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Overview

The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life prepares Tufts students to become active citizens and community leaders. As the only university-wide college of its kind, its mission is to engage Tufts students in meaningful community building, public service experiences, and transformational learning. It conducts and supports groundbreaking research on civic and political participation and forges innovative community partnerships. Tisch College is a national leader in civic education, whose model and research are setting the standard for higher education’s role in civic engagement.

CIRCLE, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement, is a non-partisan, independent research organization focused on youth civic engagement in the United States. We conduct extensive research on youth participation, and we leverage that research to improve opportunities for all young people to acquire and use the skills and knowledge they need to meaningfully participate in civic life. In all our work, we are especially concerned with understanding, addressing, and ultimately eliminating the systemic barriers that keep some young people marginalized from and underrepresented in civic life. Our research informs policy and practice and drive substantive change–whether in the classroom, state laws, the county clerk's office, or the community organization–that promotes stronger youth development and a more inclusive and prosperous society.

What You'll Do

Because of CIRCLE’s explicit focus on improving civic education and engagement for young people of color and other underserved youth, and because of Tisch College and Tufts University’s foundational commitments to diversity and inclusion, candidates with backgrounds and experiences that are often underserved or marginalized in higher education and society are especially encouraged to apply.

Evening and weekend work are not generally encouraged but when there are imminent deadlines or high-priority press and research needs, staff members occasionally make exceptions to work in evenings and weekends. Travelling may be required on occasions where the senior researcher is asked to represent CIRCLE at a convening and other public speaking engagements.

This position will consist of:

• Lead project implementation on a range of research projects and reports that may include strategies such as secondary data-analysis, large dataset creation/analysis, literature reviews, field experiments, and development of original surveys;
• Master CIRCLE’s organizational values, principles and strategies and work to support strategic research, field and collaborative initiatives grounded in the organizational commitment to its values and its commitment to be responsive to the community’s needs;
• As needed, provide coaching and mentoring to students and other members of the team using their expertise in quantitative methods or disciplinary theories and research,
• Work to leverage diverse expertise, including their own, in quantitative, qualitative and practice-based knowledge available within the team and through partners to develop high impact research questions, analytic plans, methodology documentation, datasets, reports, fact sheets, formal and informal research briefs for projects and public dissemination to a wide range of stakeholders;
• Assist with responding to field inquiries made of CIRCLE in a way aligned with CIRCLE values and strategies;
• Assist with, and occasionally lead research grant proposal writing, especially with methodology and measurement sections in order to enhance CIRCLE’s ability to accomplish its organizational mission and in collaboration with others;
• Represent CIRCLE at conferences, practitioner forums, and press events as needed;
• Gather and synthesize input from a diversity of colleagues and (if appropriate) community partners to make research and program-related decisions;
• As needed, supervise research assistants and provide peer training to other CIRCLE staff who produce and translate research (quantitative and qualitative).

What We're Looking For

Basic Requirements:

• 5 years’ experience and knowledge as typically acquired through a master’s degree in related field.
• Passion for supporting young people and civic engagement broadly.
• Master's degree with 3-5 years full time work OR doctorate with two years of work experience.
• Strong knowledge base in at least one subject area relevant to CIRCLE’s work, such as civic and political participation, youth development, social studies education, developmental science, learning science, media studies, sociology, or community psychology.
• Proficiency with multiple parametric and inferential statistical procedures, and use of statistical package, such as R, SPSS, or STATA.
• Fluency with reading and writing R codes.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a professional setting in which quick and multiple deadlines and collaborative teamwork were common.
• Willingness to collaborate with colleagues from a diversity of backgrounds and roles to produce the best research design, reporting, and impact, and occasionally co-lead efforts to build/reinforce the collaborative approach that CIRCLE uses.
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts through their work or personal time.
• Experience with multivariate statistical techniques, various program evaluation approaches, and psychometric analysis.
• Capacity to grasp organizational values and objectives holistically, including interest and experience in translating research for non-researchers and being informed by non-researchers.
• Operationalize CIRCLE’s overarching impact objectives and Tisch College strategic goals into workplans and performance goals.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in related field is a plus.
• Experience with working in higher education
• Ability to organize their time and priorities among multiple projects and requests, making relevant decisions and adjustments to ensure that work is completed well and on time with consideration of new and emerging priorities and projects
• Comfort with delegating and receiving tasks and making decisions about research and analytic design choices both with minimal guidance and in collaboration with others.
• Ability to communicate effectively with practitioners, reporters, scholars, and young people through writing, speech, and graphics.
• Direct experience working with young people in a professional capacity.
• Ability to produce reliable, accurate, and accessible research products on short deadlines.
• Ability to work collaboratively with CIRCLE colleagues from varied backgrounds and to interact with practitioners of diverse backgrounds, views, and positions.
• Ability to teach research methods to colleagues and student/workers.
• Concern for youth civic engagement is necessary; however, prior research in this specific area is not required.

Pay Range

Minimum $68,400.00, Midpoint $85,550.00, Maximum $102,700.00
 
Salary is based on related experience, expertise, and internal equity; generally, new hires can expect pay between the minimum and midpoint of the range.