Visiting Senior Research Specialist - Hybrid

Visiting Senior Research Specialist - Hybrid

Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative

Sponsorship for work authorization is not available for this position.

The Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC) is seeking an experienced quantitative researcher to lead and support projects across our education and workforce research portfolios. The Visiting Senior Research Specialist will work across multiple projects that offer opportunities for rigorous applied research, deep collaboration with Illinois education and workforce leaders, and interdisciplinary, multi-institutional project partnerships. If successful and funding allows, this visiting position may have the opportunity for renewal after one year.

• Manage data sharing and analysis of large statewide longitudinal datasets. Acquire access to necessary data, organize it for use by IWERC, and manage all data sharing relationships.
• Generate research questions and analytic plans to answer pressing issues in the Illinois education and workforce ecosystem.
• Lead project team to design and conduct appropriate quantitative analyses.
• Replicate, refine and add new research approaches based on project needs. Test, customize and implement new methods, procedures and techniques. Revise analytic approaches based on feedback from colleagues and reviewers.
• Create new projects and proposals (including data collection, analytic, and staff plans) related to the broader IWERC mission.

• Write successful funding proposals for projects related to IWERC's mission.
• Present practical results in a clear, creative, and accessible fashion to practitioners, community partners, and education/workforce leaders.
• Disseminate research findings via academic conferences and in IWERC publications.
• Contribute to the overall vision and success of the IWERC team by participating in direction-setting for the team's portfolio of work, collaborating with other team members on projects, providing and receiving hard feedback, and assisting with development efforts.

• Lead multiple projects simultaneously while meeting time and budget constraints.
• Supervise and mentor junior research specialists in collecting and managing data, conducting analyses, engaging in ethical and collaborative relationships with participants and partners, and disseminating results.

Perform other related duties and participate in special projects as assigned.

• Master's degree (required) or Ph.D. (preferred) in Public Policy, Economics, Statistics, Education, or a related field with a quantitative emphasis.
• 4+ years (with Master’s) or 3+ years (with Ph.D.) of experience in managing and analyzing large-scale data sets in academia (outside of graduate school) or industry.

• Demonstrable experience applying advanced statistical methods (e.g., multilevel modeling, fixed effects/random effects modeling, causal inference, multivariate analysis) to research projects on workforce and/or education issues.
• Proficiency with statistical software packages such as Stata, SAS, R, MPLUS, HLM software.
• Strong writing skills. Experience writing publication-quality research manuscripts required. Experience writing grant proposals preferred.
• Experience leading project teams to answer quantitative research questions preferred.
• Deep commitment to furthering equity and inclusion in professional work and research projects. Experience conducting research related to equity and inclusion in workforce/education context is preferred.
• Interest in doing applied research that investigates field-initiated issues and directly serves community partners. Experience working with community partners on research strongly preferred.
• Ability to be a self-starter, taking initiative in developing new lines of research and collaboration.
• Comfort working collaboratively, contributing to a collective vision, and giving/receiving hard, actionable feedback.
• History of being highly ethical in professional conduct, research conduct, and interactions with internal and external colleagues and partners.

This is a…