Senior Associate, Research and Impact

Overdeck Family Foundation (“the Foundation”) was founded in 2011 with the goal of providing all children the opportunity to unlock their potential. The Foundation focuses exclusively on enhancing education, funding efforts both inside and outside of school in the areas of early childhood, hands‑on STEM education, and K‑9 programs that include supporting educators and student‑centered learning environments. Our grantmaking and strategic support focus on unlocking innovation, evidence, and growth opportunities for organizations that are committed to accelerating key academic and socio‑emotional outcomes for all children.

The Foundation funds both direct impact organizations and ecosystem efforts that clear the path to scale for our grantees and the work that they do.

At the Overdeck Family Foundation, we achieve our impact by thinking and acting with rigor and collaborating with one another, fostering a culture of curiosity and learning while living our core values to drive meaningful change. Visit (Use the "Apply for this Job" box below). for more information.

The Foundation is seeking a Senior Associate, Research & Impact to join its Strategic Impact and Learning (SIL) team to assess and build evidence about the ROI of the Foundation’s grantmaking. Reporting to the Research & Impact Officer, the Senior Associate will collaborate closely with the Program team to analyze, benchmark, and communicate the impact and cost‑effectiveness of grant strategies and investments to inform data‑driven decisions.

The Senior Associate will manage a portfolio of research grants that include validation studies of grantee models and efforts to build critical knowledge aligned with portfolio strategies and domains. The role will also include directly supporting grantees to build evidence and key capacities. The ideal candidate combines research and analytical expertise with a collaborative and learning‑oriented spirit, enabling them to engage with colleagues and external partners to apply insights toward achieving greater educational impact.

• Assess the impact and ROI of the Foundation’s grantmaking
  • Analyze the evidence base and costs for current and potential grantees
  • Collaborate with portfolios to generate comparative ROI analyses estimating and benchmarking the ROI of grant investments and strategies
  • Communicate impact, cost analyses, and findings in board meetings and materials
  • Support foundation‑wide and strategy‑level impact reporting
  • Advance field‑wide efforts to better and more consistently measure and use ROI for education funding and policy decisions
• Manage grants in research and evidence‑building that build critical insights for the foundation, grant partners, and the field
  • Source and review research proposals to assess and improve the quality and methodological rigor of proposed studies
  • Manage research grants, including advising on study design, implementation, and deliverables to maximize the likelihood of success
  • Guide efforts to support innovative research methodologies (leveraging AI and data science) to develop better, faster, and cheaper evidence
  • Communicate lessons learned through investments internally and externally
• Support grantees to build evidence about their impact and cost‑effectiveness
  • Connect with current and potential grantees to identify opportunities to strengthen their evidence through rapid cycle experimentation and longer‑term research efforts
  • Work with portfolios to identify grantee capacity‑building needs, and deliver capacity‑building support to a subset of grantees focused on specific goals and capacities (e.g., data science and systems, cost analysis)
  • Partner with Portfolio Success Team to identify third‑party capacity‑building opportunities and engagements

An evidence enthusiast focused on applying insights to influence outcomes. You bring an incisive lens to the design and use of research, demonstrating dexterity with a range of research methods. You balance a range of data sources (e.g., existing evidence, field benchmarks, and organizational context) to form insights and shape recommendations. You quickly deduce the meaning and…