Director of Impact & Evaluation

Don’t just take our word for it—our people have spoken. According to the Great Place to Work® 2025–2026 survey:

• 96% feel good about how we support the community
• 94% are proud to tell others they work at the USO
• 92% say their work has special meaning—it’s not “just a job”
• 91% felt welcomed from day one
• Over 88% agree all employees are treated fairly, regardless of race or gender

The Director, Impact & Evaluation builds and leads the USO's enterprise capability to measure, understand, and communicate the difference the USO makes in the lives of service members and their families. Reporting to the Vice President, Strategy, Innovation & Program Management Office (SIPMO), the Director sets the methods, evidence standards, and evaluation practices that show where the USO creates value, where it can improve, and where it should invest next. This turns complex quantitative and qualitative evidence into clear, decision-useful insights. Those insights shape strategy execution, program and investment choices, and organizational learning. As the enterprise steward of impact measurement, the Director ensures that what the USO says about its impact is both compelling and credible. The Director partners across enterprise functions to strengthen impact storytelling and to establish the USO as an evidence-based thought leader in the military-serving nonprofit community.

• →Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of the USO's enterprise impact measurement, evaluation, research, and learning framework.
• →Translate the USO's Theory of Change and logic models into practical outcome frameworks, indicators, evaluation questions, and learning agendas aligned with the enterprise strategic plan.
• →Establish and maintain enterprise standards for:
  • →Outcome definitions
  • →Survey and non-survey methods
  • →Data quality and evaluation rigor
  • →Documentation
  • →The appropriate use of evidence
• →Design measurement approaches that are credible, proportionate, and feasible across the USO's diverse programs, locations, and constrained military operating environments.
• →Develop and execute a sequenced evaluation plan for the program portfolio and priority initiatives. Coordinate internal and external studies to inform decisions about whether to scale, sustain, redesign, or discontinue investments.
• →Build evaluation into pilots and innovation initiatives from the start. This includes hypotheses, success measures, evidence thresholds, feedback loops, and scale-or-stop criteria.
• →Identify patterns across programs, populations, and locations. Show where the USO is creating value, where evidence is limited, and where strategy or execution should adapt.
• →Synthesize evidence into clear implications, options, and recommendations for the VP of SIPMO, senior leadership, and the Board of Governors.
• →Integrate evaluation findings into portfolio reviews, governance discussions, initiative decisions, and performance reporting.
• →Align outcome measures with enterprise KPIs, scorecards, and the three-year execution horizon, while retaining clear ownership of impact methodology.
• →Produce recurring impact reports and executive briefings for senior leadership, the Board, institutional funders, military partners, and other stakeholders.
• →Serve as the enterprise steward for impact claims. Clarify what the evidence supports, distinguish outputs from outcomes, and surface important limitations and uncertainty.
• →Define business requirements and methodological standards for impact data collection, Salesforce Outcome Management workflows, dashboards, and related data products. Partner with IT and technical owners on implementation and sustainment.
• →Lead the impact and evaluation workstreams of consultant engagements, including scope, requirements, deliverable quality, knowledge transfer, adoption, and transition to USO ownership.
• →Partner with Operations, Marketing, Development, and others to build an enterprise impact-storytelling capability. That capability turns validated evidence, lived experience, and program insights into compelling narratives that stay accurate, in context, and proportionate to the evidence.
• →With SIPMO, Programs, Marketing, Development, and external research partners, advance the USO's position as an evidence-based thought leader. This includes:
  • →Setting priority research questions
  • →Publishing credible insights
  • →Contributing to convenings
  • →Building research partnerships
• →Support fundraising, grant compliance, and funder reporting by defining appropriate outcomes, measures, evaluation plans, and evidence of organizational learning.
• →Build organizational capability in impact measurement and learning through guidance, tools, training, communities of practice, and coaching for program, field, and shared-services teams.
• →Hire, develop, and lead the Data & Impact Analytics Lead. Establish clear accountability for analysis, dashboards, data quality, and evidence-based insights within the Impact function.
• →This is an in-person position located in Arlington, VA.

• Required
  • Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (public policy, social science, statistics, evaluation, or similar)
  • 8+ years of progressive experience in impact measurement, monitoring & evaluation, or applied research, including 3+ years leading measurement or evaluation functions.
  • Demonstrated success designing outcome measurement frameworks in complex, multi-site organizations, ideally in constrained data environments (military, healthcare, government, or international settings).
  • Fluency across quantitative and qualitative methods, survey design, and data quality management; ability to explain methodology credibly to executives, boards, and funders.
  • Experience overseeing external vendors or consultants delivering data systems or evaluation work.
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication; able to produce board- and funder-ready reporting.
  • Proven ability to connect the dots across complex and ambiguous data environments
• Preferred
  • Advanced degree in related field preferred.
  • Familiarity with the military community and Department of War data and privacy constraints.
  • Experience with Salesforce-based outcome management tools, BI platforms (e.g., Tableau, Power BI), and CRM-integrated data environments.
  • Experience supporting institutional grant reporting and funder relationships.

• The salary range for this position is $108,000-$155,000.
• To support pay transparency, this posting includes the anticipated base salary range for this role. Compensation is determined based on several factors including geographic location, relevant experience, specialized skills, certifications, and overall alignment with the position requirements. Our compensation practices are designed to ensure market competitiveness and internal equity across roles and levels.
• This is an in-person position located in Arlington, VA.
• Resume and cover letter are required for full consideration.
• Background check – education, criminal and driving required.
• The statements contained herein describe the scope of the responsibility and essential functions of this position but should not be considered to be an all-inclusive listing of work requirements. Individuals may perform other duties as assigned including work in other areas to cover absences or relief to equalize peak work periods or otherwise balance the workload.

If that’s not enough to convince you, here are some direct quotes from employees:

• The organization truly cares about the people who work here.
• There is great consideration given and extended in the following areas: organizational core values for all, work-life balance, impact we can actually see (and even experience as a staff member- the feeling of making an impact is priceless), autonomy with respect to current position within the organization.
• Everyone is friendly and easy to talk to. We collaborate well together and share ideas and interests to create fun activities for our overall goal in the community. I couldn't think of a better organization to work for.
• The mission alone provides a positive and meaningful purpose, where people should want to work and be a part of. Most of the people who work for the USO and volunteer for the USO have giving hearts and want to make a difference. This also makes the organization a place where people would want to work.
• The mission and opportunities to make a Difference are amazing. There is no doubt that the USO is one of the most forward-facing, frontline serving nonprofits that I know of.