Senior Researcher, CIRCLE- Tisch College

CIRCLE, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tisch College within Tufts University, is a non-partisan, independent research organization focused on youth civic engagement in the United States. CIRCLE conducts extensive research that examines how young people in the United States develop knowledge, skills, and dispositions for effective democratic engagement and leverages that research to improve opportunities for all young people to acquire and use the skills and knowledge they need to meaningfully participate in civic life. CIRCLE is especially concerned with understanding, addressing, and ultimately eliminating the systemic barriers that keep some young people marginalized from and underrepresented in civic life. CIRCLE covers a broad range of disciplines and fields, from K-12 civic education, youth voting, youth organizing, youth and civic media, to community characteristics that promote civic development.

The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University is a national leader in civic education and engagement that sets the standard for higher education's role in advancing the greater good. The only university-wide college of its kind, the Tisch College of Civic Life studies and promotes the civic and political engagement of young people at Tufts University, in our communities, and in our democracy.

The Senior Researcher position is within CIRCLE and will primarily focus on youth voting, youth organizing, youth and civic media, and community characteristics that promote civic development.

This is a 24 month limited term position with possibility of extending. Please submit a cover letter when applying.

Under leadership of the directors, the researcher will contribute to the development and execution of all phases of research & evaluation projects. This role requires both quantitative and qualitative research skills, as well as project management, writing, and mentorship. The senior researcher will provide oversight and leadership for several youth civic engagement research projects simultaneously including providing technical assistance and support for junior researchers on the team. They will be directly involved in the communication and dissemination of data driven insights to various stakeholders within the field of higher education and civic engagement. Working with the team, they will create research data pipelines, data instruments and contribute to a wide range of empirical analyses. This is not a software development position, but rather it is a research position with a strong programming component. This person will contribute to data cleaning, data quality checks and documentations. They will participate in discussion and co-creation of coding and analysis schemes as well as qualitative questions and investigations.

Responsibilities include serving as the lead researcher on projects focused on voter registration and civic engagement in higher education, and rural voter engagement. This includes management and analysis of hierarchical, relational and/or administrative data sets, research design and literature reviews, project management, relationships with funders and partners, and report production. The senior researcher will work on multiple projects simultaneously, supervise staff members, and support CIRCLE's overall operation and support management of project timelines and deliverables.

Basic Requirements:

Knowledge and skills as typically acquired through:

• 8+ years of experience in data science and/or quantitative research, or equivalent from an advanced degree in social science, statistics, data science, or related fields such as sociology, political science, public policy, education, or anthropology
• Excellent quantitative skills, including experience in descriptive statistics, data management and statistical modeling; we expect high proficiency with programming and syntax
• Experience working with large datasets, querying tools, and programming languages including R
• Strong foundation in quantitative methods and general understanding of qualitative methods; a broad understanding of higher education and election administration in the U.S is a plus
• Demonstrated data management and data visualization skills; experience in developing and co-managing a large database system is a plus
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including an ability to write clear and concise policy and/or technical memos and documents for diverse stakeholder audiences including higher education administrators and policymakers
• Experience with research design, testing data collection instruments, writing and publishing of research briefs

Preferred Qualifications:

• PhD in social science, statistics, data science, or related fields such as sociology, political science, public policy, education, or anthropology
• Passion for using research to achieve equity in civic opportunities through systemic changes
• Demonstrated ability to work on several projects simultaneously and meet demanding timelines
• Strong organizational skills and high level of attention to detail; flexibility to manage multiple priorities, sometimes simultaneously, under deadlines
• Experience with partnership-oriented research
• Experience or understanding of the field of youth civic engagement, especially rural voting and other marginalized groups of youth
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex projects
• Demonstrated experience making findings visually accessible to a broad audience
• Experience in developing and maintaining data management systems
• Interest in higher education, diversity and inclusion, and civic learning and engagement

Special Work Schedule Requirements:

• This is a hybrid position - you are expected in the office 3 days per week and remote 2 days.