Principal Education Researcher And Technical Assistance (Ta) Provider

Overview

SRI Education's Center for Education Research & Innovation is committed to helping educators and policymakers further understand and increase the effectiveness of policies, programs, and practices that support high-quality teaching and learning for all students. We are seeking a strong education researcher who is also an experienced technical assistance provider to join our team! This person will have strong technical assistance, research, and business development skills to help lead and expand our technical assistance and research/evaluation portfolios. We seek a leader who can develop and execute state-of-the-art technical assistance, mentor staff, lead multidisciplinary teams, partner across institutions, cultivate business opportunities, and provide leadership in proposal development and project execution. The successful candidate will have a distinguished technical assistance and/or research background, work well as part of a team, and be committed to supporting the use of evidence-based, equity-focused teaching and learning practices that are culturally and linguistically responsive.

About Technical Assistance: We support sustainable improvement of national, state, and local education efforts through data-driven decision-making, evidence-based practices, professional development events, and tailored coaching. Learn more about our Technical Assistance work here:  SRI TA

The ideal location for this employee is within an occasional commutable distance to our Arlington, VA office. Alternatively we will consider remote candidates as well.

Responsibilities

Technical assistance responsibilities will include:

• Leading project teams across varied content areas, including but not limited to college and career pathways, social and emotional learning, mental health and well-being, mathematics, literacy, and educator workforce, to:

• Design, develop, and deliver evidence-based, equity-minded training, coaching, and technical support to education stakeholders.

• Design, develop, and deliver high-quality, dissemination products on time and on budget that meet clients' needs.

• Apply expertise in technical assistance methods including needs and readiness assessment, logic model development, measurement planning, continuous improvement, and adult learning.

• Generate well-structured, clear, and concise technical assistance materials, products, and technical reports.

• Leading relationship management with state and district leaders, ensuring projects help them address high-leverage needs.

Research/evaluation responsibilities will include:

• Leading conceptualization of research to address educators' high-leverage needs.

• Leading project teams across varied content areas, including but not limited to college and career pathways, social and emotional learning, mental health and well-being, mathematics, literacy, and educator workforce, to:

• Design research and evaluation studies using appropriate quantitative and qualitative research methods.

• Carry out data collection and analysis tasks.

• Develop summary reports.

• Develop and implement analysis plans.

• Design and deliver meaningful and appropriately detailed reports that leverage effective data visualization techniques to communicate results to interested parties.

Project management and business development responsibilities will include:

• Leading teams to collaborate with clients, partners, and funders, ensuring strong communication about project goals and progress toward meeting them, as well as decisions requiring discussion, planning, and problem-solving.

• Establishing and meeting project timelines, within project budget constraints.

• Leading large and complex projects and proposals for state and/or federal agencies, foundations, or commercial clients from conceptualization to final polish.

• Leading and participating in business development efforts to grow our business.

• Identifying project staff members' professional goals and supporting their growth on projects, including mentoring and coaching to build skills, enhance personal well-being, foster work-life balance, and bring job satisfaction.

Qualifications

• Doctorate in education, developmental psychology, educational psychology, or related field and a minimum of 5 years of related professional experience, or a master's degree and at least 10 years of related experience, or ability to demonstrate an equivalent combination of education and professional experience.

• Content expertise in teaching quality and school reform, college and career pathways, postsecondary education, STEM and computer science, equity in education, social and emotional learning, mental health and well-being, and/or digital learning and technology policy.

• Significant experience designing and delivering training, coaching, and technical support to educators ranging from schools, to state departments of education, to the U.S. Department of Education, with accompanying evidence of success such as technical reports/publications, toolkits, publications, or other documents.

• Significant experience planning and developing strategic dissemination products in support of educator partners' goals, as evidenced by a track record of materials.

• Experience addressing issues of equity in education, particularly as it relates to Black or African American, Latino or Latine, and other racially minoritized students.

• Experience on large federally funded contracts or cooperative agreements, such as the Regional Educational Laboratory Program or the Comprehensive Centers, or equivalent experience working in a state or local education agency.

• Experience with program or intervention development, for partners, clients, or funders (or equivalent experience within a local or state education agency), that addresses high-leverage needs using evidence of what works (e.g., What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guides).

• Experience building a culture and climate that fosters professional growth, personal well-being, and employee job satisfaction.

• Excellent project management skills to use across multiple tasks and projects.

• Demonstrated ability to solve complex problems, meet deadlines, and understand and support client needs.

• Evidence of excellent verbal and written communication skills, especially the ability to communicate evidence-based practices to nontechnical audiences.

• Evidence of significant contributions or authorship of publications, books or book chapters, professional reports, toolkits, and/or TA materials.

• Track record of leading or making substantive intellectual and strategic contributions to winning large (over $1 million) competitive federal and foundation bids, including contracts and grants as a principal investigator, co-principal investigator, or project director.

In your cover letter, please include information about your training, coaching, and technical support experience in any of the relevant content and research method areas, as well as experience leading technical assistance, research, and/or evaluation projects. Please note that candidates who proceed to the interview process will be asked to provide writing samples and a job talk. About SRI: SRI Education (https://www.sri.com/research-development/education-learning), a division of SRI International, is helping federal and state agencies, school districts, major foundations, nonprofit organizations, and international and commercial clients tackle some of the most complex issues in education to help students succeed. Our mission is to reduce barriers, optimize outcomes, and ensure educational equity for all children, youth, and families. We do this by conducting high-quality research, supporting use of data and evidence, helping to strengthen state and local systems, and developing tools that improve teaching and accelerate and deepen learning. 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, literacy and language arts, and college and career pathways. We believe diversity in our organization and project teams leads to better and more equitable research and technical assistance, resulting in improved outcomes for all. SRI International, founded as Stanford Research Institute in 1946, is an independent, nonprofit research center. Serving government, industry, and foundation clients, we invent solutions that solve the most challenging problems today and look ahead to the needs of the future. As a nonprofit research institute, we are driven by impact, not shareholder value. SRI employs about 2,100 people worldwide, including scientists, engineers, technologists, policy researchers, and corporate and support staff; many are recognized leaders in their fields. SRI is committed to creating and celebrating a diverse workplace that recognizes and values differences and reflects the communities where our employees live and where our clients operate. This includes valuing differences of race, ethnicity, age, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, body type/physical appearance, disability/differently abled and work styles, or any other legally protected category.

The salary range is: $130,000-$160,000. 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/.