Associate, Research

Partners for Public Good

1d • $100,000

About The Position

At Partners for Public Good (PPG), we believe that when government works, communities thrive. Launched in March 2025, we are a fast-growing nonprofit dedicated to helping state and local governments harness core operational functions – procurement, staffing, digital infrastructure, and budgeting – to drive public impact.

Our journey began in 2011 at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Government Performance Lab, where we set out to transform public procurement. Since then, we’ve worked with hundreds of governments across the country to make their procurement systems more efficient, fair, results-driven, and strategic. For example, in 2022, we launched the Procurement Excellence Network, putting our tools and strategies in the hands of over two thousand public servants.

Today, our team of doers, coaches, and advisors partner with governments to create lasting, impactful change. Our vision is simple: every resident has a government they can count on, every day.
Role & Organizational Impact
We are seeking an Associate, Research to support a new research initiative to develop a deeper understanding of the challenges state and local governments face in their back-office operations, focusing on the field of public procurement, which is a critical but under-researched area of government.

Reporting to the Project Leader of Research, the Associate will conduct research to help answer core questions about procurement practices, including how procurement operations impact vendors and residents. The Associate’s research will include interviewing stakeholders, providing qualitative and quantitative research support, and preparing draft reports, slide decks, and memos sharing research findings.

At PPG, Associates drive the day-to-day delivery of programmatic projects, working closely with Project Leaders and Assistant Directors to turn strategy into action. This can include multiple and fractional projects across teams. They facilitate meetings with government partners, design and produce project materials, deliver trainings and coaching, and draft key deliverables and reports. Associates may work on one in-depth project or contribute across several shorter-term or fractional engagements, depending on portfolio needs.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required. Equivalent years of professional experience and/or certifications will be considered in lieu of formal education.
• Three or more years of related work experience in qualitative and quantitative analysis (in an academic setting, research-based organization, or within a research unit of a public agency, private or consulting firm) or related work experience.
• Excellent writing and editing skills, including the ability to produce compelling, well-written, and error-free work products.
• Strong project management and stakeholder engagement skills, with track record of independently managing projects and multiple simultaneous deadlines.
• Familiarity with one or more analysis tools or statistical computing programs, such as R, SPSS, STATA, or Python, or strong ability to conduct analysis and develop data visualizations in Microsoft Excel or Power Bi.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, Visio) and other outreach or virtual collaboration tools (Zoom, Miro).
• Willingness and ability to travel as needed at least six times per year.

Responsibilities

• Understand the challenges that state and local governments face in collecting procurement, financial, and operations data.
• In collaboration with manager, help to design research approaches that could produce answers to core research questions.
• Support the creation of structured project plans, scopes, study designs, analysis plans, and timelines for internal feedback.
• Assist with foundational steps ahead of data analysis, including data collection, extracting and merging data sets, and preparing and cleaning data correctly.
• Analyze qualitative and/or quantitative data. This may include literature reviews, field work (interviews, focus groups, and site visits), and data analysis in Microsoft Excel or statistical computing programs (e.g., R, SPSS, Stata, or Python). Help create data visualizations.
• Draft and contribute to white papers, blogs, presentations, reports, and infographics that share insights from research with external audiences.
• Complete logistical and administrative tasks to support research projects, including tracking project timelines and deliverables, drafting work plans, and coordinating meetings.
• Foster clear communication across PPG and research collaborators, resulting in continued successful relationships with nonprofit partners, researchers/SMEs, government technology companies, and jurisdictions.
• Provide input to internal operational improvement initiatives.
• Support efforts to expand and refine PPG’s offerings and impact.

Benefits

• We offer medical, dental, and vision insurance, with multiple plan options to fit individual needs as well as access to health and flexible savings accounts.
• Paid time off includes: 15 vacation days, 12 sick days, 3 personal days, 2 floating holidays, 12 paid holidays, and a winter recess.
• We also provide an employer match for retirement savings, paid parental leave, and access to backup care for caregiving needs.
• To support remote work, we offer work-from-home stipends or shared office space options.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level