Partners for Rural Impact’s (PRI) ultimate goal is for an America where all kids are successful, regardless of zip code, income, background, or ability. At PRI, our focus is on ensuring that all children in rural places achieve success. Partners for Rural Impact was born out of our place-based partnership in Appalachia, where we’ve worked for 25 years to create student opportunity and success.

Position Summary

The Senior Director of Insights and Analytics, reporting to the Vice President, provides strategic leadership for PRI’s data, evaluation, and collaborative improvement functions. This role ensures that information is used as a powerful asset to strengthen cradle-to-career (C2C) and place-based partnership (PBP) initiatives across rural communities. The Senior Director will guide how PRI understands and communicates the why behind the work, translating data into clear insights, narratives, and learning that inform strategy, deepen impact, and elevate rural voices.

The position oversees teams focused on data, evaluation, and collaborative improvement and works across PRI divisions to connect evidence, community experience, and continuous learning. A critical part of this role is helping PRI and its partners make meaning of complex contexts by illuminating trends, root causes, and local conditions so that leaders can make informed decisions and adapt in real time. The Senior Director collaborates with local, regional, state, and national partners to ensure measurement approaches are practical, community-centered, and aligned to the goal that All Rural Students Succeed.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each primary duty satisfactorily. The requirements of the position are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required, with regular and predictable attendance essential. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Insights and Analytics Leadership:

• Develop and lead a mission-aligned, cross-functional insights and analytics strategy that advances PRI’s cradle-to-career and place-based priorities

• Ensure data, evaluation, and collaborative improvement approaches are integrated with PRI strategy, communications, and direct service work

• Translate quantitative and qualitative information into accessible insights that explain context, root causes, and rationale for action

• Guide organizational learning processes that help PRI staff, partners, and stakeholders reflect on progress, adapt strategies, and strengthen impact

• Shape how PRI tells the story of rural communities, grounded in evidence, local experience, and an assets-based narrative
  
  

Measuring & Sustaining Impact:

• Support development of shared metrics with local, regional, and/or statewide PBPs to track outcomes and system change

• Monitor effectiveness of rural strategies, using insights to inform course corrections and continuous improvement

• Oversee evaluation plans for PRI initiatives and funder-supported projects, ensuring rigor and practical relevance

• Strengthen infrastructure and systems that promote transparency, accountability, and responsible data use

Strategic Leadership & Team Management:

• Support and mentor leaders within rural communities to strengthen local data capacity

• Manage a team of staff and consultants with expertise in analytics, improvement science, and evaluation, aligning their work to organizational priorities

• Effectively build and maintain internal relationships with PRI teams to successfully marshal PRI resources and expertise as needed to advance local, regional, and statewide strategies

• Oversee the design and application of analytic methods, dashboards, and improvement cycles that support partners and internal teams

Collaboration & Thought Leadership

• Collaborate with PRI leadership to document and elevate rural place-based learnings and promising practices

• Serve as a strategic advisor to PRI Leadership on trends, opportunities, and emerging issues

• Represent PRI as a speaker, facilitator, and thought partner at local, regional, statewide, and national convenings

• Partner with communications staff to craft narratives, reports, and tools that make insights actionable for diverse audiences

Stakeholder Engagement & Partnership Development

• Strengthen state and national partnerships that expand access to data, research, and innovative practices benefiting rural communities

• Ensure the insights and analytics strategy drives meaningful impact across multiple levels, including PRI teams, place-based partnerships, and local, regional, and national stakeholders

Financial Oversight & Resource Development

• Support PRI, local, regional, and partners as they identify and secure funding opportunities (public and private) to support rural initiatives

• Ensure high-quality funder communications that clearly articulate progress, insights, and impact

Project Leadership & Management:

• Build strong relationships with funders and field partners, positioning PRI as a trusted collaborator and ensuring that PRI initiatives are impactful, sustainable, and well-aligned with PRI’s broader strategic priorities

• Ensure integration and alignment with core functions through ongoing collaboration with cross-functional leadership to embed data and analytics into the work

• Ensure high-quality communications that clearly articulate progress, insights, and impact

• Other roles/duties will be assigned as necessary to assist and support in the attainment of our mission, All Rural Students Succeed

Position Location & Schedule

The position will be considered for remote work with local, regional, state, and sometimes national travel required.

Normal business hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET with in-office, hybrid and/or remote work a possibility. Because of the nature of the responsibility to schools, partners, funders, and to the service region, individual offices or departments may have operating hours that extend beyond this period and may include evening and/or weekend hours.

Minimum Qualifications

Education required to ensure success in this position:

• Master’s degree required, most relevant degrees include Master in Evaluation, Applied Research, Public Administration, Education, or related field. Advanced degree preferred.

Experience required to ensure success in this position:

• 10+ years of leadership with demonstrated success in organizational or field results in two or more of the following areas: data analytics and utilization systems, research and evaluation, continuous improvement, business analytics, or management consulting

• 3+ years of experience supervising staff

• Relevant experience in education, public policy, nonprofit leadership, or community development.

• Deep familiarity with education, philanthropic, and policy ecosystems—particularly in rural areas

• Expertise in place-based strategies, cradle-to-career models, and leadership development

• Significant experience leading data, evaluation, analytics, or improvement functions in education, community development, or collective impact settings

• Experience building data, insights and analytics strategies in inclusive, collaborative and cross-functional ways

Special skills, knowledge and abilities:

• Proven ability to build trust and lead cross-sector collaborations involving funders, local leaders, and public officials

• Strong public speaking, facilitation, and storytelling skills to engage diverse audiences

• Superior interpersonal and organizational skills

• Competencies to effectively supervise staff

• Demonstrated ability to translate complex information into clear insights for a diverse group of stakeholders, ranging from senior leadership, funders, program leaders, and analysts

License, certification, or registration necessary:

• Valid driver’s license

• Successfully complete pre-employment background check

Physical requirements:

• Ability to work in a high energy office

• Ability to accurately communicate and exchange information with partners, stakeholders, and/or meeting participants

• Ability to occasionally lift up to 25 lbs

• Ability to travel independently by car and plane regionally and nationally

• Ability to operate standard office equipment

Environmental conditions:

• Work in a fast-paced setting with frequent interruptions and shifting priorities
  

Additional Company Information

PRI offers a wide array of benefit options, to meet the financial, educational, and health needs of you and your family.

• Comprehensive insurance plans including medical, dental, vision, and prescription coverage.

• Flexible spending accounts, plus an employee assistance program.

• Life and long-term disability insurance and retirement plan.

• Generous paid time off work options including vacation, sick leave, and annual holidays, in addition to paid parental leave.

• Tuition assistance and professional development for employees.

Partners for Rural Impact is an Equal Opportunity Employer that recruits and hires qualified candidates without regard to race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, disability, or veteran status.