Director of Data, Strategy & Performance

Job Description

Job Description

Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) — a world-renowned education and poverty-fighting organization based in New York — seeks an enthusiastic, dedicated, and mission-aligned Director of Data for our After-School, Community, and Early Childhood programs.

The Director of Data Strategy & Performance provides strategic leadership for data governance, performance management, analytics, reporting, and data-informed decision-making across the Deputy Program Officer’s portfolio. Reporting directly to the Deputy Program Officer, the Director establishes the vision, standards, systems, and management routines that enable program leaders to use reliable data to assess performance, identify risks and opportunities, strengthen execution, and improve outcomes for scholars and families.

The Director serves as the senior program-side leader for cross-portfolio data strategy and directly supervises the Assistant Directors of Data. The Director provides formal supervision, performance management, coaching, role expectations, and technical leadership for the Assistant Directors of Data, while Managing Directors maintain a dotted-line relationship to support portfolio alignment, responsiveness, and day-to-day partnership. The Director will partner with organizational teams in IT Evaluation, HR, and other functions to strengthen Salesforce (Zora) usage, data quality and governance, dashboards and scorecards, OKR and core-metric monitoring, and the integration of data into ongoing performance management and strategic planning routines.

The ideal candidate is a strategic and systems-oriented data leader who can set direction, build organizational capacity, lead complex cross-functional initiatives, develop staff, and translate complex information into clear insights and recommendations for senior leadership.

For more information, check out Want to Work at Harlem Children’s Zone? Here’s 7 Things You Need to Know.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university (master's degree preferred) in data analytics, information systems, statistics, business, education, social sciences, public administration, or a related field; master’s degree preferred.
• 7+ years of progressively responsible experience in data management, analytics, performance management, program strategy, program operations, or a related field, including significant leadership responsibility.
• Demonstrated experience leading data or performance strategy across multiple programs, departments, sites, or stakeholder groups in a complex organization.
• Demonstrated experience directly supervising, coaching, and developing managers or senior data professionals, including performance management, goal setting, and accountability for results.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and/or Google Sheets and strong experience with data visualization, dashboarding, and business-intelligence tools.
• Experience with Salesforce or another enterprise CRM/data-management system; Salesforce experience strongly preferred.

• Advanced experience with Power BI, Tableau, or comparable business-intelligence and visualization platforms.
• Experience supporting senior leaders with portfolio-level performance reporting, strategic analysis, and decision support.
• Experience in youth development, education, nonprofit, social services, community-based programming, or another complex multi-program environment.
• Experience with public-sector, funder, or contract reporting requirements and translating compliance requirements into sustainable operating practices.
• Experience leading change management related to data systems, reporting practices, or performance-management processes.
• Experience leading teams in a matrixed environment with direct and dotted-line reporting relationships strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to establish data-governance standards, strengthen data quality, and design reporting and performance-management systems.
• Strong analytical and strategic-thinking skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information, identify root causes, assess risk, and translate findings into actionable recommendations.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex cross-functional initiatives, manage competing priorities, and influence senior stakeholders without direct authority.
• Excellent communication, presentation, facilitation, and relationship-management skills.
• Strong judgment, discretion, attention to detail, and commitment to accountability and follow-through.
• Commitment to the mission and programs of Harlem Children’s Zone and familiarity with issues affecting children, families, and communities served by HCZ.

Data Strategy, Governance & Organizational Leadership

• Set and execute the cross-portfolio data and performance strategy in partnership with the Deputy Program Officer, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities, program goals, OKRs, and core metrics.
• Establish portfolio-wide standards for data governance, metric definitions, data quality, reporting cadence, documentation, and accountability while accounting for program-specific requirements.
• Provide strategic oversight of data integrity, completeness, timeliness, and consistency across Salesforce (Zora) and other approved systems.
• Lead cross-portfolio data audits, reconciliation processes, root-cause analysis, and corrective-action planning; hold leaders and data teams accountable for sustained improvement.
• Identify systemic gaps, duplication, workflow inefficiencies, and reporting limitations and sponsor scalable solutions that strengthen data infrastructure and practice.
• Advise the Deputy Program Officer and senior program leaders on data strategy, performance trends, emerging risks, and opportunities requiring leadership action.

Performance Management, Analytics & Decision Support

• Own the design and continuous improvement of cross-portfolio dashboards, scorecards, and executive reporting that provide clear visibility into OKRs, core metrics, milestones, and trends.
• Lead analysis across programs and sites to identify patterns, performance gaps, outliers, emerging risks, and opportunities for improvement.
• Translate complex quantitative and qualitative information into executive-level analyses, data stories, recommendations, and decision points for the Deputy and senior leadership.
• Lead the data strategy and preparation for monthly data walks, performance reviews, quarterly business reviews, strategic planning, and other leadership routines.
• Partner with Managing Directors and Directors to establish targets, monitor performance, assess variance, identify root causes, and develop responsive action plans.
• Commission and lead deeper analyses on priority questions identified by the Deputy Program Officer and ensure findings inform program strategy and resource decisions.

Data Systems, Reporting Infrastructure & Innovation

• Partner with IT, Evaluation, and program teams to define business requirements and prioritize reporting enhancements, system improvements, integrations, and data solutions.
• Support the development of scalable dashboards, automated reporting, templates, and tools that reduce manual work and improve consistency, accessibility, and decision-making.
• Oversee testing, implementation, documentation, adoption, and change management for new data processes and reporting solutions within the portfolio.
• Stay current on relevant data, analytics, visualization, and performance-management practices and identify appropriate opportunities to strengthen portfolio capabilities.

Team Leadership & Data Capacity Building

• Directly supervise the Assistant Directors of Data, including goal setting, regular supervision, coaching, performance management, professional development, workload management, and accountability for results.
• Partner regularly with Managing Directors to align data priorities, assess the effectiveness of Assistant Director support, identify emerging portfolio needs, and ensure data strategy and services are responsive to program goals while maintaining consistent cross-portfolio standards.
• Provide strategic and technical leadership to Assistant Directors of Data, strengthening their ability to lead portfolio-level data management, analysis, reporting, data quality, performance monitoring, and decision support.
• Establish consistent supervision, team meetings, portfolio reviews, and performance routines for the Assistant Directors of Data to strengthen coordination, shared learning, accountability, and execution across portfolios.
• Build the data literacy of Managing Directors, Directors, and other program leaders so they can confidently interpret data, ask stronger questions, and use findings to manage performance.
• Develop training, tools, protocols, and guidance that strengthen data ownership and accountability among program teams and data staff.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Special Initiatives

• Lead complex, high-priority data, performance-management, and continuous-improvement initiatives sponsored by the Deputy Program Officer from strategy through implementation and evaluation.
• Establish governance structures, project plans, milestones, decision points, risk-management approaches, and accountability mechanisms for major initiatives.
• Convene and lead cross-functional workgroups involving program leadership and organizational partners to resolve issues and advance shared priorities.
• Use data to support organizational learning, program design, implementation monitoring, resource planning, and continuous improvement.
• Represent the Office of the Deputy Program Officer in relevant cross-organizational data and performance-management forums.
• Perform other leadership responsibilities and special projects as assigned.

• Strategic Data Leadership
• Data Governance & Quality
• Performance Management & Analytics
• Executive Decision Support
• Systems Thinking
• People Leadership & Development
• Matrixed Team Leadership & Portfolio Partnership
• Cross-Functional Leadership & Influence
• Data Visualization & Storytelling
• Change Management & Continuous Improvement
• Project & Portfolio Leadership
• Executive Communication
• Accountability & Results Orientation

• Monday- Friday, 10 am- 6 pm.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule aligned with organizational and program needs, including occasional evening or event-based responsibilities.

Benefits

As a member of the Harlem Children's Zone team, you will join a supportive and inclusive community dedicated to helping children, families — and our staff — thrive. We offer highly competitive salaries, a comprehensive benefits package, and opportunities for growth.

Our exceptional full-time benefits include: 

• Highly competitive base salaries
• Paid time off 
• Employee referral bonus 
• Career Advancement
• No-cost health insurance
• Life Insurance
• Short-and long-term disability
• Additional voluntary benefits
• Wellness discounts
• Commuter benefits
• Financial wellness perks
• Additional Benefits (Discounts on flights, hotels, theme parks, concert tickets, and more.)

The salary range for this position is $90,000-$110,000 per year. To be considered, interested applicants should apply directly through the posting. No telephone inquiries or recruiters, please. Replies will only be sent to qualified applicants. Harlem Children's Zone is an Equal Opportunity Employer.