Senior Research Associate; Education & Workforce

About Urban Institute

The Urban Institute is a research-to-impact institution founded on one simple idea:
To improve lives and strengthen communities, we need practices and policies that work. From advancing well-being to fostering shared prosperity, leaders across sectors are working every day to create brighter futures for all people and communities. For more than 50 years, Urban has delivered evidence and solutions that drive meaningful change, and this remains our charge today. Our Mission To drive impact by equipping changemakers with evidence and solutions.

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Urban is seeking a quantitative and/or qualitative researcher to work on a range of education and workforce projects, including technology-enabled learning, AI’s effects on learning and work, postsecondary student success, community college, and career pathways from K12. We are looking for individuals with a background in postsecondary education and/or workforce policy research and strong project management and analysis skills. The ideal candidate will bring subject matter expertise in one or more of these areas and a solid track record of studying a range of topics.

This position will be expected to support ongoing work, contribute to business development to further build Urban’s higher education and workforce research portfolio, and over time, to serve as project director, principal investigator, or task lead for future studies.

Note:

We welcome hybrid and remote applicants.

• Conceptualize, develop, and lead or co‑lead research and evaluation studies related to education and workforce and provide intellectual leadership in project development.
• Play a key role in the development of proposals, responses to solicitations, and other meaningful business cultivation activities. This may include leading or co‑leading proposal efforts depending on their scale and complexity.
• Manage project teams, including assigning roles and responsibilities; managing project team performance; monitoring project progress, budget, and schedule; and designing and implementing strategies to successfully complete project tasks.
• Lead the development of data collection instruments, collection of qualitative data through site visits, interviews and focus groups, and administration of surveys and questionnaires.
• Design and lead analyses of qualitative and quantitative data using appropriate software (e.g., Stata, R, SAS, NVivo) and/or other accepted practices in data analysis, along with emerging AI tools.
• Oversee preparation of Institutional Review Board materials and ensure protection of human subjects.
• Lead the development, writing and publication of research reports, briefs, and presentations for external audiences.
• Represent Urban’s work to the public, policymakers, funders, and the press.
• Successfully develop and maintain partnerships and engage in collaboration with other Urban scholars (including across disciplines), practitioners, intermediaries, funders, philanthropies, and other research organizations.
• Directly supervise one or more early‑career staff.

• Possess a graduate degree in public policy, social work, education, economics, sociology, or related social science field as well as 5‑10 years of related professional experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Serve as an expert on education and workforce research and exhibit high‑level oral and written communication skills.
• Lived experience working in education or public agencies responsible for administering the sector is welcomed but not required.
• Have substantive content expertise in one…