Lead Psychometrician

Who We Are

NWEA® is a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt that supports students and educators through research, assessment solutions, policy and advocacy services, professional learning and school improvement services that fight for equity, drive classroom impact and push for systemic change in our educational communities. For nearly 50 years, NWEA has developed innovative pre-K–12 assessments, including their flagship interim assessment, MAP® Growth™ and their reading fluency and comprehension assessment, MAP® Reading Fluency™. For more information, visit NWEA.org to learn more.

What you will do

As a Lead Psychometrician, you will play a lead role in the design and execution of operational psychometric procedures research to support the integrity of the organization’s assessments. You must be capable of being the primary psychometrician for a state assessment contract or an assessment product, which may require that you oversee the design, implementation, and dissemination of psychometric procedures and subsequent research studies. You will be responsible for the successful and efficient execution of operational work, assessment development, and product enhancement. In addition, you will lead the design and execution of large-scale research projects including defining project scope and designing research studies, setting and maintaining timelines, and overseeing project deliverables. This work may require that you be deeply involved in the RFP and proposal writing process.

You will mentor junior staff and engage in service to the organization by serving on or leading committees and cross-functional working groups or in service to the profession with an active role in a professional organization such as NCME. Your work requires in-depth knowledge of measurement theory, test scaling, item response theory, contemporary validity theory, the intersection of educational policy and psychometrics, and experience with a variety of assessment types. You should enjoy working collaboratively with a diverse team of experts and be effective at writing proposals, communicating with internal and external audiences, and presenting research findings and results from psychometric studies.

Your role involves thought leadership within the organization and measurement community more broadly. You should have an established reputation in the field or evidence of playing a major role in the development and implementation of new assessments or measurement innovations. You will Participate in national dialog on assessment via participation in conferences and/or contributing peer-reviewed scientific work to the field. You should be able to effectively manage relationships with key internal and external stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds to build connections and identify opportunities that advance the organization’s mission.

Responsibilities

• Design standard operational procedures to support NWEA assessments.
• Conduct advanced statistical and psychometric analyses using methods such as item response theory, and cognitive diagnosis models, machine learning methods, and artificial intelligence techniques.
• Engage in service to the organization through a leadership role on an organization-wide committee or strategic initiative.
• Design new data structures and create tools for operational work such as R or Python code for analytics.
• Implement data quality assurance procedures and guide junior staff.
• Engage in innovative work using machine learning or artificial intelligence.
• Design and execute long-term research projects involving multiple internal and/or external groups.
• Guide software engineers in the development of partner-facing software infrastructure.
• Contribute expertise and guidance to proposals in response to RFPs, leading the psychometric solutions.
• Interact with partners to answer questions or present technical work.
• Contribute to the vision and direction of NWEA assessments, learning resources, and product offerings.
• Engage in external technical advisory committees and meetings with policymakers.

How We Work (Competencies)

• Communicates Effectively: Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.
• Customer Focus: Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.
• Instills Trust: Gaining the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.
• Collaborates: Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
• Action-oriented: Taking on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
• Manages Complexity: Making sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to solve problems effectively.
• Manages Ambiguity: Operating effectively, even when things are not certain, or the way forward is not clear.
• Self-Development: Actively seeking new ways to grow and be challenged using both formal and informal development channels.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) is fully committed to Equal Employment Opportunity and to attracting, retaining, developing and promoting the most qualified employees without regard to race, gender, color, religion, sexual orientation, family status, marital status, pregnancy, gender identity, ethnic/national origin, ancestry, age, disability, military status, genetic predisposition, citizenship status, status as a disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, Armed Forces service medal veteran, other covered veteran, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. We are dedicated to providing a work environment free from discrimination and harassment, and where employees are treated with respect and dignity. We actively participate in E-Verify.