Research Analyst II

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 Analyst IIs to support the research work of the Center who are motivated by CEPR’s mission of improving education outcomes with evidence. 

Position Description :

Research Analyst II will work across multiple projects with faculty at Harvard and other institutions and senior researchers at CEPR.  RAIIs are expected to lead substantial portions of analytic and research projects with minimal supervision.  Specific responsibilities may include assembling and preparing large data sets for analysis, conducting independent statistical analyses in Stata or R, developing software code and toolkits suitable for reuse by others and automation of work, developing and delivering presentations on results for internal and external audiences, drafting reports and papers for publication, contributing to the development of new projects and proposals, and participating in regular team meetings. Research Analyst IIs will also mentor more junior staff in programming and methodology.  Finally, RA IIs are expected to build strong relationships with external partners in education agencies and provide problem-solving, technical, and research support to agency staff.  Other duties as required. 

Basic Qualifications :

Bachelor’s degree in public policy, economics, statistics, computer science, education policy, social science, or a related field. At least two years of related professional work experience that includes substantial independent work with STATA and/or R programming and data analysis.

Candidates must submit a resume, cover letter, and a sample of Stata or R programming code that they have written (please attach resume, cover letter, and programming code as one document).

Any applicant wishing to be considered for this position must indicate that they meet all of 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 :

• Master’s degree in one of the fields listed above preferred.
• Strong knowledge of statistical methods and quantitative research design. Experience with Randomized Control Trials, Difference-in-Difference, Regression Discontinuity, or Propensity Score Matching designs a plus.
• Experience working with data of varying quality and from varied source systems.
• Demonstrated data preparation and cleaning skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to communicate technical topics to non-technical audiences.
• Proven ability to work under pressure, accurately assess problems, and develop solutions.
• K-12 sector or university research experience.
• Stan, or Python programming a plus.