Berkeley, California
Kirkland, Washington
Posted: 15-Mar-25
Location: Albany, New York
Internal Number: 186413
To help support our research and evaluation efforts, the New York State Youth Justice Institute (YJI) is seeking to hire a Senior Research Associate. The incumbent will work on a myriad of impactful, funded projects with a focus on evaluation and participatory research.
About the New York State Youth Justice Institute (YJI)
The YJI's work focuses on providing training, technical assistance, research, and evaluation support to youth justice-related state agencies, local partners, and others who provide direct services to youth under 25. Our approach to justice encompasses the continuum of care (from prevention to reentry), is rooted in racial/ethnicity, gender, ability, and geographic equity, and honors youth voices. Our team's expertise draws on trained social scientists and data scientists from diverse academic backgrounds; practitioners with experience in multiple fields and systems that impact youth; and professionals with lived expertise in the justice system.
Established in 2017, the YJI is a partnership between the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services and the University at Albany. Housed on the University's downtown campus, the YJI is institutionally situated within the Division for Research and Economic Development, is led by an Executive Director, and has grown exponentially in recent years. Learn more about us.
- The Senior Research Associate will help lead, execute, and support myriad qualitative and quantitative research projects and tasks that are included in the Institute's work plan. These range from evaluations of specific programs and pilots to the design of research projects, assessment of data quality, compilation of literature reviews, etc.
- The incumbent will work in close collaboration with the YJI's Communications and Training and Technical Assistance teams to ensure the dissemination and visualization of findings in an actionable manner.
- The incumbent is expected to engage in cross-institutional networking at the systems and community levels to expand YJI's network of research partners and opportunities. They may be asked to attend and or present at conferences and other training events.
- This full-time position is based in Albany, NY, at the YJI.
The successful candidate:
- Has a drive for results: Makes things happen; is proactive; balances "analysis" with "doing"; sets high standards for self; commits to organizational goals.
- Is entrepreneurial, leverages opportunities in unusual contexts, and copes well with ambiguity
- Is comfortable working in a dynamic team setting:
- Collaborates with others; acknowledges others' contributions; works effectively with individuals of different backgrounds; willing to seek help as needed.
- Influences and resolves differences across organizational boundaries: gains support and commitment from others even without formal authority; resolves differences by determining needs and forging solutions that benefit all parties; generates enthusiasm; promotes collaboration and facilitates teamwork across organizational boundaries.
- Has strong interpersonal skills and can work effectively with diverse external partners.
- Has demonstrated project management and organizational skills, especially with time-sensitive work, and can work on multiple projects simultaneously.
- Is proficient in composing reports and presentations and communicating in an organized, logical, and concise manner.
- Has mixed methods expertise, from interview and focus group guide development to survey design, measurement selection, and operationalizing constructs.
- Understands clients' and colleagues' needs and concerns; responds promptly and effectively; customizes research assistance and products as appropriate.
- Displays analytical thinking and decisive judgment:
- Analyzes issues and problems systematically, gathering broad and balanced input; draws sound conclusions and translates conclusions into timely decisions and actions.
- Is committed to learning and knowledge sharing:
- Open to new ideas; shares knowledge; applies knowledge in daily work; builds partnerships for cross-discipline learning and knowledge sharing.
Essential Functions:
Implement the YJI's research agenda through the following activities:
- Design and conduct program evaluations, including:
- Logic model development, evaluation plan development, and evaluation framework selection for multi-site and multi-year projects.
- Provide responsible, competent technical advice to internal and external stakeholders.
- Organize and manage all statistical, analytic, and data management aspects of successful evaluation projects.
- Synthesize information from external sources (literature, unstructured data gathered by external groups) to ensure programs operate as intended.
- This may include systematic reviews, meta-analysis, abstraction-based grounded theory, text-to-data abstraction, etc.
- Provide models for data-driven storytelling (data and evidence translation, including data visualization)
- Consult with relevant partners on the planning and conduct of evaluation studies, in the analysis of data, and the interpretation and presentation of findings.
- Participate in multiple research projects with minimal supervision, operating within time and budget constraints.
- Manage internal relationships and resources to achieve project deliverables within a "team culture."
- Promote awareness of data quality issues and share best practices for data collection and management contingent on contextual resources and needs.
- Promote the creation of a data-driven, evidence-based, and/or research-informed culture that builds stakeholders' capacity to fulfill funding obligations, pursue grant opportunities, and objectively demonstrate their work's impact.
- Work with different stakeholders to identify data needs, tailor training programs, and assess the impact of data literacy initiatives.
- Expand YJI's technical and subject-matter presence through conference presentations, report authoring, and multimedia information repositories.
- Supervise at least two advanced graduate students.
Functional and Supervisory Relationships:
- Reports to the Executive Director of the NYS Youth Justice Institute
- Supervises the following positions: Two advanced graduate students
Job Requirements:
- Travel requirements for this position are about 25%
- Strong communication: Ability to explain complex data concepts in a clear and accessible manner to a diverse audience.
- Data analysis: Understanding of basic qualitative and statistical methods and data analysis techniques that can be deployed in real-world use case scenarios.
- Data visualization proficiency: Expertise in using data visualization tools like Tableau, Flourish, Power BI, or Excel to create impactful visuals.
- Demonstrated expertise in qualitative research, such as interview and focus group guide development; open, axial, and selective qualitative coding (NVivo); operationalizing constructs and codebook development; case study development; etc.
- Demonstrated expertise in quantitative research, such as quantitative survey design, development, and administration (Qualtrics); survey data reporting; operationalizing constructs; descriptive statistics (SPSS); or measurement selection and development
- Participatory approach to research: Demonstrated experience in designing qualitative or quantitative research that is participatory.
- Evaluation expertise: Proven formative, process, outcome, and impact evaluation record ranging from project design to implementation and dissemination.
- Demonstrated ability to respond effectively to multiple assignments and priorities supporting multiple projects and activities simultaneously.
- Strong organizational and time management skills, oral and written communication skills, and advanced interpersonal and relationship-building skills working in a team environment.
Working Environment:
- Typical office environment
Job Requirements:
Required Qualifications:
- MA or MS degree in Criminal Justice, Social Welfare, Sociology, Public Policy, or a related field from a College or University accredited by the US Department of Education or internationally recognized accrediting organization.
- 10 years of relevant full-time professional experience in data-rich environments, including work with government agencies, non-profits or community organizations.
- Demonstrated substantive knowledge of juvenile justice and emerging adulthood research and policy in the United States, with an emphasis on community justice, prevention, and/or participatory research with justice-involved individuals.
- Demonstrated knowledge of best practice literature, evidence-based programming, implementation science, and data narrative, as evidenced by publications and other disseminated outputs.
- Experience working with web-based survey tools (e.g., Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey), virtual conference applications (e.g., Zoom, Webex, Microsoft Teams), data analysis (Stata, SPSS, NVivo), and visualization software (e.g., Tableau, Flourish).
- Must address in application materials ability to work with a culturally diverse population.
- Demonstrated experience:
- Conducting evaluation research, particularly in New York State.
- Working in or with government agencies and/or the nonprofit sector.
- Designing and reporting survey results.
- Designing impactful, action-oriented visualizations.
- Applicants must demonstrate an ability to develop inclusive and equitable relationships within our diverse campus community
- Applicants must demonstrate an ability to support diversity, equity, access, inclusion, and belonging relative to their role
Preferred Qualifications:
- PhD in Criminal Justice, Social Welfare, Sociology, Public Policy, Political Sciences or a related field from a college or University accredited by the US Department of Education or internationally recognized accrediting organization.
- A minimum of seven years of relevant full-time professional experience (post-PhD conferral).
- Strong commitment to social justice and demonstrated research record focused on equity in the areas of race/ethnicity, gender, and/or SOGIE (sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression).
Additional Information:
Professional Rank and Salary Range: Senior Research Associate, R1; $105,000-115,000.
Special Notes: Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. If you currently need sponsorship or will need it in the future to maintain employment authorization, you do not meet eligibility requirements. This position is funded by a grant and is expected to continue through at least 2028, with the possibility of an extension. While classified as a temporary position, the initial appointment period will be for one year, with potential appointment extensions contingent on funding and program needs. Temporary assignments may conclude earlier or be extended at the employer's discretion.
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