Description

Vice President of Research and Network Innovation

Position Details:

Position Type: Full Time, Exempt
Reports To: President and CEO
Work Location: Remote or Silver Spring, MD
Level of Travel Required: Moderate travel per department and organizational needs.

Job Overview:

The Vice President of Research, Strategy, and Innovation plays a central role in advancing Achieving the Dream’s (ATD) capacity to learn from its work and apply that learning to improve results for colleges and students across the network.

ATD partners with more than 300 colleges through coaching, tools, and network engagement. Through this work, the organization develops a broad view of how institutions advance student success and how change occurs over time. This role is responsible for synthesizing that experience and ensuring it informs ATD’s programs, services, and strategy.

The Vice President leads the development and use of evidence across the organization. This includes building a clear understanding of the institutional practices that drive change, integrating applied research with insights from the field, and strengthening systems to collect, analyze, and use data across ATD’s work.

A key responsibility is ensuring that learning from grant-funded initiatives and targeted projects is integrated into ATD’s core work. Insights generated through these efforts are used to strengthen coaching, tools, and strategy across the network and to support long-term sustainability.

The role also advances ATD’s Community Vibrancy work by supporting the development of metrics, tools, and resources that connect institutional efforts to broader community impact and inform both network and organizational priorities.

The Vice President works closely with coaching, program, and executive leadership teams to support data-informed decision making and continuous improvement. The role also contributes to ATD’s external presence through engagement with partners and participation in national conversations on student success and institutional change.

Duties and Responsibilities: 

Strategic Leadership

• Lead a research, data, and innovation agenda aligned with ATD priorities
• Guide organizational learning across coaching, cohorts, and grant-funded initiatives
• Ensure insights from initiatives inform ATD’s strategy and core work
• Represent ATD through board service, partnerships, and national engagement
• Collaborate with partners to strengthen alignment across the field

Team Leadership and Development

• Lead and support a research and data team responsible for analysis and application
• Build a team culture focused on clarity, collaboration, and execution
• Develop staff to serve as both analysts and partners to program and coaching teams
• Set priorities and manage workflow to ensure timely, high-quality outputs

Applied Research, Learning, and Innovation

• Lead applied research aligned to ATD’s work with colleges, cohorts, and grant-funded initiatives
• Synthesize learning across coaching, the Institutional Capacity Assessment Tool (ICAT), Community Vibrancy work, and national initiatives
• Identify patterns in institutional capacity building, student outcomes, and community impact
• Use ATD’s Community Vibrancy Framework to connect practice, outcomes, and impact
• Ensure learning from grant-funded initiatives is integrated into ATD’s core services and long-term strategy
• Translate findings into guidance that informs program design, coaching, and organizational decision making

Tool, Framework, and Practice Integration

• Lead development and refinement of ATD tools, including ICAT, Community Vibrancy workbooks, diagnostics, and planning resources
• Oversee the continuous development and improvement of Community Vibrancy workbooks and related network tools
• Translate research into practical tools and resources for colleges and coaches
• Ensure learning from initiatives is reflected in tools, coaching approaches, and supports
• Partner with coaching and program teams to apply research and tools in practice
• Support consistency and quality across ATD’s coaching model

Data Strategy and Analytics

• Set direction for data use across the organization
• Define and advance key measures tied to student success, institutional capacity, and Community Vibrancy
• Oversee development and refinement of Community Vibrancy metrics for the network and the organization
• Improve access to data for internal teams
• Align data collection across core work and grant-funded initiatives
• Use national and network data sources to inform analysis and decision making

Primary Data Collection

• Design data collection approaches aligned to ATD engagements
• Improve diagnostic and assessment processes
• Lead evaluation work tied to external funding
• Ensure data collection across initiatives supports broader organizational learning
• Oversee ICAT data collection and ongoing refinement

Secondary Data Analysis

• Analyze national and network data to identify trends and outcomes
• Inform cohort selection and strategic planning
• Connect external data to internal learning
• Support reporting and recognition efforts

Organizational Collaboration

• Partner with leadership to align research and data with organizational priorities
• Work across program and internal teams to support implementation
• Coordinate with IT on data systems and governance
• Support Development on evaluation and outcomes for funded work 

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications:

• Ph.D. degree in a relevant field
• Significant experience leading research, data, or analytics work
• Experience designing and running applied research or evaluation
• Ability to translate research into practical tools, guidance, or decisions
• Experience in higher education or a related field

Desired Qualifications:

• Ability to connect research and data to both strategy and execution
• Experience developing tools, frameworks, or products used in practice
• Strong grounding in applied research methods
• Experience with program evaluation
• Knowledge of institutional research in higher education
• Familiarity with national postsecondary data sources
• Strong leadership and communication skills
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and adjust as needed