Head of Learning, Evaluation & Measurement

Earthjustice; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 250,000 - 277,000; Full time

Job summary

Earthjustice seeks a founding Associate Vice President, Measurement, Evaluation, and Learning to design and build the organization’s first evidence, evaluation, and improvement function. This new role will create a team, framework, and culture to measure and communicate impact across a 670-person organization of environmental lawyers.

The AVP will collaborate with senior leadership to define progress, strengthen strategy, and integrate learning into fundraising and external communications,

Qualifications

• Ten plus years of experience in strategy, organizational learning, or systems change, ideally including senior leadership in an evidence, learning, monitoring and evaluation, or impact function.
• Experience in climate, sustainability, environmental, human health, or justice work is valued; a minimum of 3 years in climate-related work is a plus.
• Proven experience designing frameworks and programs from the ground up, translating strategy and evidence into clear structures for action in complex or evolving contexts.
• Experience designing and leading learning processes (e.g., reflection, evaluation, learning agendas) that inform decision-making and enable teams to adapt strategies over time.
• Strong fluency in qualitative and quantitative methods, with the ability to interpret data, assess progress, and guide teams in using evidence for making decisions; experience in advocacy, litigation, or other mission-driven environments where outcomes resist simple quantification is highly valued.
• Experience applying systems thinking to design approaches that respond to external conditions (e.g., policy, legal landscape, markets) and evolve over time.
• Experience leading change across teams, including embedding new frameworks, tools, and ways of working into core processes, decision-making, and organizational culture.
• Familiarity with data systems and tools that support evidence and learning (dashboards, data collection, and reporting platforms), with the ability to align technology to program and organizational needs, partnering with Earthjustice’s IT function.
• Experience with funder and donor reporting; NGO or foundation experience is welcomed.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and leadership skills, including the ability to manage teams, work with senior leaders, and translate complex ideas into clear, actionable guidance.
• A graduate degree is preferred but not required for the right candidate.

Responsibilities

• Design and lead implementation of an organization-wide evidence and learning framework aligned with program strategies and theories of change.
• Establish clear and consistent ways to define success and track progress across legal, policy, advocacy, and partnership work.
• Ensure the framework captures results and real-world context, blending data with narrative for learning and adaptation.
• Drive organization-wide adoption by embedding learning practices into core workflows, decision-making, and culture; partner with senior leadership.
• Establish and facilitate learning processes such as strategy reviews, reflections, and learning agendas to strengthen alignment and continuous improvement.
• Oversee evaluations across priority initiatives and synthesize findings to inform strategy and fundraising communications.
• Build and maintain relationships with funders, researchers, and field leaders to stay current on evaluation practices and bring leading approaches into Earthjustice’s work.
• Represent Earthjustice in external forums and donor conversations to elevate evidence-based impact and learning.
• Partner with funders to align measurement approaches and strengthen collective impact across the ecosystem.
• Recruit, hire, and manage up to three staff to support the design and implementation of the framework; foster collaboration.

Skills

Strategy development

Organizational learning

Systems thinking

Data visualization

Qualitative & quantitative methods

Change management

Leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Funders reporting

Communication skills

Education

Graduate degree preferred

Tools

Dashboards

Data systems

Reporting platforms

Job description

Earthjustice seeks a founding Associate Vice President, Measurement, Evaluation, and Learning to design and build the organization’s first evidence, evaluation, and improvement function. This new role will create a team, framework, and culture to measure and communicate impact across a 670-person organization of environmental lawyers.

The AVP will collaborate with senior leadership to define progress, strengthen strategy, and integrate learning into fundraising and external communications,