Location: San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex Headquarters, 1080 Gunpowder Point Dr., Chula Vista, CA 91910
Employment Type: Part-time B2B subcontractor
Compensation: $75-$90/hour, all-inclusive B2B rate
Estimated Effort: Approximately 144 hours over one year, equivalent to about 3-4 full-time workweeks distributed around workshop preparation, the two-day convening, follow-up sessions, and process documentation
Status: Contingent upon contract award
- Minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible professional experience conducting quantitative and qualitative research, program evaluation, and applied behavioral assessment for youth-focused initiatives, educational programs, environmental education programs, and conservation engagement efforts. Demonstrated expertise in designing and implementing multi-year evaluation plans that include baseline assessment, longitudinal data collection, formative and summative evaluation approaches, and year-to-year comparative analysis.
- Advanced knowledge of quantitative methodologies, including survey development, statistical analysis, metric development, indicator tracking, longitudinal assessment, and interpretation of behavioral and attitudinal outcome data.
- Advanced knowledge of qualitative methodologies, including focus groups, interviews, observational methods, participatory evaluation approaches, thematic coding, and mixed-methods integration.
- Demonstrated experience assessing behavioral, cognitive, and attitudinal shifts among youth populations, particularly K-12 students and transitional-age youth/young adults ages 18-24.
- Demonstrated and documented expertise with evidence-based frameworks for evaluating environmental ethics, environmental stewardship, conservation behaviors, outdoor learning outcomes, social-emotional learning, civic engagement, and pro-environmental decision-making.
- Proven experience developing and applying metrics that evaluate the role of teachers, educators, mentors, facilitators, and program staff in influencing student engagement, learning retention, environmental literacy, behavioral change, and long-term educational outcomes.
- Experience evaluating educator effectiveness and instructional practices within formal and informal learning environments, including schools, outdoor education settings, community-based learning environments, and experiential education programs.
- Demonstrated ability to assess student behavior and learning outcomes through multiple measures, including observational assessment tools, participant surveys, educator feedback, engagement indicators, and longitudinal outcome tracking.
- Demonstrated understanding of youth development principles and age-appropriate evaluation methodologies for diverse student populations across developmental stages.
- Experience translating evaluation findings into actionable recommendations that improve program delivery, curriculum implementation, educator practices, participant engagement, and measurable outcomes over time.
- Strong understanding of culturally responsive and trauma-informed evaluation practices, including experience working with communities in densely populated metropolitan areas.
- Demonstrated ability to synthesize complex data into clear technical reports, executive summaries, presentations, dashboards, and stakeholder-facing communications suitable for funders, educators, program leadership, and community partners.
- Demonstrated knowledge of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requirements and protocols related to public information collection, including survey development, Paperwork Reduction Act considerations, data collection approvals, and public-facing evaluation instruments.
- Familiarity with federal plain language requirements and demonstrated ability to develop reports, surveys, educational materials, and public communications that comply with federal Plain Writing standards and accessibility best practices.
- Demonstrated understanding of Section 508 accessibility compliance requirements and experience ensuring evaluation tools, reports, surveys, dashboards, and digital deliverables meet applicable federal accessibility standards for public use and dissemination.
- Demonstrated familiarity with environmental, ecological, conservation, and community engagement issues specific to Southern California, including experience working within regional environmental education, outdoor learning, conservation, habitat restoration, climate resilience, coastal, urban refuge, or natural resource programs.
- Demonstrated knowledge of the educational systems, institutional structures, and youth-serving environments within Southern California, including experience collaborating with K-12 schools, school districts, higher education institutions, informal education providers, and community-based organizations.
Responsibilities
- Develop agenda topics and intended outcomes for the required two-day workshop.
- Design materials and activities used to engage partners and stakeholders in assessing existing evaluation methods, performance indicators, and outcome metrics.
- Facilitate a two-day workshop supporting collaborative development of evaluation priorities, objectives, methodologies, and outcome measures.
- Facilitate stakeholder-informed discussions, workshops, interviews, focus groups, and review sessions.
- Help identify gaps, strengths, redundancies, and opportunities for improvement within current evaluation frameworks and data-collection practices.
- Document methodologies, facilitation approaches, decision-making structures, stakeholder-engagement strategies, lessons learned, and recommended practices so USFWS may reuse the process.
Pay: $75.00 - $90.00 per hour
Work Location: In person
