Senior Researcher

Strada Education Foundation•Washington, DC

3d•$98,500 - $122,300•Hybrid

About The Position

Strada's Institute for the Future of Work conducts rigorous, field-leading research to provide policymakers, institutional leaders, employers, workers, and students with actionable insights to strengthen the pathways connecting education to stable, well-paying, meaningful work. This role is for a Senior Researcher who is skilled in quantitative research, committed to high-quality work, and motivated by the potential to influence decisions about postsecondary education and training systems.

Requirements

PhD (in hand by start date) in public policy, economics, sociology, demography, higher education, or a related field.
Extensive experience with advanced quantitative research methods, including multiple quasi-experimental designs.
Extensive experience preparing complex longitudinal datasets for analysis, including cleaning, coding, organizing, merging, and managing data.
Extensive experience analyzing data and displaying results in tabular and graphical form.
A minimum of five years of aggregated hands-on research experience with writing manuscripts for peer-reviewed scholarly journals.
A minimum of five years of aggregated hands-on research experience translating complex research findings into reports, briefs, and/or presentations for scholarly audiences and policymakers.
A minimum of five years of aggregated hands-on research experience leading research projects.
In-depth knowledge of one or more areas of research related to higher education, workforce development, and/or labor market outcomes.
Demonstrated ability to synthesize and communicate complex research findings.
Demonstrated ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously while maintaining exceptional attention to detail.
Demonstrated ability to work independently and meet deadlines.
Demonstrated ability to work well with others, including both receiving direction and providing direction.
Exceptionally strong writing skills and verbal communication skills, including editing skills and the ability to communicate ideas clearly and concisely for audiences.

Nice To Haves

Experience with administrative course-, student-, or institution-level education data, and individual-level employment/earnings data.
Experience working directly with federal datasets like IPEDS, ACS, or CPS.
Survey design experience.
Experience developing interview or observational protocols.
Qualitative data analysis experience (e.g., NVivo).
A track record of writing successfully funded research grant proposals.

Responsibilities

Conduct original research projects from framing research questions to delivering final results.
Interpret project objectives and research questions.
Investigate and synthesize relevant research literature and policy context.
Make methodologically sound decisions about data cleaning, operationalizing variables, sampling, analytic approaches, and presenting results.
Clean, code, organize, merge, and manage complex longitudinal datasets using Stata or R (Stata preferred).
Perform data quality assurance checks and identify data problems.
Write carefully commented and well-organized syntax.
Design and refine methodologies to meet project objectives.
Conduct advanced statistical analyses.
Document methodological and operational decisions.
Prepare data codebooks.
Collaborate with internal and external partners to execute research.
Guide supporting research staff and contractors, assign tasks, set timelines, and provide feedback.
Collaborate in writing research manuscripts, reports, briefs, literature reviews, and summaries.
Prepare slide decks, data tables, figures, infographics, and other communications.
Review and contribute to products created by internal partners.
Deliver presentations to internal and external audiences.
Represent Strada at external events.
Prepare for and contribute to Institute meetings and meetings with partners.
Identify and develop research topics and questions aligned with the Institute's mission.
Build relationships and develop partnerships.
Collaborate in writing grant proposals to secure external funding.
Model inclusion and respect in working with colleagues.
Support an inclusive workplace culture through DEI learning.