Assistant Director of Replication and Scale - LEO

Summary of the organization

The Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) at the University of Notre Dame is a research center dedicated to reducing poverty by partnering with service providers to conduct rigorous impact evaluations. LEO’s mission is to improve lives through evidence-based programs and policies, empowering decision-makers with data that drives lasting social change.

While research is at the heart of its work, LEO is committed to ensuring that evidence leads to meaningful impact. The Replication and Scale unit collaborates closely with provider organizations and scale partners to package evidence-based programs, establish funding pipelines, and build the operational infrastructure needed to sustain program expansion into new communities. Now two years into this ambitious effort, LEO is poised for significant growth.  

Summary of the role 

The Assistant Director of Replication and Scale will play a central role in driving forward LEO’s mission of translating evidence to action. This position will lead a growing team, manage dynamic multi-stakeholder efforts, and serve as a key architect of how LEO supports programs from initial research to nationwide scale. 

The Assistant Director of Replication and Scale’s top priorities will be:

• Team leadership  
  • Lead, inspire, and manage a growing team to drive forward LEO’s replication and scale work.
  • Oversee day-to-day operations, set goals, allocate resources, and ensure accountability across staff and projects.
  • Build a culture of excellence, mission alignment, and continuous improvement within the Replication and Scale unit. 
• Strategy & vision for scale  
  • Lead the vision and strategy for identifying, supporting, and preparing provider partners to successfully package and replicate their programs.
  • Implement criteria to identify interventions that are strong candidates for replication and manage the process of packaging core program components. 
  • Develop frameworks and tools that guide partners through the replication journey—from proof of concept to sustainable scale. 
• Partnership development & infrastructure 
  • Serve as a key liaison with scale partners, funders, and other collaborators, ensuring alignment, problem-solving challenges, and assessing readiness for growth.
  • Collaborate with the Associate Director of Policy & Impact to create the infrastructure needed to support long-term scaling success. 
  • Navigate complex partnerships with empathy and strategic clarity, including determining when replication efforts should pivot or sunset.
• Knowledge leadership & dissemination 
  • Lead the vision and development of a technical series on replication, codifying LEO’s best practices and advancing the “science of scaling” with academic, practitioner, and policy audiences.
  • Represent LEO’s replication work externally through presentations, publications, and convenings. 
• Additional responsibilities 
  • Contribute to grant development, university collaborations, and other strategic initiatives that strengthen LEO’s replication and scale work.
  • Prepare and deliver presentations to a range of audiences, including academics, social service providers, policymakers, funders, and advisory boards. 

Qualifications

• Education & experience  
  • Bachelor’s degree required.
  • Minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience, including work in nonprofit management, public policy, research-to-practice, or large-scale project implementation.
• Required 
  • Deep commitment to the missions of LEO and the University of Notre Dame.
  • Strong leadership and management skills, with the ability to motivate teams and foster accountability.
  • Proven ability to design and manage operational systems, processes, and timelines for new, complex initiatives.
  • Strong strategic thinking and execution skills. 
  • Experience co-creating solutions with provider partners, funders, and nonprofits. 
  • Excellent communication skills–verbal, written, and interpersonal–with an ability to translate research into actionable insights. 
  • Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-growth, mission-driven environment. 
• Preferred 
  • Master’s degree in Public Policy, Business Administration, or a related field preferred.
  • Experience working with or at nonprofit organizations.
  • Experience scaling programs, managing replication efforts, or leading initiatives that translate. research into practice. 
  • Familiarity with impact evaluation, RCTs, or evidence-based implementation.