[Hiring] Senior Researcher, Employment and Economic Opportunity @American Institutes for Research

Role Description

AIR’s Employment & Economic Opportunity Program is seeking a part-time Senior Researcher to join a team dedicated to advancing applied research that expands economic opportunity and improves lives. In this role, you will lead and contribute to rigorous research and evaluation projects — managing day-to-day operations, designing studies, overseeing data collection and analysis, and communicating findings to clients and stakeholders. You will work across the full research lifecycle, from proposal development to final deliverables, serving in roles such as principal investigator, project director, or task lead depending on project needs.

This position has the flexibility to work remotely within the United States (U.S.) or from one of AIR’s U.S. office locations but requires availability to participate in meetings across all continental U.S. time zones. This does not include U.S. territories.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day project operations in roles such as principal investigator, project director, or task lead.
• Lead collaborative project teams by developing timelines, coordinating staff assignments, and ensuring deliverables are completed on time, within budget, and to a high standard.
• Identify research problems and design studies to address key questions in applied research contexts.
• Apply subject-matter expertise to design and implement relevant, responsive, and impactful research projects.
• Develop study designs with aligned research questions, methodologies, and analytic plans.
• Lead and contribute to research proposals for federal, state, foundation, and other clients.
• Devise and implement innovative solutions to practical challenges in applied research.
• Lead data collection and analysis efforts.
• Oversee the design and planning of qualitative and/or quantitative data collection tools, such as interview protocols, focus group guides, and surveys.
• Supervise field-based data collection activities, including interviews, observations, focus groups, and document reviews.
• Conduct or oversee data analysis using appropriate tools and techniques for various data types.
• Communicate study progress and findings clearly and effectively.
• Prepare reports, briefs, visualizations, and other materials that interpret and present research findings for clients and stakeholders.
• Represent the organization professionally in all client interactions.
• Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with clients, partners, and stakeholders.
• Foster and maintain positive, collaborative working relationships.
• Manage client and stakeholder relationships with professionalism and awareness of the broader policy and practice landscape.
• Contribute thoughtfully and creatively to project teams.

Qualifications

• PhD in related subject area (e.g., Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, Public Policy, or related field) with 3+ years of relevant experience or Master’s degree with 7+ years of relevant experience.
• Firm understanding of implementation science.
• Ability to take big ideas and develop work plans and timelines.
• Experience at contract research and/or evaluation organization(s).
• Experience with data collection methodologies (including but not limited to structured interviews, observations, survey research) and analysis activities (including but not limited to experience with quantitative and/or qualitative analytic software packages such as STATA, R, EXCEL, NViVO, and Access).
• Experience managing project and/or task teams on research and evaluation projects.
• Experience building and maintaining client and partner relationships.
• Experience with business pursuit (e.g., grant and proposal writing).

Skills

• Strong organizational and interpersonal skills including strong communication skills with the ability to produce concise, high-level summaries and briefings.
• Strong negotiator and communicator, with excellent client management skills.
• Strong presentation, professional development delivery, and facilitation skills.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to accuracy when writing.
• Can collaborate effectively in a virtual work environment.

Disclosures

• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the U.S. on a full-time basis. Employment-based visa sponsorship (including H-1B sponsorship) is not available for this position.
• Depending on project work, qualified candidates may need to meet certain residency requirements.
• American Institutes for Research is an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of age, race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability.
• AIR adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo reference and background checks.
• AIR maintains a drug-free work environment.

Accessibility Notice

If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process due to a physical or mental disability, please send an email to Taliba Boone at [email protected] or call 202.403.5000.

Fraudulent Job Scams Warning & Disclaimer

AIR is aware of individuals falsely presenting themselves as AIR representatives. Fraudulent job scams seek to extract sensitive information or money from victims. To protect yourself, please be aware that AIR recruitment will only email you from an “@air.org” domain. Please take extra caution while examining the email address, for example [email protected] is correct and [email protected] is not a legitimate AIR email address. If you are unsure of the legitimacy of a communication you have received, please reach out to [email protected]. If you see a job scam, or lose money to one, report it to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. You can also report it to your state attorney general. Find out more about how to avoid scams at ftc.gov/scams.

Benefits

This position offers the anticipated annual salary as listed. Salary offers are made based on internal equity within the institution and external equity with competitive markets. Please note this is the annual salary range for candidates that are based in the United States.

• Anticipated Hourly Rate Range: $60 — $74 USD