Building Bright Futures

PDG Early Childhood Systems Evaluator | Full Time

Category: Non-profit

Location:

About Building Bright Futures
Building Bright Futures is a nonprofit that works to improve the well-being of each and every child
and family in Vermont, from the prenatal period through age 8. We bring together a robust network of
policymakers, early childhood professionals, educators, health and mental health providers, business
leaders, families, and other stakeholders to share insights and problem-solve through regular
meetings of 12 Regional Councils, 7 Committees moving forward the work of Vermont’s Early
Childhood Action Plan (VECAP), and a 23-member State Advisory Council. We empower and elevate
family and community voices as partners in decision-making. We also centralize and disseminate
early childhood data to inform policy through Vermont’s Early Childhood Data and Policy Center at
VermontKidsData.org

About the Preschool Development Grant (PDG)
Vermont has been awarded a $23 million federal grant for three years (2023–2025) to
strengthen the state’s early childhood system, support the early childhood workforce, and
improve the quality and availability of services for children from birth to age 8. The grant will
support Vermont in improving service delivery to families with young children across settings
and services, including child care, Universal Prekindergarten Education, Head Start, health care,
mental health care, and other services and programs that support the health and well-being of
Vermont children and their families. Building Bright Futures has been contracted by the State of
Vermont to host several grant functions, including the grant evaluation.

About the position
The PDG Early Childhood Systems Evaluator will focus on evaluating Vermont’s complex early
childhood system in partnership with BBF’s Research and Data Team and network of
stakeholders (regional, state, public, private). The PDG Early Childhood Systems Evaluator will
support Vermont’s ability to improve policies, service provision, and outcomes for children and
families by ensuring robust evaluation of the PDG grant. This position will support BBF in
evaluating Vermont’s ability to examine the system of services with an equity lens, understand
short and long-term child and family outcomes, and ensure early childhood stakeholders have
access to up-to-date data to guide best practices and decision-making. Specifically, this position
will be responsible for Vermont’s Program Performance Evaluation Plan, which will use
continuous quality improvement with a child-centered and equity focused lens to evaluate
progress made in Vermont’s EC system and to promote accountability across the mixed delivery
system.

The PDG Early Childhood Systems Evaluator position is full-time with a competitive salary and
flexible work schedule. Candidates would need to be available for regular meetings. This is a
home-based position with the option to work in BBF’s Williston, Vermont headquarters. The
position does not have to be based in Vermont; however, they will need to work in a
complimentary time zone to EST and be willing to travel to Vermont for occasional in-person
meetings. The PDG Early Childhood Systems Evaluator receives supervision from the Director of
Research and Data. This is a grant-funded limited service position through 12/31/25.

Compensation and Benefits
Salary range of $80,000 – $87,000 annually. Benefits include generous paid time off, healthcare
insurance, dental insurance, and retirement.

Responsibilities Include:

This position is responsible for developing, implementing, and reporting on evaluation activities
related to Vermont’s Preschool Development Grant and Vermont’s Early Childhood System.

These responsibilities include:
Developing Vermont’s PDG Program Performance Evaluation Plan:
● Design an evaluation plan for PDG, including data collection/compilation processes and
reporting mechanisms that can show measurable impact to inform future programming
and financing of the early childhood system, replicable systems beyond the grant period,
actionable CQI
● Convene stakeholders and facilitate workgroups
● Ask strategic questions
Execution of Evaluation:
● Implement data collection, track progress on action items
● Policy analysis
● Align data collection efforts
Reporting & Dissemination:
● Analyze, evaluate, and assess the success of the grant using administrative and
performance data collected in the course of grant administration and implementation
● Effectively communicate findings, write about complex systems, and create and utilize
visualizations of data
● Prepare reports summarizing the findings of the data analysis conducted as part of
grant evaluation efforts
● Promote what is learned from these evaluations and assessments by developing
data-interpretive expert narratives which may be communicated via analytical reports,
visualizations and tables, toolkits, stakeholder webinars, policy briefs, and conference
presentations for purposes of dissemination to the public and policymakers
Project Management:
● Establish appropriate approaches, timelines, and deliverables
● Document process and progress
● Communicate with and hold partners accountable

Other responsibilities as required

Desired Expertise

Education:

● Must have a Ph.D. in evaluation, epidemiology, econometrics, public health, political
science, community development, child development, maternal and child health, social
policy, or related field
Evaluation:
● Considerable knowledge of planning and evaluation principles and practices
● Experience evaluating complex systems
● Experience with or knowledge of community-based evaluation frameworks (theory and
frameworks, and methods for evaluation)
● Ability to analyze, synthesize, and present complex quantitative and qualitative data and
information
● Understanding of the complex public systems that serve children and families is
preferred
● Considerable knowledge of the principles and practices of quality assurance
management
Skills:
● Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to prepare and present
clear, concise oral and written reports
● Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
● Ability to analyze, synthesize, and present complex data and information
● Manage relationships in the context of evaluation and program implementation
● Considerable project management experience
● Candidates should be flexible, agile, and self-motivated, and be able to work
independently, take initiative, and exercise self-directed problem-solving
Tools:
● Considerable knowledge of technology-based systems, evaluation programs and
databases
● Experience with, or an ability to quickly adapt to technology that supports collaborative
and virtual work including Google Suite, Microsoft Office Suite, Slack, and Zoom

Deadline:

To Apply:

To Apply
Please send a cover letter, resume, and three references as one PDF labeled:
lastname_firstname_Evaluator to: kmobbs@buildingbrightfutures.org. Applications will be
reviewed on a rolling basis beginning March 27. Position is open until filled.