovation that enable individuals, families, and communities to flourish. We make big bets to promote the well-being of humanity in food, health, energy, and finance, including through our public charity, RF Catalytic Capital (RFCC). For more information, sign up for our newsletter at www.rockefellerfoundation.org/subscribe and follow us on X @RockefellerFdn and LinkedIn @the-rockefeller-foundation.

The Rockefeller Foundation offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that includes health insurance programs, tuition reimbursement and student loan repayment, a generous 401K, parental leave, and various forms of paid time off, all to help our employees feel energized, cared for, and engaged.

As an organization, we focus on six values to advance our culture and continue our success. We are dedicated to being Transparent, Optimistic, Accountable, Collaborative, Trusted, and Equitable. We expect all employees at the Foundation to contribute by developing their unique perspectives and talent, challenging conventional wisdom through evidence and reason, and amplifying marginalized voices.

The Rockefeller Foundation is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity and compliance with all federal, state, and local laws concerning employment discrimination, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. To this end, the Foundation ensures equal opportunity to all employees and applicants regardless of race, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, lawful alien status, physical, mental, and medical disability, veteran status, liability for service in the United States Armed Forces, or any other protected status.

The Rockefeller Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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Vice President, Strategic Learning & Impact