Evaluation and Insights Analyst - Research Analysis Specialist Senior

Evaluation and Insights Analyst

At the State of Minnesota, employees play a critical role in developing policies, providing essential services, and working to improve the well-being and quality of life for all Minnesotans. The State of Minnesota is committed to equity and inclusion, and invests in employees by providing benefits, support resources, and training and development opportunities.

About the Paid Leave Division:

Paid Leave is a new program that launched in January 2026. The program will provide partial wage replacement to Minnesota workers who are out of work due to a qualifying condition, such as severe health condition that prevents them from working, or when they need time to care for a family member or a new child.

We have built a program that will be easy for every Minnesotan to use. We are engaging the people who depend on us-workers, employers, caregivers, and insurers-to learn from them and build the program around their needs. We are using modern delivery service and product practices to deliver the program.

The Paid Leave team has high standards and an unrelenting commitment to serving Minnesotans. It is a start-up environment without legacy systems or preconceived ways of working, so we have a unique opportunity to create human-centric processes and systems to deliver this new benefit to Minnesotans.

Position

Purpose:

The Evaluation and Insights Analyst leads qualitative and quantitative evaluations for the Paid Leave program. This role analyzes program data to guide strategy and continuous improvement, provides evaluation support and technical assistance to internal teams, and manages research partnerships. The Evaluation and Insights Analyst helps ensure the Paid Leave team stays focused on delivering equitable outcomes, a positive user experience, and meaningful impact for Minnesota's most marginalized communities.

This position will be based out of the St. Paul office.

This position is telework eligible. Staff are provided with the tools and equipment to be successful in a virtual work environment. Please note, the telework policy could change with notice based on business needs.

This posting may be used to fill multiple positions.

Minimum Qualifications:

Three (3) years
* of experience conducting research and evaluation work, including performing quantitative and qualitative analyses, developing evaluation methods or models, and turning data findings into recommendations that guide program strategy and planning.

* Bachelor's degree in public policy, statistics, sociology, or other closely related field as determined by the agency may substitute for one (1) year of experience; master's degree substitutes for eighteen (18) months of experience.

Applicants that meet the above minimum qualification will be further evaluated on the following:

• Experience developing and conducting mixed method evaluations in an environment without established systems or precedents.
• Experience manipulating and analyzing data using software comparable to R, Python, or STATA.
• Experience working with internal and external partners on research and evaluation projects.
• Experience working collaboratively across teams to promote a culture of learning and program improvement.
• Experience with written or oral presentations of data and research to a variety of audiences.
• Experience designing and applying evaluation approaches that advance equity.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience managing multiple research partnerships or projects and balance competing priorities.
• Experience using Structured Query Language (SQL) or a similar language to query and analyze large data sets.
• Experience establishing and maintaining data sharing agreements and research partnerships.
• Knowledge of Minnesota state government processes and programs, especially health and human services programs.
• Ability to independently plan, design, and conduct rigorous evaluations with minimal precedent, while flexibly adapting methodologies as programs evolve, priorities shift, or new data emerges.
• Experience partnering with stakeholders to implement research findings to improve policy.
• Our employees are dedicated to ensuring cultural responsiveness. Preferred…