Research and Evaluation Analyst

About Year Up

Year Up is an award-winning, national 501(c)3 organization that enables motivated young adults to move from minimum wage to meaningful careers in just one year by providing the skills, experience, and support they need to reach their full potential. Through a one-year intensive program, Year Up utilizes a high-expectations, high-support model that combines marketable job skills, stipends, coursework eligible for college credit, and corporate internships at more than 250 top companies. Serving more than 30,000 young adults since its founding in 2000, Year Up’s holistic approach focuses on students’ professional and personal development to enable young adults with a viable path to economic self-sufficiency. With a presence in 27 U.S. cities, its staff is passionate, supportive, mission-driven, and committed to positive change and continuous learning.

Year Up actively engages individuals from all backgrounds and is committed to embracing diversity within the organization because they firmly believe that diverse employee teams help to achieve the best organizational outcomes and provide the most effective support to the young adults as they work to close the Opportunity Divide. Year Up is deeply dedicated to creating and maintaining an inclusive and supportive work environment.

Position Description

Reporting to the Chief Research Officer, the Research and Evaluation Analyst will serve as an important part of Year Up’s National Program Team and will support all efforts related to Year Up’s program evaluations, research, and collection and use of data to demonstrate impact and improve the program. They will be responsible for analyzing data; writing code; working with software to create, automate, and distribute dashboards and reports across the organization; as well as providing technical assistance on large-scale research and evaluation projects, survey and data systems, and other local and national research opportunities. Keeping with Year Up’s values, the Research and Evaluation Analyst will also have the opportunity to interact with students as a coach, affiliate, mentor, group facilitator, and advocate, helping to build and sustain a positive educational environment.

To succeed in this role, the Research and Evaluation Analyst will thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment that requires extreme attention to detail and the ability to translate and communicate complicated methods and findings in clear, concise ways. This is an ideal role for a deeply technical and analytical individual who is a self-starter, a quick learner, and someone who enjoys structuring and solving ambiguous problems. The candidate will possess strong project management and presentation skills, the ability to tailor communication to diverse audiences to foster change and set direction, and can independently drive the execution of projects on tight timelines.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary for this position is competitive and commensurate with relevant experience and skills. Benefits include comprehensive healthcare options and dental coverage, 401(k) match for eligible participants, and three weeks paid vacation in the first year of employment—four weeks after the initial year. Professional Development support is also available to all staff in achieving career objectives.

Responsibilities

The Research and Evaluation Analyst’s core responsibilities include the production and dissemination of analytical intelligence. This will primarily be executed using database/statistical programming languages and data visualization software, and it will include involvement in every stage of the Research and Evaluation pipeline:

• Requirements Gathering: working with different teams and groups to identify analysis tool needs
• Data Retrieval/Processing: working with various systems to obtain relevant data based on business need, then manipulating system data to convert it into a format appropriate for analysis
• Data Analysis: using analytical data to develop insight and answer business questions
• Analytical Design: devising appropriate methods to communicate insights graphically
• Data Visualization: developing technical solutions to present insights based on design principles
• Communicating Results: delivering written and/or oral presentations and reports to diverse audiences
• Process Automation: seeking to continuously refine and expedite existing business-as-usual practices
• Maintenance/Tech Support: providing guided tutorials in proper tool/system usage to relevant staff

Data Project Management

• Independently lead data collection, transformation, visualization, and reporting efforts for ongoing enterprise activities, including the long-term collection and analysis of graduates’ employment and education outcomes
• Leverage large-scale state and national databases including the National Student Clearinghouse, state employment development department data, and the National Directory of New Hires, census data like the American Community and Current Population Surveys, as well as proprietary systems like Burning Glass
• Provide key technical support to Research and Evaluation team members, including survey administration (API integration across data systems, visualizations of key performance indicators) and external extract generation
• Build ad hoc reports and dashboards to support the performance management of teams across the organization

Research Management

• Manage a growing pipeline of internal research projects, including generation of key hypotheses, study design and implementation, quantitative/qualitative data collection, analyses, and reporting
• Identify gaps and redundancies in Year Up’s research agenda and data practices; design, lead, and prioritize projects and processes to address unmet needs
• Supervise and support external consultants, interns, or research assistants, as needed
• Coauthor and edit literature reviews, white papers, and research reports to support Year Up’s evolving research agenda, and present research externally (e.g., American Evaluation Association conferences)

Site Team/Learning Community Member

• Serve as a coach/affiliate/mentor for a small number of current students
• Join and sometimes facilitate weekly group sessions with students
• Participate in staff meetings and trainings

Qualifications

• Minimum 3-5 years of experience building quantitative analytical tools by utilizing:
  • Database-oriented languages, such as SQL (writing advanced queries with complex joins)
  • Statistical programming languages (e.g., R, Julia, NumPy/SciPy, SPSS, or MATLAB)
  • Advanced data visualization software (e.g., Tableau, Power BI, ArcGIS)
  • Expert-level Excel skills (e.g., Power Query, advanced formulas, VBA)
  • State and federal data sources (e.g., National Student Clearinghouse, Census/IPUMS)
• Familiarity with database structuring and relational data theory
• Knowledge of statistical analysis methods (i.e., correlations, regressions)
• Demonstrated experience working effectively within large, multi-site organizations with local and national stakeholders
• A proven record of creatively framing, investigating, and resolving ambiguous problems
• Adaptability and learning ability, demonstrable comfort operating in an environment with rapidly shifting priorities, and capacity to contributing proactively in new and unfamiliar contexts
• Technical project management experience, particularly through the Data Analytics Lifecycle (DALC)
• Demonstrated ability to distill highly complex and technical data analysis processes (including extraction, cleaning, and visualization methodologies) into digestible and compelling verbal and written reports/presentations for diverse stakeholder groups (including internal staff, external partners, as well as technical/non-technical audiences)
• A passion for working with young adults, an unshakable belief in their potential, and a strong commitment to the mission of Year Up
• Understanding of the Opportunity Divide and its drivers
• Commitment to diversity and inclusion
• Willingness to travel domestically

How To Apply

Please submit a thoughtful cover letter and resume here—note that applications without a cover letter will not be considered. Email talentrecruitment@yearup.org with questions.

Applications are due by January 25, 2021.