Do you get excited about diving deep into data, insights, and research?
Do you aspire to conduct research aimed at improving the lives of individuals, children, and families?
Do you like working on collaborative teams to drive social change?
The Team
MEF Associates is a well-established social policy research organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals, children, and families through rigorous research and high-quality technical assistance.
We have worked at all levels of government and with various non-profits focused on bettering policy related to workforce development, income security, child and family well-being, child care, and early education. Our team combines diverse work experiences and expertise to deliver meaningful, data-driven solutions.
The Culture
Our staff come to MEF because of our ability to make a difference through research and the technical assistance we provide to programs and agencies. Each of us brings a unique perspective, diversity of approach, and uncompromising commitment to excellence. We believe that what we do improves the effectiveness and efficiency of public policy and programs. Through this work, we realize our mission to support organizations in their efforts to help individuals, children, and families with low incomes thrive. We strive to use inclusive research methods that promote successful collaboration with the programs and communities with whom we work.
We value a diverse workforce and the benefits that come from research and technical assistance being conducted by individuals with varied backgrounds and life experiences. As a relatively small firm, we value close collaboration and a supportive work culture. We are committed to the growth and professional development of our staff.
The Opportunity
We are seeking to hire a Senior Research Associate who can lead implementation research and related projects conducted by our Income Security and Economic Mobility (ISEM) Domain and our firm as a whole. The ISEM domain conducts work in the areas of TANF, workforce development, employment and training programs, food assistance, public housing, financial capability, and programs serving refugees and related populations. This position will involve a leadership role on substantive research and evaluation projects. The work you do will involve a mix of qualitative and mixed-methods research, project management, and working with programs to implement procedures consistent with research methodologies, as well as business development. The role represents a unique opportunity to join a growing business and to work on a wide variety of large-scale policy research and evaluation efforts.
While responsibilities can vary by project, the work you do could encompass the following responsibilities:
- Serving as project director, project manager, or task lead for ongoing research and evaluation work
- Leading and contributing to the research designs of implementation studies
- Managing qualitative and mixed-method data analysis projects
- Leading field research teams and conducting site visits
- Designing and implementing surveys, interviews, and focus groups
- Authoring reports, proposals, and presentations
- Supervising and mentoring staff
- Managing project teams
- Helping keep firm approaches up to date on recent methodologies in implementation science
- Representing the firm in interactions with clients and partner organizations
- Participating in conversations related to business development, staffing, and client management
- Identifying new business opportunities and taking leadership in proposal writing and budgeting
While our team has varied backgrounds filled with valuable experiences, we look for a consistent set of things that we believe contribute to success. They include:
- A graduate degree in public policy, sociology, economics, or related fields
- A certificate, degree, or academic emphasis in implementation science is of particular interest
- Prior experience working on relevant research and evaluation projects demonstrating progressively increased responsibilities
- Familiarity with implementation evaluation study designs, including for implementation research accompanying experimental and nonexperimental impact studies
- Demonstrated ability to build relationships with external partners, including research partners, funders, communities, practitioners, and participants
- Experience in equitable evaluation and inclusive research
- Project management experience and effective project management skills
- Demonstrated excellence in writing and verbal communication
- Knowledge of qualitative or statistical software package (e.g., NVivo, Dedoose, Atlas.TI, Stata, R) preferred
- Relationship-driven, effective communication with strong interpersonal skills and ability to collaborate with others in a respectful way
- Fluency in Spanish, written and verbal is preferred. More generally, MEF recognizes the value in hiring individuals who are bi/multilingual, including native speakers, especially given the diversity of populations served by the programs we study.
MEF is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages people of color, women, people with disabilities, and veterans to apply. Legal work authorization is required.
This role includes work to be performed primarily in an office environment. It typically includes frequent phone/audio communication and/or video conferencing usage and extensive computer, keyboard, and mouse use. It requires the ability to travel domestically by airplane on occasion. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
MEF Associates has offices in both Alexandria, VA and Seattle, WA. This position can also be remote.
Follow this link to apply for the position.
Compensation and benefits: The salary range for this position is $100k to $150k depending on experience. MEF offers comprehensive benefits.
Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time
As a federal requirement, the law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We must ask applicants if they have a disability or have ever had one. This is voluntary, confidential, and any answer (or lack thereof) will not affect hiring decisions. For more details on this requirement, please see: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ofccp/self-id-forms