CLASSIFICATION: Exempt
HOURS AND WORK SCHEDULE: Full-Time. Hours are typically Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM. Occasional evening and weekend hours.
REPORTS TO: Data and Learning Director
SALARY RANGE: $65,000 to $74,750. Compensation will be based on experience and education.
SUPERVISES: None
BENEFITS: Ready for School, Ready for Life (Ready Ready) is a Family Forward Certified Workplace by North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation (NCECF) and meets the standards outlined by the Family Forward NC initiative by offering policies and practices that support the health and well-being of North Carolina’s children and families. The benefits package includes health, dental, vision, group life insurance, a 401(k) contribution, paid parental leave, a generous holiday schedule, paid time off, a remote work stipend, and a flexible work schedule. A computer, monitor, docking station, keyboard, mouse, webcam, and printer will be provided. Ready Ready values professional development and offers opportunities for staff to strengthen and further develop their individual skill set.
ABOUT READY FOR SCHOOL, READY FOR LIFE
Ready Ready is committed to building a connected, innovative system of care that ensures every child in Guilford County is set up for lifelong learning and success. As a backbone organization, Ready Ready is not a direct service provider, but instead provides strategic and programmatic support to more than 300 community-based organizations, including educators, healthcare providers and social service agencies, serving our youngest children and their families—from prenatal through age 8.
Ready Ready was born in 2007 from a community effort focused on reducing poverty in Guilford County. In 2018, The Duke Endowment and Blue Meridian Partners joined this effort to promote economic and social mobility. Together, we are creating a long-term, comprehensive, evidence-based approach for systemic change that builds the capacity of community partners and fundamentally improves the lives of children in Guilford County.
Today, Ready Ready is entering a pivotal and exciting new chapter. Under new leadership, we are moving with renewed focus, innovation, and passion for the future of Guilford County and the state. We are building on strong momentum, expanding our reach, and deepening our impact. With clarity of vision and commitment, we are strengthening the collective system that connects families to the right services at the right time, using data to inform decisions, and measuring outcomes to ensure lasting impact.
We are excited to expand our team with mission-driven individuals who want to take this work to the next level and contribute to meaningful change for families and young children across Guilford County.
WHAT WE DO
With an entrepreneurial spirit, forward-looking vision and a $4M budget, Ready Ready works to ensure that all Guilford County children enter school with the skills, supports and opportunities they need to thrive in life. For parents, families and caregivers, we streamline the process for accessing support services so that their children have the foundation to start school strong and developmentally on track.
Specifically, we support partner organizations and public agencies providing direct service with the following:
Expansion and integration of evidence-informed and evidence-based programs.
Design and execution of an integrated data system.
Design and execution of a family-friendly navigation system.
Implementation of capacity building practices among service providers.
Rigorous evaluation of implementation and impact.
Ready Ready enhances this direct service through its collective impact backbone (intermediary) role in guiding vision and strategy, supporting aligned activities, establishing shared measurement practices, building public will, advancing policy, and mobilizing funding.
Please note that while we are deeply committed to supporting young children and their families, our work does not involve direct interaction with children with the exception of a few roles. Instead, we focus on equipping our partners with the tools and resources they need to make a lasting impact in the community. That includes state agencies, medical home providers, education systems, and community-based organizations.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Data and Learning Lead is a key driver of Ready Ready’s mission to ensure every child in Guilford County enters school on track for success. This role is ideal for someone who is curious, analytical, and passionate about how data can spark learning, highlight systemic challenges, measure progress, and amplify the stories of our partners and community. Their work will support the organization in using data for learning and improvement, both internally and across the initiative. This will include managing, maintaining, and improving data reporting processes with Ready Ready staff and with community partners; managing quarterly data collection and 6-month reporting processes to Ready Ready’s primary funder; building organizational capacity to use data for learning and improvement at both a policy and a staff level; and supporting management of and accountability for evaluation activities. The person in this role will work closely with staff, partners, and evaluators to ensure that data is meaningful, accurate, equity-centered, and actionable.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Manage Data Reporting Processes
Support Ready Ready staff on completion of quarterly progress indicator data updates, including data from partners.
Provide training for new staff on reporting systems and expectations and ongoing training and support for all staff.
Review, refine, and analyze quarterly data, and provide data and narrative summaries identifying trends, successes, and challenges to Ready Ready’s leadership team.
Create data visualizations to reflect growth or change over time for internal use by Ready Ready teams.
Annually, support Ready Ready staff in updating or developing new progress indicators, and work with relevant Ready Ready staff to support requests for progress indicators from funded partners.
Update reporting templates annually.
Develop and maintain documentation to support this process.
Manage Milestone Reporting
Oversee the process for staff submission of material for 6-month Milestone Reports to The Duke Endowment and Blue Meridian Partners.
Ensure data from quarterly progress indicator reporting is accurately represented in milestone reporting.
Ensure milestone reporting is complete, timely, accurate, and addresses specific questions or concerns from The Duke Endowment and Blue Meridian Partners.
Review, refine, and analyze milestone report data, and provide data and narrative summaries to Ready Ready’s leadership team.
Develop and maintain documentation to support this process.
Build Capacity to Use Data for Learning and Improvement
Build a culture of data use at Ready Ready, including working with the Director of Data and Learning to identify opportunities to implement policies supporting use of data for learning and improvement across the organization.
Support Ready Ready staff in developing their capacity to reflect on and make meaning from data, through both individual informal interactions and formal trainings or presentations. Recommend and arrange technical assistance as needed.
Ensure that data from all Ready Ready workstreams is considered through the lens of Ready Ready’s equity statement.
Support Evaluation Activities
Support initiative evaluation activities
Support coordination between evaluation partners and all Ready Ready workstreams involved in evaluation to ensure required information for all levels of evaluation is available and to identify any needed support for Ready Ready staff.
Support community partners with meeting evaluators’ needs.
Work with Ready Ready staff to update and maintain component logic models.
Review data from a variety of sources for data insights and elevate these to appropriate decision-making teams.
General
Document, synthetize, and analyze job-related data to use for learning and improvement, to track progress, and to report to funders and other stakeholders.
Provide regular reports on progress to Ready Ready leadership team and liaise across other partners/consultants.
Perform other duties as assigned by the CEO and/or supervisor.
QUALIFICATIONS
This is an outstanding opportunity to play a critical role in building a system of care for Guilford County’s youngest children and their families. Therefore, first and foremost, the Data and Learning Lead must be committed to the mission of Ready Ready. Additionally, the successful candidate will be able to demonstrate:
Required
Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, public health, social work, data science, or related field (Master’s degree preferred).
Minimum of 2 years’ professional experience with research or program implementation in at least one of the following areas: data analytics, using data for learning and improvement, data communications, program evaluation and impact measurement, research and evaluation, reporting and compliance.
Advanced skills in Excel (formulas, pivot tables, charts/graphs) and familiarity with Tableau.
Understanding of the application of both qualitative and quantitative data for continuous improvement, communicating impact, and determining progress toward internal and external goals.
Excellent oral and written communication skills, with exceptional attention to detail.
Ability to develop and prepare high-quality presentations, reports, and communications.
Ability to think strategically, analytically, and creatively to strengthen processes and solve problems.
Ability to build trust with diverse partners and adapt communication for different audiences.
Comfort working in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment with changing priorities.
Strong organizational and time management skills; able to work independently and collaboratively.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and comfort with digital collaboration tools (e.g., Teams, Zoom, shared drives).
Commitment to equity, inclusion, and Ready Ready’s mission of improving outcomes for children and families.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and comfort with digital collaboration tools (e.g., Teams, Zoom, shared drives).
Commitment to equity, inclusion, and Ready Ready’s mission of improving outcomes for children and families.
Desired
Master’s degree in social sciences, public health, social work, data science, or related field.
5+ years’ professional experience with research or program implementation in at least one of the following areas: data analytics, using data for learning and improvement, data communications, program evaluation and impact measurement, research and evaluation, reporting and compliance.
Experience in the nonprofit or start-up sector.
Experience with collective impact work.
Knowledge of maternal and child health, early childhood, education, or healthcare systems, particularly in Guilford County.
