Program Evaluation Specialist

Job purpose

The Program Evaluation Specialist will help lead program impact evaluation efforts at AFT. The Specialist will help construct and execute this broad and growing effort with objectives to support social science research and advance organizational programs. Specifically, this position will play a strategic role in helping to build larger program impact evaluation efforts across the organization. 

 Position summary

The Program Evaluation Specialist will help lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of program evaluation efforts across AFT. The Specialist will develop evaluation approaches that apply qualitative and quantitative methods to assess program impacts on farmers, ranchers, and agriculture professionals, inform organizational learning, and support evidence-based decision-making for further program refinement and development. The Specialist will work closely with the national research team, regional and national program staff, and other internal teams to collect, analyze, and communicate impact evaluation findings that help advance AFT’s mission. In addition, this highly collaborative position builds upon current efforts to establish broader organizational program evaluation capacity.

Duties and responsibilities

Program Evaluation Leadership

• 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. 

Data Collection and Analysis

• 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.

Reporting and Communication

• 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. 

Collaboration and Technical Support

• 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. 

Research and 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.