Director, Research and Evaluation for RootOne

Director, Research and Evaluation for RootOne
RootOne at The Jewish Education Project
New York, NY

Opportunity for Impact

Since its inception in 2020, RootOne has helped more than 15,000 North American Jewish teens travel to Israel. RootOne’s short-term vision is to grow the number of North American Jewish teens traveling to Israel to 15,000 every year by 2030, and to connect thousands of Jewish teens to meaningful Jewish opportunities as they progress to the next stage in their lives. Learn more at www.RootOne.org.

The Jewish Education Project has been devoted to ensuring that Jewish education is in tune with the forces that impact our world and our communities in a changing environment. We are a New York-based agency and beneficiary of UJA-Federation of New York, working closely with educational leadership in day schools, congregations, early childhood settings, teen programs and beyond to spark and spread innovative approaches that expand the reach and increase the impact of Jewish education for children, teens, and families. With a focus on serving New York (the five boroughs of NYC, Westchester, and Long Island), The Jewish Education Project is also engaged in several national initiatives supported by major foundations. The Jewish Education Project has established itself as a leading organization in transforming Jewish education.

Together, we are committed to being at the forefront of ensuring that Jewish education and experiences remain relevant and meaningful in the lives of Jewish youth and their families today and tomorrow. For more information about The Jewish Education Project, please visit www.jewishedproject.org

Position Overview 

Data plays a central role in RootOne’s work – it directly informs our decisions and is the single most powerful tool we utilize to create substantive change within the field of teen Israel travel and education. By defining and measuring impact, and by working directly with trip providers and tour operators in utilizing data to recognize the strengths of their work as well as the opportunities for impact growth, RootOne’s research and evaluation efforts guide itinerary development, educator and staff roles and training, recruitment, innovation and so much more. Typically, RootOne generates 25-30 research projects each with their own research questions, instruments, analyses, and findings. 

Accordingly, the Director, Research and Evaluation for RootOne serves a crucial role within RootOne’s success. 

The Director is responsible for leading various research and evaluation efforts designed to: 

1. Maximize the long-term impact of immersive Israel travel on Jewish teens.
2. Position RootOne as the leader in teen Israel engagement and education both in practice and theory. 
3. Better understand RootOne teen participants and their families as well as our target potential audiences (specifically Jewishly under-engaged teens and their families).
4. Create a community of practice and growth mindset among RootOne’s extended stakeholder community of trip providers, tour operators, and content providers in utilizing data and best practices to grow the collective impact of our work. 
5. Work with field professionals and other experts in defining impact, work with field professionals and other experts in defining RootOne's impact by developing and modifying instruments and scales that will help the field better understand the impact of immersive Israel experiences and pre- and post-trip engagement efforts on participants and alumni. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as the lead on RootOne evaluation endeavors and be the key liaison to RootOne’s third-party research and evaluation partner and the RootOne leadership team on all issues related to research and research strategy for RootOne.

• Participate as a member of the Leadership Team for the RootOne initiative, leveraging one’s experience and insights to help inform and impact the overall strategy and operations of the RootOne initiative.
• Supervise the RootOne Research Manager position to help support RootOne-focused research and evaluation, and to build out the Research and Evaluation team as needed.
• Work closely with RootOne leadership to integrate evaluative mechanisms into our data informed approaches to program delivery.
• Review and improve RootOne’s evaluation mechanisms and then regularly analyze and make meaning of results, building a cycle of ongoing learning, reflection, and iteration among our key partners (trip providers, tour operators, content providers, etc.). 
• Lead RootOne’s efforts to effectively use data to communicate our programmatic impact with external stakeholders.
• Work with all areas of program delivery to consider how data influences their practice.
• Provide impact data to RootOne’s fundraising team for use in grant applications and reports, donor engagement and presentations.
• As appropriate, author articles and papers on relevant findings that will be of service to the greater fields of teen engagement, Jewish education, Israel education and teen travel.
• Support systems and develop new strategies for data warehousing, analysis, and visualization to support our internal team, as well as external partners and funders.

Experience, Qualifications, and Competencies

• PhD required in most relevant disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and education (candidates in the process of defending their dissertation inclusive).
• Candidates with diverse cultural, educational, and experiential backgrounds are urged to apply.
• Experience in and knowledge of the field of Jewish and Israel-focused Education, with a particular understanding of teen engagement, is preferred.
• At least 7 years’ experience as the leader of a program, initiative, or organization strongly preferred.
• Extremely strong interpersonal skills and the ability to develop strong relationships with a wide variety of people.
• The Ideal Candidate will bring:
  1. Professional experience outside of the academic arena, specifically in making data accessible to non-academics.
  2. Experience with educational innovation or experimentation.
  3. The ability to lead and partner with integrity and inspiration; flexibility and openness to working with professional and volunteer community leaders.
  4. Capacity to successfully encourage stakeholders to embrace and utilize the results of research and evaluation to elevate their offerings and transform the impact of their work on teens and alumni.
  5. Entrepreneurial and self-starter mindset; a problem solver with top notch planning and prioritizing skills.
  6. Persuasive and passionate communication skills, both written and verbal (with skills in presenting, public speaking, and group facilitation). 
  7. Advanced data analysis skills and expertise with SPSS, R, and other statistical software.
  8. Experience leveraging advanced digital storytelling platforms such as Tableau, GIS, DisplayR, and Microsoft Suite to visualize complex data and drive insights.
  9. Expertise with leading survey platforms, including Qualtrics and Alchemer.
  10. Extensive knowledge of research methodology and best practices, including survey design, sampling techniques, question formulation, and data collection strategies. 
  11. A creative and collaborative disposition

• You are a candidate who will embrace working in an environment that prioritizes:
  1. A positive attitude
  2. Demonstrating care and concern for the people around them
  3. Leading with humble confidence and competence
  4. Reliability, consistency, and accountability.
  5. Striving for excellence.

What We Offer 

• Salary in the range of $130,000 to $150,000 commensurate with experience,
• Three weeks paid time off in year 1; increasing incrementally on a set schedule.
• Paid Family Leave.
• Comprehensive health insurance.
• 401k plan.
• Commuter benefits.
• Early close on Fridays for Shabbat and closed for most Jewish holidays. 
• Shortened summer hours.
• A positive work environment with exposure to great learning opportunities and the chance to work with some of the top professionals in the field of Jewish Education. 

 How to Apply

• Please submit resume and cover letter to [email protected]. Please include the job title in the email subject line.
• The Jewish Education Project is an equal opportunity employer.

Location: Hybrid work environment – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday at 1675 Broadway, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10019; Monday and Friday remote work.

The Jewish Education Project aims to select, place and train the best qualified persons based upon relevant factors such as work quality, attitude and experience, so as to provide equal employment opportunity for all our employees in compliance with applicable local, state, and federal laws and without regard to non-work related factors such as race, color, religion/creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other protected class. We encourage and support diversity and tolerance in our workplace.