Research Analyst I

Job Summary :

HGSE is a diverse community of learners, teachers, and employees who are passionate about changing the world through education and striving for maximum impact in the field of education. The Research Analyst will be part of a growing team at the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University. CEPR seeks to transform education through quality research and evidence. CEPR and its partners believe all students will learn and thrive when education leaders make decisions using evidence, rather than hunches and untested assumptions.

In pursuit of this end, CEPR conducts cutting-edge quantitative research on critical topics for the field and develops new and faster models of education research that can better support education leaders.  Research Analysts are a critical part of the CEPR team, helping education leaders around the country to learn what’s working and what’s not in education.

We are seeking independent, detail-oriented, and organized Research Analysts to support the research work of the Center who are motivated by CEPR’s mission of improving education outcomes with evidence.

Position Description :

Research analysts will work across 1-2 projects with faculty at Harvard and other institutions and senior researchers at CEPR.  Specific responsibilities include assembling and preparing data sets for analysis, conducting independent analyses in Stata or R and ensuring the software code developed is suitable for reuse by others, developing presentations on the results for internal and external audiences, contributing to reports and papers for publication, and participating in regular team meetings.  Research analysts may also present to external partners in education agencies and facilitate partner teams as they seek to understand the implications of the analyses. Other duties as required.

Basic Qualifications :

Bachelor’s degree in public policy, economics, statistics, computer science, education policy, social science, or a related field. Three years of related experience, up to two of which may be relevant coursework or experience gained as a student, that includes working with STATA and/or R programming and data analysis. This experience or coursework may include data management, data cleaning, statistical analysis, data visualization, and report writing. 

Due to the nature of the project and regulatory considerations, candidates for this position must be U.S. citizens. This requirement is in accordance with federal regulations governing certain projects and initiatives.

Only applicants who meet the citizenship requirement will be considered for this position.

Candidates must submit a cover letter, resume, and transcript (official or unofficial) as a single PDF document. Any applicant wishing to be considered for this position must indicate that they meet all the basic requirements in either the cover letter or resume. 

All candidates invited to the interview will be asked to complete an analytic exercise for their phone interview.

This position is a term appointment for one year from the date of hire, with a strong possibility of continuation.

Additional Qualifications and Skills :

• Previous quantitative research experience or data experience as part of a team (for instance through a research assistantship or a job).
• Able to work collaboratively and accurately in a fast-paced environment. Previous experience preparing and cleaning data and working with large administrative data sets preferred.
• Familiarity with Python a plus.