Impact Officer

About WAM Foundation 

WAM Foundation’s mission is to reduce human suffering globally. We seek to meaningfully improve lives through strategic grants and investments and believe that a rigorous selection approach, favoring underfunded areas, facilitates outsized impact. The Allocation Committee, headed by Michael Kremer, co-winner of the 2019 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, recommends funding decisions.  

Prior grants in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have impacted millions of lives. We’ve supported evidence-based nutrition programming for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, water purification efforts reaching hundreds of millions, and policy-oriented research on vaccine delivery. 

WAM Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Weiss Asset Management. 

The Role: Senior Impact Officer 

WAM Foundation is seeking a highly analytical, detail-oriented, and impact-driven Impact Officer to lead the evaluation of our philanthropic initiatives. This individual will play a critical role in ensuring that the Foundation's resources are directed toward the most effective programs and interventions. Working closely with the Program Director, the Impact Officer will design and execute right-sized, rigorous evaluation frameworks to assess our impact to date and prospectively forecast impact of opportunities under consideration. 

We are particularly interested in candidates with significant experience in economic evaluation, data analysis, and evidence-based decision-making, ideally within the context of global development. The ideal candidate will have a track record of working with quantitative and qualitative data to measure outcomes, the ability to translate complex analyses into actionable insights, and familiarity with weighted factor modeling, cost-effectiveness analysis, and back-of-the-envelope calculations.  

The position is based in Boston and requires occasional travel, both domestic and international. This position is not eligible for sponsorship, including H-1B, TN, F-1 to H-1B, O-1, E-3, etc. 

Key Responsibilities 

The list of responsibilities below is indicative-only. WAM Foundation is a very small, startup environment within a fast-moving company in which we expect staff to embrace and grow from a wide range of tasks. The Impact Officer will have a seat at the table at a formative stage of the Foundation’s development. 

• Design and Implement Evaluation Frameworks:  
  • Develop rigorous systems to measure and analyze the outcomes and cost-effectiveness of our grants. 
  • Collaborate with grantees to establish indicators and reporting structures. 
• Impact Assessment and Reporting:  
  • Analyze program performance against key metrics to determine the social return on investment and identify areas for improvement. 
  • Synthesize findings into clear, actionable recommendations for the Allocation Committee and broader Foundation team. 
  • Produce impact reports and presentations for internal stakeholders and external partners. 
• Strategic Support and Insights:  
  • Contribute to the refinement of the Foundation’s overall philanthropic strategy by incorporating evaluation learnings. 
  • Identify high-potential opportunities for funding by analyzing research and past performance data. 
  • Stay informed on the latest methodologies and best practices in impact evaluation and cost-effectiveness analysis at peer organizations. 
• Collaborative Engagement:  
  • Share insights and learn from peers in the field. 
  • Partner with the Managing Director and Program Director to foster a culture of learning and continuous improvement within the Foundation. 

Qualifications 

The ideal candidate will have: 

• Significant experience in economic evaluation of program impact, experimental design, impact assessment, or data analysis within a global development context. 
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly and effectively to diverse audiences. 
• A strong academic background in economics, public policy, international development, or a related field (Master’s degree or higher preferred). 
• Exceptional skills in quantitative and qualitative analysis, with proficiency in relevant software/tools (e.g., R, Stata, or similar). 
• Familiarity with, or willingness to learn, interactive tools to present complex data in a user-friendly format. 
• Experience working in low- or middle-income countries. 
• A passion for alleviating human suffering and advancing evidence-based global development.  

Compensation 

Salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications and competitive with similar roles. We expect to offer an all-in compensation and benefits package valued in the range of $130,000-$200,000. WAM Foundation offers competitive benefits.