Research Associate

This is a great time to join McREL International, where we’re blending half a century of global expertise and local knowledge with a work culture that honors creativity and collaboration.

At McREL, we co-develop educational services and solutions with our clients and partners. Using curiosity as our guide, we put our minds to work through research, program evaluation, data analysis, and studying best practices. Our clients are diverse, representing rural, suburban, and urban communities; indigenous, Native American, and First Nation communities; and school systems large and small. We also partner with other education companies and nonprofits, particularly with our research and program evaluation services.

McREL provides competitive compensation, benefits, and a flexible hybrid work environment. The wage for this position is $50,000 – $78,000 annually, depending on experience.

We are proud to offer a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, where McREL covers the majority of the premiums.
• 403(b) retirement plan with a 10% employer contribution (not a typo!).
• Generous time-off policy including 18 days of vacation in the first year, plus personal time, sick days, and 10 paid company holidays.
• Life, accident, and travel insurance premiums covered by McREL.
• Supplemental insurance options.
• Flexible spending accounts.
• Employee assistance program to help with the bumps in life.
• Dedicated professional learning budget for employees to access development opportunities.

Equally important, we strive to live by our Core Values: Humble Expertise, Joyful Excellence, Compassionate Courage, Rigorous Ingenuity, and a Macro-Micro Focus. If you’re a curious person who wants to make a difference for educators and the families they serve, we’d like to hear from you!

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Research Associate is an early career opportunity for individuals who want to help improve outcomes for students by turning research into practical solutions. Research Associates contribute to a portfolio of small- to large-scale research and evaluation projects occurring in K-12 schools, districts, and with state education agencies.

As a Research Associate, you will make an impact by:

• Contributing to existing projects to ensure delivery of high-quality research and evaluation services to clients that are on time and on budget, including, but not limited to, such tasks as:
  • Conducting literature reviews and/or annotated bibliographies to support programs, projects, and proposals
  • Assisting with data cleaning, management, and analyses
  • Contributing to primary data collection (e.g., surveys)
  • Managing data files/sets
  • Designing data tracking spreadsheets
  • Supporting IRB document development
• Assisting in communicating findings to clients in reports, presentations, and other external-facing media.
• Maintaining positive communication with clients and exhibiting McREL's core values in client communication.
• Supporting idea generation for topics of future studies, conferences, and publications aligned with the strategic goals of McREL
• Working to deepen understanding of the education, research, and evaluation landscapes
• Making decisions, performs, and encourages others to act in a manner which is congruent with organizational goals, strategy, vision, mission, and values.
• Modeling and championing corporate policies, procedures, and processes.
• Have a willingness to participate in an activity that provides professional development, networking, and/or organizational visibility, such as a professional association (AEA, AERA, SREE, ASHE, APA, etc.), fellowship, or participation in an organization that enhances the field of research & evaluation.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

SKILLS:

• Ability to consistently demonstrate McREL’s core values.
• General experience with quantitative data (e.g., calculating descriptive statistics) and/or qualitative data (e.g., non-numerical data).
• General experience programming in statistical software packages (e.g., STATA, R, SPSS)
• Skillful use of Microsoft Office, particularly with Excel functionality (e.g., macros, visualizations).
• Strong attention to detail.
• Data management experience.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Self-starter.
• Interest in learning and applying research and evaluation designs.
• Willingness to learn to communicate technical methods to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Knowledge of evaluation theories and methods.
• Demonstrates curiosity about education research and evaluation landscapes to proactively increase knowledge.
• Ability to identify a problem and proactively offer potential solutions.
• Ability to work both independently and as a team member in a positive and collaborative manner.
• Ability to receive growth-oriented feedback in a positive, constructive manner and apply changes to future work.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree with coursework in data management, evaluation, or research methods, with continuing education toward Master's degree.
• 1+ year of relevant work experience OR a combination of degree and experience.

PREFERRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Master’s degree with coursework in data management, evaluation, or research methods.
• K-12 experience.
• Project management experience.

TRAVEL:

Must be willing and able to perform domestic and international travel (including overnight and commercial airline travel) that is necessary to accomplish the essential functions of this position. Travel for this position is estimated at up to 40%.

McREL International is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, sex, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, military or veteran status, marital status or any other applicable status protected by applicable law.