Associate Director, State Impact

Organization: Results for America

Role: Associate Director, State Impact

Location: Flexible, within the United States

Organization Overview

Results for America (RFA) is the leading, national nonprofit organization helping policymakers at all levels of government harness the power of evidence and data to solve the world’s greatest challenges. Our mission is to make investing in what works the “new normal,” so that, one day, all government leaders use rigorous evidence and quality data to inform important policy and funding decisions. We believe that data-driven and evidence-based policy decisions could significantly increase the impact of the over $2 trillion that governments spend annually to advance economic mobility and racial equity.

Team Overview

RFA has organized a “practice” at every level of government: federal, state, and local. As part of its state practice, Results for America’s team: 

• Sets Standards of Excellence that outline how government leaders can produce better and more equitable outcomes by using data and evidence in budget, policy, and management decisions; 
• Provides implementation support and coaching for state government leaders to advance and promote best practices that enable their local partners to effectively implement community centered and evidence-based solutions that produce equitable population outcomes; 
• Enhances state and local implementation of national programs, such as the American Rescue Plan and Every Student Succeeds Act, to produce real results for residents across the country; and
• Supports states in using state funding streams (from federal and state sources) to be used in evidence-based ways that achieve local outcomes of interest.

Position Overview

This position inspires and guides government partners in using data and evidence and in aligning public resources to produce economic mobility and other equitable population outcomes.

Travel up to 5-10 % annually may be required.

This is a full time, exempt position, based in a home office anywhere within the U.S.

Position Reporting Relationship

The position reports to the VP and State Practice Lead. The position works very closely with another Associate Director on the State Team to coordinate engagements with government officials. This position also works closely with junior staff on other RFA Teams to ensure technical assistance to state government officials is timely, relevant, and impactful.

Position Responsibilities

State Implementation Support (40%) 

• Lead the implementation and delivery of technical assistance in select states to shift government funds to evidence-based and evidence-building efforts that will contribute to equitable local population outcomes 
• Identify federal and state funding streams that can be shifted 
• Coach state governments on how to shift and blend funds to effectively implement community-centered evidence-based and evidence-building solutions 
• Build and maintain relationships with state officials in order to enable RFA to understand their needs and design and deliver useful implementation support; 
• Develop content and curriculum, rooted in State Standard of Excellence criteria, for implementation support for state partners; 
• Provide tailored coaching to help state leaders to advance their evidence-based practices, including defining and prioritizing evidence of effectiveness in state budget processes and grant programs; and 
• Lead coordination of implementation support with external partners and funders. 

State Budget Leader Engagement and Mobilization (35%)

• Provide leadership for RFA’s engagement with senior state budget leaders, including: 
• Improving strategies, materials, presentations, curriculum, communications,  and other engagement resources based on feedback collected from the RFA  team, partner organizations, and key government partners.
• Enhancing coordination, collaboration, and alignment across Results for America’s 5TOCC and technical assistance programs for budget leaders at all levels of government.

Building and maintain multi-year relationships with state officialsMaintaining data in enterprise systems to facilitate analysis and insights

• Contribute to strategic communications that build momentum for state use of data and evidence to produce economic mobility.

State Standard of Excellence and Mobilization (10%) 

• Provide support for the annual assessment and publication process for the Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence. 
• Coordinate with the State Standard lead to provide strategic communications to government officials.

Internal Coordination and Impact Tracking (15%) 

• Ensure team efforts are in seamless alignment with RFA’s shared goals; 
• Coordinate technical assistance efforts with RFA’s other program teams, including the Local, Federal, Workforce, Education, and Measurement and Learning teams; 
• Contribute to the coordination and reporting on North Star goals and mapping of funding flows from federal to state to local government;
• In partnership with other leaders at RFA, establish and implement program impact metrics and mechanisms for tracking, including those that may require partner reporting; 
• Build indicators of capacity building that lead to equitable population-level outcomes; and ensure learnings from the support in jurisdictions are informing the overall strategy, scale model, and learning agenda; and 
• Contribute to RFA-wide initiatives including technology governance and Standards of Excellence alignment.
• Developing and managing contracts with independent consultants and interns supporting the State Practice 
• Track progress on key milestones to support funder management and reporting. 
• Contribute to the development and execution of fundraising processes

All RFA employees are expected to participate in the organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

Experience, Competencies, and Qualifications 

The ideal candidate will have the following qualifications, as well as an alignment with Results for America’s mission and organizational values:

Experience:

• 10+ years of relevant work experience and college degree
• Experience with government budgeting or grantmaking processes, including how evidence of effectiveness and equitable budgeting practices can be used in fiscal decision-making is required
• Work experience within government (federal, state, and/or county/city) preferred
• Experience supervising at least one FTE; ideally, 2-3 years experience in managing consultants, staff, or teams, including undergraduate and graduate level interns.
• Track record of successful project completion
• Experience setting and driving toward accomplishment of multiple team goals
• Demonstrated ability to manage cross team/cross department initiatives
• A track record of producing results in government, and expertise in public budgeting, use of data and evidence, project management, communication, and relationship management. 

Competencies: 

• Outstanding project management skills, including a strong capacity to manage and coordinate simultaneous projects and successfully prioritize multiple tasks; 
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to establish and implement systems to achieve goals; 
• Strong people and partnership management skills, including the ability to diffuse conflict and participate in complex management and reporting structures; 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to produce clear, concise, and compelling narratives through a combination of expert prose, use of data, graphics, and engaging storytelling; 
• Advanced skills in Microsoft Office and/or Google Suite software; 
• Highly independent and accountable, with the ability to efficiently complete many complicated tasks without close supervision (e.g., in a remote-office arrangement); 
• Able to work across a virtual and in-person team, and with government partners across the country; 

Salary and Benefits

Results for America offers a compensation package that includes: 

• A competitive base salary commensurate with relevant work experience; and
• A benefits package that includes choice in medical plans; dental/vision coverage; paid time off; a 403b retirement plan with employer contribution. 

The salary range for this position is $111,034 - $142,758.

New hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint depending on qualifications, internal equity, and the budgeted amount for the role.   

How to Apply

To apply for this position, please complete and submit all information in the application below.

Applicants are encouraged, but not required, to include their pronouns in their cover letter.

RFA is an equal opportunity employer that values/celebrates diversity and that follows a policy of making all employment decisions and personnel actions without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, partnership status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, disability, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual offenses or stalking, military status, veteran status or any other category protected under federal, state or local law.

Applicants for employment with RFA must have valid work authorization that does not require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the U.S.