Overview

SRI Education staff support ECE practitioners, program administrators, and policy leaders to identify and implement evidence practices that promote equitable child and family outcomes. We provide rigorous research and evaluation services, develop innovative solutions to current education and human services challenges, and provide training and technical assistance to strengthen learning outcomes for all young children and families and the systems that serve them. Our work covers a range of topics: early learning and development, disability, and inclusion, supporting multilingual learners, student behavior and well-being, teaching quality, digital learning, STEM and computer science, and literacy and language arts, and college and career pathways.

We are seeking an experienced professional —Senior Education Researcher & Technical Assistance (TA) Specialist—who can develop and deliver state-of-the-art TA that addresses education and human services priorities by conducting needs assessments and strategic planning; planning and delivering tailored and responsive services and supports; delivering training; facilitating workgroups and communities of practice; developing toolkits, briefs, and other dissemination products; and providing evaluation and analytic support. The successful candidate will communicate effectively with philanthropic and state leaders, TA participants, clients, and colleagues inside and outside of SRI. The position will require completion of a wide range of TA, research and evaluation, project management and support activities, working closely with project directors, clients, and other senior staff.

This is a part-time temporary position 15-20 hours per week and can work fully remotely.

Responsibilities

Technical assistance activities may include the following:

• Examining evidence-based practices in many topics relevant to early childhood care and education systems, including data use and continuous quality improvement, and policies and practices that promote equity.
• Using best practices in TA provisions, support states’ implementation of comprehensive early childhood education systems.
• Providing a range of TA activities/strategies/approaches to address the wide variety of TA needs (i.e., universal, targeted, and intensive) and adult learning principles.
• Establishing and maintaining data governance structures and processes across a variety of data assets (e.g., federal and state administrative data, survey data); facilitating data linking processes; and promoting advanced levels of data use.
• Generating well-structured, clear and concise TA products and technical reports.

Research activities may include the following:

• Leading and carrying out moderately complex data collection and analysis tasks and developing summary reports.
• Developing research designs, using quantitative and qualitative research methods, to investigate the impacts of policy and practice.
• Analyzing data, including state- and federal-level administrative data, and using effective data visualization techniques to communicate results to interested parties.

Project management activities will include the following:

• Prior experience leading successful projects and proposals (of any size) for state and/or federal agencies (e.g., Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families), foundations, or commercial clients.
• Establishing and meeting project timelines, within budget constraints.

Qualifications

Ph.D. in Education, Psychology, human services, public policy administration, or other social science field (e.g., social work) with a minimum of 3 years of related experience or a Master’s degree and 6 years of related TA and research experience preferred.

Desired Qualifications:

The ideal candidate for this position has demonstrated ability to lead tasks on large projects; contributes independent recommendations related to project activities; is able to adapt to changes in client priorities; is comfortable with technology; and takes individual responsibility to complete work assigned with minimal supervision. The candidate has experience providing technical assistance around evaluation and data collections through the data lifecycle; demonstrated organizational skills; the ability to manage multiple tasks and work with many team members; experience working with marginalized and multi-lingual populations, and excellent verbal and written communication skills.

The salary range is: $50-$66/hr. Salary ranges will vary and are based on several factors, including geographic location, market competitiveness and equity amongst internal employees in similar roles. Positions may also qualify for SRI's Pay for Outstanding Performance program or the annual Performance Based Compensation program. SRI also has a competitive benefits package, to view details please go to https://www.sri.com/resources/benefits/. SRI will accept applications until the position is filled.

SRI is an independent nonprofit research institute headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., with a rich history of supporting government and industry. We create and deliver world-changing solutions for a safer, healthier, and more sustainable future. For almost 80 years, we have collaborated across technical and scientific disciplines to discover and develop groundbreaking products and technologies and bring innovations and ideas to the marketplace.