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 .
• 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.
Who you are
• 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.
What you'll do
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 OK