Director of Impact & Insights

Reports to: Chief Programs Officer Classification: Full-Time, Exempt

Salary Range: $90,000 - $100,000

Location: Miami, FL; Hybrid Guitars Over Guns (GOGO) is a creative youth development organization that uses music, mentorship, and performance to help young people build confidence, resilience, creativity, and relationships. Professional artists mentor students through music and creative expression while supporting their personal development and helping them take meaningful next steps toward their futures. As GOGO grows, we are strengthening how we measure, understand, and learn from our work so we can continuously improve programs and more clearly demonstrate their impact.

ABOUT THE ROLE: The Director of Impact & Insights leads GOGO's approach to evaluation, organizational learning, and data-informed program design. This role helps GOGO understand whether young people are experiencing the growth we intend, which program practices contribute most to that growth, where improvement is needed, and how quantitative and qualitative evidence together can guide better decisions. Working across Programs, Advancement, and Marketing, the Director will lead GOGO's evaluation strategy; oversee the collection and analysis of program evidence; strengthen data systems and reporting; and translate findings into actionable insight. The goal is to move GOGO from simply collecting data to learning from it and acting on it.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: Lead GOGO's Impact & Evaluation Strategy Own and continuously strengthen GOGO's Theory of Change, logic model, outcome framework, and evaluation strategy Translate priority outcomes, including retention, resilience and growth mindset, creativity, positive identity, and readiness for future opportunities, into clear and measurable indicators Design and refine surveys, observations, reporting tools, and other measures that produce useful, credible, youth-centered information without unnecessary burden Establish definitions, baselines, targets, and methodologies for key impact measures Identify gaps in GOGO's evidence base and develop appropriate approaches to answer emerging program questions Manage external evaluation, research, and data partners as needed Turn Evidence into Better Program Design Analyze patterns in student participation, attendance, retention, engagement, experiences, and developmental outcomes Help GOGO understand not only whether outcomes are occurring, but which practices, experiences, and conditions appear to contribute to them Translate findings into recommendations for program design, mentor practice, training, coaching, site support, and resource allocation Create feedback loops that allow teams to review evidence, test improvements, and evaluate results Build staff capacity to interpret data responsibly alongside professional judgment and direct knowledge of students Partner with Training & Methodology and regional leaders to ensure organizational learning reaches the people closest to implementation Build a Balanced Picture of Impact Develop an evidence strategy that intentionally combines quantitative data with student, mentor, and stakeholder perspectives Use qualitative approaches, including interviews, focus groups, observations, case studies, and student stories, to capture dimensions of growth that may not be reflected in standardized measures alone Connect individual experiences and longitudinal student stories to broader patterns in organizational data Help GOGO distinguish between anecdotes, emerging signals, and evidence strong enough to guide broader decisions Ensure GOGO communicates impact with both rigor and humanity Define the data GOGO needs to understand a student's experience over time, connecting participation, attendance, milestones, relationships, outcomes, and progression through program opportunities Partner with Programs and technology partners to ensure Salesforce and related systems reliably capture and connect this information Establish standards and processes for data quality, completeness, consistency, and appropriate use Develop dashboards, scorecards, and analyses that allow staff and leaders to quickly understand performance and identify opportunities Continually assess reporting requirements and eliminate data collection that does not meaningfully contribute to learning or accountability Identify appropriate opportunities to use automation, AI-assisted analytics, and emerging tools to reduce repetitive work and make program information easier to explore Communicate & Champion GOGO's Impact Lead annual impact reporting and other organization-wide program analyses Partner with Advancement to provide accurate evidence for grants, donor reports, strategic partnerships, and fundraising Partner with Marketing to translate findings into clear and compelling stories of student and organizational impact Produce presentations, visualizations, and briefings for leadership, staff, board members, funders, and partners Ensure public claims about GOGO's impact are appropriately supported by evidence Serve as an internal champion for a culture in which evidence, curiosity, and continuous improvement shape organizational decisions LEADERSHIP & COLLABORATION The Director of Impact & Insights serves as GOGO's internal leader on evaluation and program evidence and as a thought partner to the Chief Program Officer and senior leadership. The role works closely across national and regional Programs, Training & Methodology, Program Operations, Advancement, Marketing, and Finance. The Director may supervise staff supporting program data and operations and manage external evaluators, researchers, analysts, or technology partners.

QUALIFICATIONS: Strong candidates will bring a combination of evaluation expertise, analytical skill, program understanding, and the ability to make evidence useful to practitioners.

Required qualifications include: 6-10 years of experience in program evaluation, applied research, learning and evaluation, data strategy, or related work Demonstrated ability to design practical evaluation frameworks, measures, surveys, and mixed-method approaches Ability to translate findings into actionable recommendations for program design and implementation Experience communicating complex findings clearly to practitioners, executives, boards, funders, and other nontechnical audiences Strong cross-functional project leadership skills; change management experience for data improvements is a plus

Preferred qualifications include: Experience in youth development, education, arts, social impact, or other human-service programs Strong quantitative analysis skills and experience using qualitative methods such as interviews, focus groups, observations, or case studies Experience with Salesforce or similar CRM systems, dashboards and data visualization, youth-development or social-emotional learning measures, external evaluation partners (e.g., Hello Insight), AI-assisted analytics, and impact storytelling

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE: Within the first 6 months, the Director of Impact & Insights will have helped GOGO: Fully operationalize an organization-wide evaluation plan with clear measures, baselines, targets, and staff ownership Establish reliable evidence of student engagement, retention, resilience, creativity, and readiness for future opportunities Create feedback loops that regularly turn findings into decisions about program design, training, mentor support, and resource allocation Give leaders and regional teams accessible dashboards and analyses that help them identify opportunities and intervene earlier Improve data quality while reducing unnecessary reporting burden for mentors and frontline staff Build a richer evidence base combining quantitative outcomes with student voice and qualitative evidence of growth Strengthen GOGO's ability to confidently communicate what is working, what we are learning, and how young people are growing WORK ENVIRONMENT & BENEFITS This is a hybrid position requiring regular presence at Guitars Over Guns' Miami headquarters. Guitars Over Guns offers Competitive salary commensurate with experience 401(k) with 3% employer match (eligible after 12 months of employment) Health insurance at no additional cost, with optional dental and vision benefits available at a cost Paid time off (PTO) structure, parental leave, bereavement leave, as well as ±18 federal & cultural paid holidays per year Hybrid in-person and remote workplace Employee Assistance Program Opportunities for professional growth and leadership development Guitars Over Guns is an equal opportunity employer committed to building an inclusive organization that reflects the communities we serve.