Executive Vice President (EVP), Global Programs

About Evidence Action 

Evidence Action is a non-profit dedicated to identifying neglected global health issues and scaling proven solutions - adding years of healthy life for entire generations. Deworm the World, our foundational program, has delivered over 2B deworming treatments, driving dramatic reductions in worm prevalence and generating over $23 billion in lifetime productivity gains. 

Our model operationalizes top academic research (including from Nobel-winning economists) and uses experts across global health, supply chain, and infrastructure to develop and implement health interventions at national scale. Our team of 900+ has reached over 500M people, working hand-in-hand with national governments to scale our approach across 11 countries. Measurement and evaluation are embedded in every stage of our work - from idea validation in our Accelerator; to coverage validation upon rollout (quantifying uptake of interventions). 

The Evidence Action Accelerator, founded in 2019, researches and identifies the next unicorns of development - to date we have found five programs with potential to transform the health outcomes of millions, including: 

• Preventing stillbirths and neonatal deaths through testing and treating maternal syphilis - which today causes more deaths than pediatric HIV, and is treatable for just $0.50 a dose
• Reducing under-five child mortality by ~25% through scaling safe water access to hundreds of millions, which can add a year of healthy life for just $40
• Fighting a leading cause of childhood disability through delivering iron and folic acid supplements to prevent anemia, applying our innovative school-based delivery model 

With these untapped opportunities now identified, we are at an inflection point in our capacity to create sector-wide impact - and improve health outcomes for hundreds of millions of people globally.

The Role 

Evidence Action is seeking an Executive Vice President (EVP), Global Programs to provide executive leadership for a dynamic portfolio of large-scale, evidence-based global health and development programs. This is a hands-on, builder role for a senior leader who brings deep programmatic credibility, analytical rigor, and a track record of designing, scaling, and leading complex programs from strategy through execution.

The EVP will initially oversee Deworm the World, nutrition, school-based health, and the Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation (MLE) function, with scope and portfolio evolution expected as the organization continues to scale and strategic priorities develop. This role requires someone who is not only comfortable setting direction, but who actively engages in problem-solving, decision-making under ambiguity, and translating evidence into operational reality.

In India alone, our nutrition programs are projected to avert 11 million cases of anemia and 445,000 DALYs over the next five years. Evidence Action plans to reach 178 million children with deworming treatment, building on a decade of work that has contributed an estimated $23 billion in increased lifetime incomes. In addition, we have recently partnered with the Government of Tanzania to implement the first nationwide impact assessment survey in 20 years to update the country’s treatment strategy and help pave the way to achieve the WHO 2030 disease-specific targets. For a broader view of our impact across programs and geographies, see Evidence Action’s 2025 In Review.

This is a pivotal leadership opportunity for a seasoned executive who can navigate complexity, inspire high-performing teams, and translate evidence into action, driving measurable improvements in millions of lives for years to come.

Responsibilities

Program Leadership and Strategy

• Provide leadership across Director-level reports overseeing MLE and programs in nutrition, deworming and school health.
• Ensure the MLE function effectively supports all program teams with reliable data, rigorous analysis, and actionable insights to inform strategy, investments, and program improvements.
• Set strategic direction, clarify priorities, and hold Directors accountable for high-quality, cost-effective, evidence-based execution, while reviewing portfolio performance to identify opportunities for efficiency, innovation, and course correction.
• Provide thought partnership as new interventions move through the Accelerator process and guide piloting and scaling decisions.
• Ensure cross-country and cross-program coherence in strategy, technical standards, and operational excellence.
• Maintain executive oversight of resource allocation, budget management, and financial stewardship in partnership with Program Finance.

External Engagement

• Serve as a senior leader in fundraising, working closely with the CEO, our fundraising team, and program leaders to secure philanthropic and institutional funding.
• Translate complex program strategies and evidence into clear, compelling cases for investment tailored to different funder audiences.
• Support the design of funding strategies that balance growth, sustainability, and diversification across the portfolio.
• Act as a credible external representative of Evidence Action’s programs with donors, government counterparts, multilaterals, and technical partners.
• Provide strategic direction on partnerships with governments and implementing partners to support transition, scale, and institutionalization of programs.

Organizational Leadership

• Serve as a core member of the Global Leadership Team, helping shape organizational strategy, culture, and enterprise-wide priorities.
• Champion the strategic use of data, technology, and AI to strengthen program design, implementation, monitoring, and decision-making.
• Mentor and develop Directors and senior leaders to strengthen the program leadership bench.
• Lead or contribute to cross-organizational initiatives (e.g., strategy refresh, operating model improvements, innovation agenda) in collaboration with fellow executives.