Research and Evaluation Associate (Washington, DC Based / Remote)

Research and Evaluation Associate
LOCATION: Remote AND must be geographically based in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area; within 50 miles maximum of Baltimore, MD and Washington DC.
About our Client:
Mirror Group (MG) is a fast-paced, collaborative consulting firm headquartered in Washington, DC, with a team and clients all over the nation. We lean into one another and base our expertise and logistics on evaluation, learning, and strategy that requires the team to be outgoing, proactive, and communicative. We make data and information meaningful, accessible, and actionable with learning organizations and the communities that they love. We largely work in Philanthropy providing evaluation, learning and strategy consulting services to Foundations and Nonprofits.
About the position:
Currently, MG is looking for a Research and Evaluation Associate to coordinate and support multiple research, evaluation, learning and strategy contracts for the organization. This position involves a combination of experience, data analysis, tool creation, Research and Evaluation design, report writing, final deliverable creation, project coordination and business development (working under the direction of a Project Manager or Director, with the team, clients, client-site staff, and external consultants). Along with a technical background, we're looking for someone who is knowledgeable and enthusiastic to work in a team-based consulting start-up environment and who possesses an intrapreneurial and/or entrepreneurial mindset. This candidate will articulate the critical frameworks, approaches, and methodologies they use to integrate equitable, liberatory, and/or transformational principles into all phases of their work. Remote is defined as U.S.-based (you must be authorized to work in the U.S. and conduct your work from a U.S. location); with occasional domestic travel (up to 25%).
The qualifications we need- Education and/or Experience:

• Master's degree or Ph.D. in a related field (e.g., research, evaluation, statistics, social sciences, economics, public policy, public health, education, industrial organizational psychology)
• At least 3 years of relevant experience, working for a foundation, nonprofit, Research and Evaluation consulting firm, and/or government agency or contractor, and at least 3 years of demonstrated project coordination experience.
• Strong Research and Evaluation experience working on cross-sector funded projects, and with foundations, nonprofits, private and governmental partners.
• At least 1 year of experience supporting a team and client relationship management.
• past experience with evaluation, engagement, and/or facilitation of communities of practice
• past experience working with local government agencies, leaders, and staff.
• Proven capacity to lead and engage in writing intensive projects from start to finish, alongside client-rapid response strategies, proofreading and editing of protocols, reports, and publications, often with tight deadlines, including iterative review/writing processes.
• Experienced in training and workshop facilitation, including, but not limited to curriculum development.
• Experienced with designing, conducting, and reporting quantitative and/or qualitative Research and Evaluation study design, methods, data collection, and data analysis.
• Extensive track record of communicating study results simply and effectively through technical reports, white papers, presentations, and/or publications.
• Knowledgeable with quantitative analysis techniques using statistical software programs.
• Intermediate or advanced skills in Google Suite (docs, sheets, slides, forms, jamboard), Adobe Creative Commons, and Canva or other graphic design programs
• Experienced with online project management software such as Asana, BQE Core, etc.

The Skills we need:

• Will take complete ownership of projects from start to finish.
• Collaborative and supervisory skills used to support team members (e.g., Research and Evaluation Assistant)
• Trustworthy and reliable with proven ability to manage sensitive information.
• Consistent knowledge, skills, abilities and enthusiasm to examine their own backgrounds, beliefs, and biases to conduct evaluation using a racial equity lens, develop designs and protocols that produce evaluation questions capable of teasing out nuances that are often overlooked by common evaluation processes, and assesses clients' (governance, leadership, and staff) commitment to equity, transformation, and liberation.
• Ability to work productively in a web-based environment, both independently and in teams, to accomplish tasks.
• Workshop facilitation and presentation skills
• Creative, flexible and resourceful problem solver with an eye towards proactive systems-building for organizational growth
• Highly organized with attention to detail and demonstrated commitment to high quality work and communication.
• Can manage and multitask with the ability to self-direct and self-motivate, adhering to all required deadlines.
• Strong communicator (both written and orally) with a strong track record of responding to feedback with a collaborative and team player approach.
• Ability to quickly learn and adapt to multiple information systems and technologies.
• Confident with reading and understanding budgets and financial data.
• Ability to empathize with those funding, creating, and being served by organizational programming and projects.

Responsibilities as our Research and Evaluation Associate: Additional day-to-day tasks will be discussed during the second interview with the company's Hiring Manager.
Research and Evaluation

• Lead overall measurement, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) activities for projects.
• Provide technical input and guidance for the planning and implementation of large scale, multi-year, multi-site program evaluations using mixed method approaches.
• Develop evaluation and project design.
• Identify advanced and innovative program evaluation approaches to enhance the robustness and utility of evaluation findings.
• Participate in technical delivery of evaluation tasks, including but not limited to the development of measures and indicators tables/menus, evaluation, learning and/or strategy frameworks, theories of change, logic models, roadmaps; development of data collection tools, conducting data collection and analysis, and report writing.
• Conduct literature reviews
• Facilitate client and stakeholder meetings, webinars, and workshops.
• Contribute to proposal development through technical writing, recruiting personnel, and participating in internal firm initiatives to grow business.
• Develop both client reports and technical manuscripts for publication.
• Select quantitative and/or qualitative methodology and create data collection and analysis plans to address Research and Evaluation questions. Qualitative and quantitative data collection efforts include in-depth interviews and focus groups (in-person and virtual) or surveys and administrative datasets that design the structure to effectively communicate the results.
• Produce scientific and technical reports and slide deck briefings of study findings that include narrative and graphical components.
• Brief MG team and clients on evaluation approaches and the anticipated outcomes of studies and projects

Program & Personnel Coordination

• Support project and team coordination on design, collection, analysis, and reporting
• Support the coordination of day-to-day activities of project teams, including assistance with scopes of work activities, maintaining technical integrity of the work and deliverables, and production of quality deliverables.
• Support contractual reporting requirements.
• Develop and maintain excellent relationships with clients and partners at all times.
• Other duties as assigned.

The salary, benefits, schedule and perks offered: (Additional information about the benefits and perks will be discussed during the interview process.)

• Yearly Range: $70,000 - $77,500
• Fully remote within the United States, with occasional travel required depending on client engagement (up to 25% 1-2 days/week)
• Geographically based in the DMV (DC, Maryland, Northern Virginia area within 50 miles maximum of Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC)
• Full-time salaried position
• PTO includes: 11 paid holidays, 15 days of paid time off.
• Benefits include: Health, Dental, and Vision
• Perks include: 401K, Short-term and Long-term disability, Life Insurance and Wellness Resources

Application Process
In lieu of a cover letter, please send your responses to the questions below, a work sample/portfolio link, and your resume.
* Please note: Submissions received without the required responses to the questions below will not be reviewed.

• Why are you excited about working with Mirror Group?
• What is your experience with collaborative, team-based consulting?
• Tell us more about your experience working with foundations and nonprofits?
• What are one or two strengths you would bring to this role?

Mirror Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.