The American Diabetes Association (ADA) seeks a Director of Outcomes and Evaluation to lead evaluation across a diverse portfolio of science and healthcare programs and initiatives. This role reports to the Vice President of Clinical Evidence and Quantitative Methods. The Director is responsible for developing and overseeing evaluation strategies that assess program reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, sustainability, and real-world impact. This individual leads the translation of quantitative and qualitative evidence into actionable insights that strengthen program design, support continuous improvement, demonstrate value to funders and partners, and advance ADA’s mission.
Working collaboratively with Partner Relations and the Program Management Office (PMO), and other organizational functions, the Director ensures that evaluation is integrated throughout the program lifecycle, from proposal development and design through implementation, reporting, dissemination, and renewal. The Director leads a multidisciplinary Outcomes and Evaluation team and manages a portfolio of concurrent evaluations and reporting commitments. The role also collaborates closely with senior leadership across divisions to align program evaluation with ADA’s broader evidence-generation and impact strategy.
Responsibilities
Outcomes and Evaluation Portfolio Leadership
- Lead the development and execution of comprehensive evaluation across ADA’s science and healthcare program portfolio and ADA diabetes camps.
- Establish measurement approaches based on program maturity, intended outcomes, available data, funder requirements, and organizational priorities.
- Integrate evaluation into program planning, grant development, implementation, continuous improvement, and sustainability strategies.
- Work with program implementation teams to develop theories of change, logic models, key performance indicators, outcome measures, and evaluation plans that connect program activities with short, intermediate, and long-term outcomes.
- Apply established evaluation and implementation frameworks, such as RE-AIM, CFIR, Moore’s Outcomes Framework and other relevant approaches.
- Establish consistent evaluation standards, tools, templates, and decision-making processes across programs while allowing appropriate methodological flexibility.
- Advise senior leaders and cross-functional teams on the feasibility, rigor, and strategic value of proposed outcomes.
- Prioritize evaluation activities across a complex portfolio based on organizational value, funding commitments, methodological requirements, available capacity, and potential for impact.
Evaluation Design and Evidence Generation
- Lead the design and execution of mixed-methods evaluations involving healthcare professionals, people living with diabetes, obesity and related conditions, caregivers, community members, health systems, and community-based organizations.
- Oversee quantitative and qualitative research methods, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, communities of practice, case-based assessments, longitudinal follow-up, program utilization data, and secondary data analysis.
- Design evaluations that assess changes in knowledge, confidence, behavior, clinical practice, care delivery, patient experience, community outcomes, and other relevant measures.
- Support the generation of real-world evidence regarding the feasibility, usability, usefulness, acceptability, contextual adaptability, and impact of ADA programs, resources, and clinical tools.
- Determine appropriate analytical approaches and ensure that study designs, sample strategies, measures, and interpretations are methodologically sound.
- Identify opportunities to strengthen reporting through data linkage, longitudinal measurement, comparison groups, validated instruments, and complementary qualitative inquiry.
Data Collection, Analysis, and Quality
- Oversee the development and administration of surveys, interview guides, data-collection instruments, reporting forms, and other evaluation tools.
- Direct quantitative and qualitative analysis, including descriptive and inferential statistics, subgroup analysis, thematic analysis, triangulation, and interpretation.
- Establish processes that promote data quality, consistency, completeness, security, and appropriate documentation.
- Guide the appropriate use of platforms and analytical tools such as Qualtrics, Excel, SPSS, SAS, R, Power BI, or comparable systems.
- Work with programs, technology, and external contractors to improve data availability and strengthen ADA’s evaluation infrastructure.
Impact Reporting and Data Storytelling
- Translate complex findings into clear, accurate, and actionable insights for multiple stakeholders including executive leaders, program teams, funders, and other relevant audiences.
- Lead the development of compelling evaluation reports, executive summaries, dashboards, presentations, funder updates, and impact narratives.
- Synthesize evidence across activities and data sources to communicate program reach, effectiveness, implementation experience, community impact, barriers, facilitators, lessons learned, and recommendations.
- Balance scientific rigor with storytelling to demonstrate impact without overstating findings.
- Present evaluation findings and strategic recommendations to internal and external stakeholders.
Program Improvement
- Use evaluation findings to identify opportunities for program refinement, replication, scalability, sustainability, and future investment.
- Facilitate learning discussions that help program teams understand results and translate findings into practical improvements.
- Support leadership in determining which programs, interventions, resources, and delivery approaches show sufficient promise for continued investment or broader testing.
- Monitor emerging practices in health-program evaluation and outcomes measurement.
- Promote a culture in which data is used for learning, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Research Governance and Dissemination
- Determine when evaluation activities require institutional review board review or other research oversight.
- Support the development and submission of research protocols, consent materials, data-collection instruments, amendments, and supporting documentation.
- Identify opportunities to disseminate findings through abstracts, posters, conference presentations, manuscripts, white papers, and other scientific or professional channels.
- Contribute to ADA’s thought leadership in diabetes, obesity, cardiometabolic health, healthcare professional education, camps, and health-program evaluation.
Funder and Grant Support
- Partner with development and program teams to establish meaningful objectives, measures and outcomes.
- Contribute evaluation language and measurement strategies to grant proposals, scopes of work, and funding opportunities.
- Oversee the preparation of accurate and timely outcomes reporting for corporate, foundation and other funding partners.
- Participate in funder discussions to explain evaluation methods, contextualize findings, and communicate program value.
- Ensure alignment among contractual commitments, data-collection plans, reporting timelines, available resources, and methodological expectations.
- Support program-renewal and expansion discussions by providing credible evidence of progress, impact, and lessons learned.
Team, Budget, and Contractor/Vendor Management
- Lead, develop, and support a multidisciplinary Outcomes and Evaluation team responsible for a broad portfolio of programs and studies.
- Establish clear responsibilities, priorities, workflows, quality expectations, and professional development opportunities.
- Allocate team capacity across programs and proactively communicate resource constraints, risks, and tradeoffs to leadership.
- Foster an inclusive, collaborative, solutions-oriented, and intellectually curious team culture.
- Support the management of evaluation budgets, staffing plans, project timelines, and resource forecasts.
- Identify when external expertise or additional capacity is needed.
- Source, contract, and manage evaluation consultants, qualitative researchers, data partners, and other relevant vendors.
- Monitor vendor performance, deliverable quality, timelines, budgets, and compliance with ADA requirements.
- Perform other related duties as assigned.
Qualifications
- Master’s or doctoral degree in public health, epidemiology, health services research, behavioral or social science, evaluation, statistics, health communication, or a related field.
- At least eight years of progressively responsible experience in health program evaluation, applied research, public health, healthcare, or a related area.
- Demonstrated experience leading evaluation across multiple concurrent programs, grants, studies, or organizational priorities.
- Experience managing and developing staff, including professionals with different areas of methodological expertise and varying reporting relationships.
- Demonstrated success collaborating across functions and influencing decisions without relying solely on direct authority.
- Experience working in a mission-driven, nonprofit, healthcare, academic, public health, or similarly complex environment.
- Experience managing evaluation budgets, external vendors, consultants, or research partners.
Skills
Evaluation and Research Expertise
- Advanced knowledge of program-evaluation principles, mixed-methods research, outcomes measurement, survey methodology, and qualitative inquiry.
- Demonstrated ability to design evaluations that assess reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, sustainability, behavior change, practice change, or patient and community outcomes.
- Experience developing logic models, theories of change, learning agendas, KPIs, outcome measures, and data-collection plans.
- Strong understanding of research ethics, informed consent, institutional review board processes, data privacy, and responsible evidence generation.
- Experience evaluating healthcare professional education, clinical tools, healthcare-delivery initiatives, community-based programs, or chronic-disease interventions strongly preferred.
- Knowledge of diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, or related cardiometabolic conditions is preferred.
Analytical and Technical Skills
- Strong quantitative and qualitative analytical skills, including the ability to select appropriate methods and interpret findings accurately.
- Proficiency with one or more statistical packages, such as SPSS, SAS, R, Stata, or comparable software.
- Experience using survey platforms such as Qualtrics.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Teams, and SharePoint.
- Experience with data-visualization and dashboard platforms, such as Power BI or Tableau, is preferred.
Leadership and Communication
- Exceptional ability to translate complex reports into clear, compelling, and actionable recommendations for technical and nontechnical audiences.
- Demonstrated expertise in data storytelling, executive presentations, funder reporting, and strategic communication.
- Strong written and oral communication skills, including the ability to communicate methodological limitations and manage stakeholder expectations.
- Strong consultation, facilitation, relationship-building, and stakeholder-management skills.
- Ability to lead through ambiguity, balance rigor with feasibility, and manage competing priorities and deadlines.
- Intellectual curiosity, thoughtful listening, and a commitment to asking meaningful questions.
- Solutions-oriented approach with a demonstrated commitment to health improvement and ADA’s mission.
Why Work Here
The American Diabetes Association ® (ADA) offers a rewarding career working for one of the premier voluntary health organizations in the world supporting people living with diabetes and/or obesity. Our employees consistently say that our mission, culture, work-life balance, and total rewards package are what they like most about working at the ADA. benefits and our culture:
- Industry competitive base pay. Base offers are determined by several factors including but not limited to your relevant work experience, education, certifications, location, internal pay equity, etc.
- A culture of recognition including new hire welcome announcements, service anniversary awards, referral bonuses, monthly All Employee Assembly, appreciation awards
- Generous Paid Time Off, including holidays, vacation days, personal days and sick days
- Comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), disability & life insurance, pet insurance, and retirement savings
- Guided by our mission, we provide full diabetes supply coverage through our medical benefits program
- A company focus on offering mental health programs and work/life balance with most of our employees working remote
- Joining our dedicated team affords the gratification of knowing beyond a doubt that you will impact the lives and well-being of millions
About the Organization
The American Diabetes Association ® (ADA) is the nation’s leading voluntary health organization fighting to end diabetes and helping people living with diabetes thrive. Since 1940, we have driven discovery and research to prevent, manage, treat, and ultimately cure diabetes. We advocate for policy changes and improved access to quality care for all people living with diabetes and/or obesity. Through the Obesity Association, a division of the ADA, we are also working to reduce the prevalence of obesity—a leading risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
Master’s or doctoral degree and 8+ years in health program evaluation, applied research, public health, healthcare, or related work; leadership, mixed-methods evaluation, analytics, stakeholder, budget, and vendor-management experience required.
Key Responsibilities
- leading evaluations
- managing teams
- reporting outcomes
Skills & Tools
Qualtrics, Microsoft Excel, SPSS, SAS, R, Power BI, Stata, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft SharePoint, Tableau
Job Details
- Category: Research and Development (R&D)
- Seniority: Senior Level
- Commitment: Full Time
- Workplace: Remote — Arlington, Virginia, United States
- Salary: USD 90,500 – 117,000 / year
- Languages: English
Benefits
- 401k matching
- Generous paid time off
- Retirement plan
About American Diabetes Association
A voluntary health organization advancing diabetes research, advocacy, prevention, treatment, and access to care. — Industry: Healthcare