Senior Evaluation and Data Strategy Officer - Foundation

Blue Shield of California; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 138,000 - 207,000; Full time

Job summary

Blue Shield of California Foundation seeks a Senior Evaluation and Data Strategy Officer to advance evidence-based decision making and learning across initiatives. You will lead complex evaluation, data strategy, and learning projects, manage internal and external partners, and translate community insights into actionable improvements.

The role emphasizes equity-centered approaches, cross-functional collaboration, and population-level impact.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or High School Diploma/GED with 4 years additional relevant experience in lieu of a degree
• Master’s degree preferred
• At least 10 years of prior relevant experience in evaluation, research, data strategy, or organizational learning
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience in philanthropy, nonprofit work, public sector, or related fields
• Experience leading evaluation methodologies, organizational learning, research, and data strategy within philanthropic, nonprofit, community-based, or public institutions
• Equitable and inclusive evaluation practices that center diverse evidence, community voice, lived expertise, and practical use of findings for decision-making
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with ability to conceptualize complex issues and interpret data
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for diverse audiences
• Ability to manage large, complex cross-functional projects with budgets and timelines
• Influence across functions to adopt new concepts, practices, tools, and approaches
• Strong collaborative skills and cultural competency across diverse communities
• Commitment to equity in all work

Responsibilities

• Lead evaluation and learning strategies to track strategic progress, assess impact, and inform decisions using diverse data sources
• Serve as content lead for evaluation, research, data strategy, and organizational learning
• Develop, implement, and manage complex evaluation, research, and learning initiatives with budgets and timelines
• Manage cross-functional teams and external evaluation partners
• Model and coach equitable evaluation and learning practices including participatory approaches
• Design and oversee evaluation frameworks, theories of change, dashboards, and learning agendas
• Lead grantmaking efforts aligned with strategies and learning needs
• Build relationships with evaluators, grantees, community partners, funders, and policymakers
• Prepare and present data, findings, and lessons learned to leadership, Board, and external audiences
• Translate findings into actionable strategy refinements and organizational learning

Skills

Evaluation leadership

Data strategy

Equitable evaluation

Cross-functional leadership

Stakeholder management

Analytics

Communication

Project management

Equity

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher

Master's degree preferred

Job description

Your Role

The Foundation is an independent licensee of the Blue Shield Association. Blue Shield of California has contributed more than $500 million to Blue Shield of California Foundation since 2002 to have a positive impact on California communities. The Foundation is a statewide, equity-centered philanthropy focused on catalyzing large-scale systems change to improve health outcomes and end domestic violence across California. Recognizing that inequities driven by race, gender, and income shape disparate outcomes and experiences, the Foundation’s strategies center community and lived experience in contributing to lasting, population-level change.

Job Description

Your Role

The Senior Evaluation and Data Strategy Officer reports to the Director of Evaluation and Data Strategy and provides senior-level evaluation leadership to advance the Foundation’s ability to track strategic progress, assess impact, and inform decision-making. This role leads complex evaluation, research, data strategy, and learning efforts across Foundation initiatives; manages cross-functional projects and external evaluation partners; and translates evidence, grantee insights, and community expertise into actionable learning for staff, leadership, the Board of Trustees, grantees, and external partners. Using diverse data sources and equity-centered approaches, this role develops innovative evaluation and learning practices that strengthen the Foundation’s understanding of complex systems change dynamics and support population-level impact.

Responsibilities

In this role, you will:

• Lead evaluation and learning strategies that advance the Foundation’s ability to track strategic progress, assess impact, and inform decision-making using diverse data sources, including grantee, community, and field insights
• Serve as a content lead for evaluation, research, data strategy, and organizational learning, proactively shaping approaches that align with strategic goals and learning objectives
• Develop, implement, and manage complex evaluation, research, and learning initiatives, including setting project priorities, managing budgets and timelines, and maintaining accountability for high-quality deliverables
• Manage cross-functional teams and external evaluation partners to execute evaluation and learning efforts, including defining key learning questions, evaluation approaches, data strategies, and decision points
• Model, lead, and coach others on effective, equitable evaluation and learning practice, including participatory approaches, data collection and interpretation, synthesis of evidence, and use of findings for strategy refinement
• Design and oversee evaluation frameworks, theories of change, dashboards, learning agendas, and other tools that document progress, support strategic learning, and contribute to evidence-building
• Lead and support grantmaking efforts that align with the Foundation’s strategies and meet the learning and information needs of communities, grantees, staff, leadership, and other key stakeholders
• Develop, manage, and maintain strong internal and external relationships with evaluators, researchers, grantees, community partners, funders, policymakers, and other stakeholders to advance the Foundation’s mission and learning priorities
• Prepare and present data, findings, and lessons learned to internal and external audiences, including senior leadership and the Board of Trustees, through briefings, reports, dashboards, presentations, and facilitated learning opportunities
• Build internal and external capacity to use data, research, and evaluation findings to inform strategy, influence systems, and translate learning into action
• Provide guidance, coaching, and training to staff and partners within areas of evaluation, learning, and data strategy expertise; may direct the work of individual contributors or consultants

Qualifications

Your Knowledge and Experience

• Requires a Bachelor’s degree or High School Diploma/GED and 4 years of additional relevant experience in lieu of a degree
• Master’s degree preferred
• Requires at least 10 years of prior relevant experience in evaluation, research, data strategy, or organizational learning
• Requires a minimum of 3 years’ experience in philanthropy, nonprofit work, public sector, or related fields
• Experience leading evaluation methodologies, organizational learning, research, and data strategy within philanthropic, nonprofit, community-based, or public institutions
• Expertise in equitable and inclusive evaluation practices that center diverse evidence, community voice, lived expertise, and practical use of findings for decision-making
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to conceptualize complex issues, interpret diverse data sources, and develop innovative approaches to learning and measurement
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex findings into actionable insights for diverse audiences, including staff, executives, Board members, grantees, policymakers, and community partners
• Demonstrated ability to manage large, complex, cross-functional projects of strategic importance, including managing external consultants or evaluators, budgets, timelines, and deliverables
• Ability to influence others across functions and levels to adopt new concepts, practices, tools, and approaches related to evaluation, data use, learning, and strategy refinement
• Strong collaborative skills and cultural competency that enable the individual to work effectively across diverse professional disciplines, communities, interests, and experiences
• Demonstrated professional and personal commitment to equity

Hybrid

This role requires employees to be in-office based on our hybrid workplace model, balancing purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility. For most teams, this means coming into the office two days each week. Employees living more than 50 miles from an office location will work with their manager to determine in-office time based on business need.

About Us

About Blue Shield of California

As of January 2025, Blue Shield of California became a subsidiary of Ascendiun. Ascendiun is a nonprofit corporate entity that is the parent to a family of organizations including Blue Shield of California and its subsidiary, Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan; Altais, a clinical services company; and Stellarus, a company designed to scale healthcare solutions. Together, these organizations are referred to as the Ascendiun Family of Companies.

At Blue Shield of California, our mission is to create a healthcare system worthy of our family and friends and sustainably affordable. We are transforming health care in a way that genuinely serves our nonprofit mission by lowering costs, improving quality, and enhancing the member and physician experience.

To achieve our mission, we foster an environment where all employees can thrive and contribute fully to address the needs of the various communities we serve. We are committed to creating and maintaining a supportive workplace that upholds our values and advances our goals.

Blue Shield is a U.S. News Best Company to work for, a Deloitte U.S. Best Managed Company and a Top 100 Inspiring Workplace. We were recognized by Fair360 as a Top Regional Company, and one of the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States by Points of Light. Here at Blue Shield, we strive to make a positive change across our industry and communities – join us!

Our Values:

• Honest. We hold ourselves to the highest ethical and integrity standards. We build trust by doing what we say we're going to do and by acknowledging and correcting where we fall short.
• Human. We strive to listen and communicate effectively, showing empathy by understanding others' perspectives.
• Courageous. We stand up for what we believe in and are committed to the hard work necessary to achieve our ambitious goals.

Our Workplace Model

We believe in fostering a workplace environment that balances purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility - providing clear expectations while respecting the diverse needs of our workforce. Our workplace model is designed around intentional in-person interaction, collaboration, connection, creativity and flexibility:

• For most teams, this means coming into the office two days per week.
• Employees living more than 50 miles from an office location, out of state employees, and employees in certain member-facing roles should work with their manager to determine in-office time based on business need.
• For employees with medical conditions that may impact their ability to work in-office, we are committed to engaging in an interactive process and providing reasonable accommodations to ensure their work environment is conducive to their success and well-being.

The Company reserves the right to require more presence in the office based on business needs, and requirements are subject to change with periodic reviews.

Physical Requirements:

Office Environment - roles involving part to full time schedule in Office Environment. Based in our physical offices and work from home office/deskwork - Activity level: Sedentary, frequency most of work day.

Please click here for further physical requirement detail.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

External hires must pass a background check/drug screen. Qualified applicants with arrest records and/or conviction records will be considered for employment in a manner consistent with Federal, State and local laws, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status or disability status and any other classification protected by Federal, State and local laws.

JOB INFO

Job Identification : 20261773

Job Category : Foundation

Posting Date : 2026-09-14T22:15:12+00:00

Job Schedule : Full time

Locations :

San Francisco, CA, United States

Pay Range for California : $137,720.00 to $206,690.00

Pay Range for Bay Area : $155,248.00 to $232,996.00

Note : Please note that this range represents the pay range for this and many other positions at Blue Shield that fall into this pay grade. Blue Shield salaries are based on a variety of factors, including the candidate experience, location (California, Bay Area, or outside California), and current employee salaries for similar roles.

Role can be filled by a candidate requiring sponsorship : No