Impact Research Positions

Impact Research Positions
Policy Research and Evaluation Department

MDRC is seeking candidates with PhDs in economics, sociology, education, psychology, public policy, or other quantitative social research fields to be part of project teams conducting evaluations of programs designed to address problems confronting public education; low-income children, families, and communities; and low-wage workers and people with serious barriers to employment. MDRC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan social policy research organization valuing rigorous research and the opportunity to contribute to both academic-style research and policymaking. MDRC has an interdisciplinary research staff including PhDs in economics, sociology, psychology, social work, education, and public policy. We are at the forefront of developing new quantitative techniques for the evaluation of social programs.

We are currently recruiting for multiple positions and will tailor positions to candidates’ specific content interests and areas of expertise. Current substantive expertise needed in the following areas:

• Youth transition to employment. Projects test a range of innovative interventions for low-income youth who have dropped out of school, are at risk of dropping out, are teen parents or youth offenders, or are disabled. Some programs focus on improving participants’ marketable job skills or high school completion rates; others use more comprehensive strategies aimed at addressing a broader range of needs.
• Help low-wage workers retain jobs and advance to higher-income jobs. Projects include innovative strategies to provide workers needed support, develop new training programs, create incentives for employment stability, and make low-wage work pay better.
• Improve the academic outcomes of low-income students. Projects include strategies to improve reading and math instruction in the early elementary grades, high school reform (with a special focus on initiatives to help students entering high school with low skills), and teacher and principal professional development efforts throughout the K-12 system.
• Low-income students succeed academically in college, especially in community colleges. Innovations include new forms of financial aid, learning communities, mentoring programs, and special strategies to help students complete developmental classes.

Many of the projects use experimental research designs, in which individuals or groups are randomly assigned to a program group or a control group to test the value added of new programs.

Responsibilities:

MDRC is seeking candidates with experience in research design and analysis who want to use their strong quantitative research skills to contribute to public policy.. The positions provide the successful candidate an opportunity to:

• Work with an interdisciplinary team to conceptualize and implement rigorous impact studies of programs targeting low-income individuals and families across the country
• Discuss experimental research methods with program staff and work with them to design and implement studies that answer key policy questions, while protecting the rights of human subjects
• Analyze a range of data to better understand the impacts of innovative programs
• Author reports and disseminate findings to policymakers, practitioners, and the broader research community

Qualifications:

• A PhD in economics, sociology, education, psychology, public policy, or other quantitative social research field
• Knowledge of and experience with quantitative research design, impact modeling, and quantitative methods
• Deep content knowledge of disconnected youth policy and programs, low-wage labor markets and low-income communities, K-12 education policy, and/or community colleges and higher education
• Experience with cost/benefit and/or survey design and analysis is a plus
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, as well as analytical ability
• Ability to work independently and in a team, handle multiple tasks simultaneously, and meet deadlines
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work with and relate to program staff, policymakers, participants in programs, and funders
• Publication record in relevant policy content fields(s) is a plus

The successful candidate may be based in either MDRC’s New York office or Oakland, California, office. Some travel to study sites and to meetings with other researchers and project funders will be required.

Salary will be commensurate with experience. Comprehensive fringe benefits offered.