Director of Learning & Research

Position description

BoardSource is a globally recognized nonprofit focused on strengthening nonprofit leadership at the highest level—the board of directors. With more than thirty years of experience, BoardSource is at the forefront of nonprofit board leadership, research, and support. BoardSource provides leaders with an extensive range of tools, resources, and research data to increase board effectiveness, strengthen organizational impact, and serve as the national voice for inspired and effective board leadership.

BoardSource now seeks nominations and applications for its inaugural Director of Learning & Research (Director). This newly created role will be instrumental in building new structures and systems to implement BoardSource’s new Theory of Change and operationalize more innovative and equitable approaches to nonprofit governance. The Director will bring a data-driven, community-centered approach to work across BoardSource to lead, develop, coordinate, integrate, and enhance the ways in which the team captures, analyzes, and uses learnings from stakeholders, all in service to creating new and improved resources that are tailored and responsive to the dynamic, diverse needs of social sector organizations. The Director will also manage and work closely with the Data Analyst to drive quantitative research efforts, including the Leading With Intent survey and report, and will fulfill their responsibilities in close collaboration with other BoardSource staff.

ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW

BoardSource envisions a world where every social sector organization has the leadership it needs to fulfill its mission and advance the public good. For the last several years, BoardSource has been on a journey of transformation. This transformation is grounded in community—and an understanding that if they are working towards a more just social sector, they must center those who are most impacted by injustice in all aspects of their work. To achieve this, BoardSource will go beyond working for community and shift towards working in community – because those closest to systemic challenges have the most grounded perspectives and innovative solutions needed for change.

While BoardSource used to be primarily focused on meeting the technical support needs of individual boards, it is now a more complex and impactful organization that marries this technical support for boards with a strong leadership voice advocating for necessary change in social sector board leadership, particularly to center racial equity and shift power toward the communities served by nonprofits.

To realize this vision, BoardSource will ground itself in these four pillars:

• Listening: Developing organization-wide mechanisms for gathering data, gleaning best practices, hearing diverse perspectives, and receiving feedback will expand and deepen our knowledge.
• Learning: A culture of continuous learning, which seeks new information to evolve and shift thinking, will allow BoardSource to remain at the forefront of current challenges, trends, and innovations in governance.
• Co-creation: By learning from and partnering with those closest to the systemic challenges, we aim to address and leverage BoardSource’s thirty-plus years of governance experience. We will develop innovative tools and practices that reflect the collective wisdom of our sector.
• Expertise: Expertise rooted in humility, listening, and learning will enable BoardSource’s knowledge to be co-created and far-reaching. Our resources will capture the complexity of our continuously evolving field and deliver tailored solutions to meet leaders where they are.

The lens through which they will carry out this work is racial equity and an understanding that boards are one of the most powerful levers for change, equality, and justice. In this moment of great challenge and possibility, they know that their work to support and empower boards is critical, and they feel that call to action every day in their interactions with nonprofit leaders on the front lines of change.

OPPORTUNITIES AND EXPECTATIONS OF THE DIRECTOR OF LEARNING & RESEARCH

The Director of Learning & Research will advance BoardSource’s transition to a more learning-focused organization by building new capabilities within the organization to improve data collection, research, and knowledge systems. They will create new research agendas, drive research efforts, optimize methodologies, ensure alignment with strategic goals, and synthesize and share learnings to strengthen BoardSource’s role in nonprofit governance.

Innovation

• Embracing BoardSource’s shift towards becoming a listening and learning organization that marries its 35+ year experience in board governance, envision and create mechanisms to engage with the BoardSource community to capture data on the challenges, solutions, and opportunities to strengthen and enhance nonprofit governance across the sector.
• Work closely with the BoardSource team to think creatively about the current and possible sources of information that come into the organization and streamline mechanisms to capture and synthesize that information to inform BoardSource’s programming and resources.

Learning & Knowledge Management

• Continuously assess, and evaluate BoardSource’s ability to collect, organize, analyze, and use information and learnings from the sector.
• Lead efforts to create and improve the structures, platforms, and processes across the organization that facilitate the collection, organization, analysis, and use of information and learnings from the sector.
• Stay abreast of learning, information, and knowledge management trends, approaches, and technologies.

Research

• Lead and enhance research initiatives, including but not limited to BoardSource’s Leading With Intent survey and report.
• Identify new areas for research informed by and responsive to information and learnings from the sector.
• With the Data Analyst, identify and implement improvements to BoardSource’s research methodologies to enhance data quality and relevance.
• Oversee the collection, analysis, and dissemination of research findings to inform sector practices and BoardSource’s strategic initiatives.
• Review nonprofit sector research from other organizations and academic institutions and highlight relevant findings for our organization and community.
• Connect with researchers in the nonprofit sector, including BoardSource’s Research Advisory Council, to learn from them and enhance BoardSource’s standing in the research community.

Collaboration and Team Management

• Supervise and support the Data Analyst, providing guidance and professional development opportunities.
• Collaborate with other BoardSource teams to ensure research and learning initiatives align with organizational goals and priorities.
• Collaborate with other program team members to share learnings and implement findings to create new and improved resources and supports.
• Work closely with the Chief Program & Strategy Officer to develop and implement strategic plans for research, learning, and knowledge management.

Communication and Dissemination

• Develop and deliver presentations, reports, and other communications to share research findings and learning outcomes with internal and external stakeholders.
• Represent BoardSource at conferences, workshops, and other events to share insights and foster relationships with sector leaders.

EDUCATION, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

While no one candidate will embody all the qualifications enumerated below, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences:

• 5+ years of experience in research, learning, or related roles within the nonprofit sector.
• Master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., Research, Social Sciences, Education) or equivalent experience.
• Demonstrated experience in leading both qualitative and quantitative research projects and managing research teams.
• Demonstrated experience conducting community-based participatory research projects, building trust with communities, and centering equity in how data is gathered and research participants groups convened.
• Strong understanding of nonprofit governance and equity-focused practices.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly and effectively.
• Proven ability to build relationships and collaborate with diverse audiences and stakeholders.
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
• Ability to be a creative and resourceful problem-solver who can deal with some level of ambiguity and strive to build consensus with the appropriate people to execute on projects.
• Ability to work collegially and effectively with staff in a team-oriented environment, as well as independently on key projects and deliverables.
• Ability to handle sensitive information confidentially and with diplomacy.
• Knowledge of and passion for the nonprofit sector and boards. Experience working with or serving on boards is highly desired.
• Deep commitment to racial equity and an understanding of the role of governance as a lever for change.
• Aligned with BoardSource’s values, with the ability to bring a lens of humility, listening, learning, and co-creation to all aspects of the role.
• Deep knowledge of MS Office, SPSS, and Google Suite applications.
• Demonstrated proficiency in statistical analyses such as T-Tests, ANOVA, and Chi Squares required.
• Experience with statistical packages (i.e., SPSS, SAS, STATA, R) and Qualtrics survey platform and StatsIQ is desirable.

LOCATION, TRAVEL, COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

BoardSource is located in Washington, D.C., and staff are expected to be in the office at least once a week, with senior leadership team members regularly coming in twice a week. The physical requirements for this role are customary to an office setting – seated or standing at a desk, using standard office equipment and technology. Reasonable accommodation will gladly be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions. Travel of up to 15-20% of your time is expected for this role.

BoardSource offers competitive wages and excellent benefits, including high-quality health insurance with dental and vision coverage, life insurance, a retirement plan with employer match, and other work/life benefits. This will be a full-time, exempt position. The hiring range for this position is between $119,000 – $148,000.

Application instructions

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