Program Evaluation Specialist

Summary

American Farmland Trust is a purpose-driven organization focused on protecting farmland, promoting sound practices, and helping keep farmers on the land. The Program Evaluation Specialist will lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of program evaluation efforts, using qualitative and quantitative methods to assess program impacts. The role will analyze and communicate findings, provide technical support, and strengthen organization-wide evaluation capacity and learning.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, implementation, and refinement of new program evaluation frameworks across AFT initiatives
• Develop evaluation plans aligned with program objectives
• Establish standardized evaluation approaches that can be applied across multiple programs while accommodating program-specific needs
• Identify opportunities to expand and improve organizational evaluation capacity
• Design and implement qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, and other evaluation tools informed by organizational needs and peer-reviewed literature
• Manage data collection activities to ensure data quality, consistency, and confidentiality
• Support development of an internal database and data management system
• Synthesize findings into meaningful conclusions that support program improvement and organizational learning
• Prepare technical reports, summaries, presentations, and other communication products that clearly convey evaluation findings to internal and external audiences
• Translate evaluation results into practical recommendations for program staff, leadership, funders, and partners
• Contribute evaluation findings to grant reports, publications, presentations, and other organizational communications as appropriate
• Lead a collaborative effort to create an organization-wide impact evaluation system and toolkit for all staff
• Collaborate with program staff and external partners throughout the evaluation process
• Provide technical assistance to program teams on evaluation design, data collection, and interpretation of results
• Facilitate workshops, meetings, and stakeholder discussions to support evaluation planning and dissemination of findings
• Foster collaborative relationships that strengthen organizational learning
• Identify and implement emerging evaluation methods, tools, and best practices relevant to AFT programs
• Contribute to applied social science research that advances understanding of program effectiveness and participant outcomes
• Support the integration of evaluation findings into program planning, strategic decision-making, and organizational learning initiatives
• This is not necessarily an all-inclusive list of job-related responsibilities. Management reserves the right to revise the job or to require other or different duties be performed as assigned

Skills

• Documented 2-5 years of professional experience conducting program evaluation
• Documented experience working with both qualitative and quantitative data
• Survey experience using software such as Survey Monkey or Qualtrics
• Managing confidential data and protecting respondent identities with data management systems
• Analyzing quantitative data using software such as Excel or R
• Analyzing qualitative data using software such as NVivo or Dedoose
• Collaborative and constructive team member
• Self-starter with ability to work independently
• Group facilitation experience
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex data into language accessible to multiple audiences (researchers, program staff, farmers and ranchers, etc.)
• Committed to AFT's mission of protecting farmland, promoting sound practices, and helping to keep farmers on the land
• MS degree in a social science-related discipline
• Preferred background in agriculture, ecosystem services, environmental science, or a similar field

Qualifications

Must Haves

• Documented 2-5 years of professional experience conducting program evaluation
• Documented experience working with both qualitative and quantitative data
• Survey experience using software such as Survey Monkey or Qualtrics
• Managing confidential data and protecting respondent identities with data management systems
• Analyzing quantitative data using software such as Excel or R
• Analyzing qualitative data using software such as NVivo or Dedoose
• Collaborative and constructive team member
• Self-starter with ability to work independently
• Group facilitation experience
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex data into language accessible to multiple audiences (researchers, program staff, farmers and ranchers, etc.)
• Committed to AFT's mission of protecting farmland, promoting sound practices, and helping to keep farmers on the land

Nice to Haves

• MS degree in a social science-related discipline
• Preferred background in agriculture, ecosystem services, environmental science, or a similar field

Benefits

• Insurance coverage begins the 1st of the month following the date of hire.
• Medical & Prescription Coverage
• Dental Coverage
• Vision Coverage
• Company Paid Life Insurance & Long-Term Disability (LTD)
• Voluntary Life Insurance
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA) – Healthcare & Dependent Care
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• 401k Plan
• Sick Leave: Regular full-time employees accrue 13 “sick days” per year.
• Vacation Leave: Accrue 15 days during the first year increasing by one day per year to 20 days per year maximum.
• Holidays: AFT observes twelve fixed holidays and a week between Christmas and New Years off during the year (all offices closed) plus a choice of up to three (depending on hiring month) floating holidays.
• A diverse and inclusive work environment
• Remote work opportunity