Research Analyst

Desired skills/certifications (any additional skills desired but not required to be considered for the position):

Location:

Reston, Virginia or possibility for remote (U.S.)

We are seeking a highly motivated Research Analyst to join our team and play a pivotal role in advancing federal and state agency's understanding of their data ecosystems. In this position, you will become a trusted expert on the agency's data sources, structures, and quality challenges, helping to identify key areas for improvement. You will work closely with client subject matter experts to quickly develop a comprehensive understanding of the agency's most critical data domains and top data quality concerns.

As a Research Analyst
, you will be responsible for developing clear and well-structured analytical plans and conducting in-depth analysis of datasets, with a primary focus on large administrative data. Your work will involve cleaning and preparing data, designing and adapting code to detect data quality issues, identifying trends, and producing outputs that support research and operational use. You will also lead complex statistical analyses to validate findings, highlight risks, and inform strategic decision-making.

AEM is a recognized market leader in helping education clients improve the programs, systems, processes, and data used to advance student learning. AEM is more than a successful company, it is an engaging and empowering organization with a strong culture of meaningfully supporting all staff. We are looking for team members who are ready to engage and become an integral part of our team as we continue to push to impact the field of education in powerful ways.

• Collaborate with stakeholders to understand data requirements, and translate those requirements into actionable analytical strategies
• Design and execute complex analyses using Microsoft Excel (advanced functions, Power Query, Pivot Tables) or similar statistical tools (e.g., Stata, SAS) to quantify issues, test hypotheses, and measure impact
• Diagnose and improve data quality: define and operationalize rules, profiling checks, and remediation workflows; monitor results and close the loop with business owners
• Tell the story with data: build clear, consumable tables, visuals, and narratives (e.g., Power BI/Excel) that help stakeholders make quick, confident decisions
• Contribute to the development of reports, presentations, and visualizations that communicate findings clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Conduct literature reviews and national scans to support client policy needs
• Design and program surveys and other small data collections to collect one-time and longitudinal data via Qualtrics or other cloud collection tools
• Contribute to team excellence: share knowledge, patterns, templates, and how-to guides; propose automation and standards that increase velocity and reduce error

• Ability to obtain a security clearance via a Public Trust background investigation
• Bachelor's degree in mathematics, statistics, data analytics, engineering, or a related field
• 5+ years of professional data analysis experience (or 3+ years with a related advanced degree, such as a Masters in Public Policy or Masters in Education Research)
• Experienced with ingesting, cleaning, linking, and analyzing large datasets
• Advanced Microsoft Excel (Power Query, Pivot Tables, complex formulas) skills
• Proficiency with at least one of the following tools:
  Power BI, Tableau, or Python
• Proficiency with at least one of the following tools:
  Stata, SAS, or R
• Quantitative and qualitative data analysis skills; able to design a data analysis, integrate…