Senior Researcher​/Project Director

Senior Researcher/Project Director

Job No: 499106

Work Type: Postdoc / Research / Fellow

Location: Denver, CO

Categories: Research

The Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab at the University of Denver (DU) was created with the Governor's Office to find data-informed solutions to Colorado's most pressing social problems. We partner with government agencies and communities to conduct rigorous research that informs policies, programs, and investments. Guided by our eight essential elements, we use data to drive action and conduct high-quality, responsive, and actionable work.

We also work closely with a network of affiliated researchers and evaluation teams.

The Colorado Lab team includes management, research teams, Evidence-Building Hub teams, the Linked Information Network of Colorado (LINC) team, and operations. Staff need a strong grasp of research and evaluation methods and the ability to explain technical topics clearly, in writing and in person, to non-experts. We value a collaborative learning environment where colleagues are responsive to one another and to our partners, and where everyone holds themselves and each other accountable for high-quality, well-documented, timely work.

The Colorado Lab seeks to add one additional staff member at the Senior Researcher/Project Director level. The balance of Senior Researcher and Project Director functions will be based on the individual's skill set and Lab needs.

• Serve as a senior researcher on projects that are directed by other members of the Colorado Lab team.
• Translate policy or practice questions into research designs. Engage government partners in this process to ensure research designs are matched to decision-making goals through skilled facilitation.
• Develop analysis plans for a variety of research designs, including causal evaluations and mixed methods studies, that promote rigor and generate actionable information.
• Develop theories of change for individual programs and investments within a public funding stream.
• Execute on a variety of analytic tasks, including data management and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, based on a project plan, recommending deviations from the plan as appropriate.
• Shepherd projects through the Institutional Review Board process.

• Develop project workplans that attend to the intersection of study activities and client goals.
• Adjust workplans in response to emergent learnings, client goals, and political or budgetary landscape.
• Balance task assignments within a project team relative to their time allocations for the project, proactively elevating to Lab leadership when adjustments are needed.

• Conceptualize and execute on standard and innovative project deliverables that will meet project/decision-maker goals that are rooted in the Lab's Essential Elements.
• Conceptualize and support development of data visualizations and other external facing, layered communication tools (e.g., executive summaries, factsheets, social media messaging).
• Lead dissemination of project findings that supports actionability and sustainability using effective oral and written communication for non-technical audiences about technical analytic and policy issues.
• Perform skilled facilitation among researchers, government partners, and stakeholders to support meaning-making and actionability of findings.

• Direct and serve as the principal investigator on research projects involving multiple partners, tight deadlines, sensitive data, and potentially high-profile and/or controversial topics.
• Simultaneously lead multiple project teams, including…