Policy Research Analyst

Position Title: Policy Research Analyst

Department: 9261|Kathleen B Blanco Public Policy Ctr

Responsibilities:

The Kathleen Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is an independent, interdisciplinary research center and archive engaged in research across a range of topics in public policy. Our core policy areas of focus include education, poverty and economic opportunity, criminal justice reform, health and healthcare, the coast and environment, and governmental ethics.

In addition to a growing portfolio of research initiated by researchers at the Blanco Center, the Louisiana Legislature has designated the Blanco Center as the administrator of a new state data center for longitudinal research called LA FIRST to support public policy research in Louisiana.

The Policy Research Analyst is responsible for supporting a wide range of public policy research and data management work including quantitative analysis of large administrative data sets and building subject matter expertise in education and workforce development policy in Louisiana. The Policy Research Analyst is supervised by the Research Scientist and will work as part of a research team focused on education and workforce policy research using LA FIRST data.

Essential functions:

• Support the LA FIRST research team by building a center of expertise in education and workforce policy in Louisiana using quantitative and qualitative research skills, including but not limited to interviews with practitioners and policymakers, building and maintaining a library of extant literature, and crafting expert literature reviews and presentations that can inform research focus and policy discussions
• Conduct exploratory data analysis and statistical analyses of longitudinal or cross-sectional data using statistical software such as STATA or R
• Carry out research designs under the supervision of the Research Scientist, including exploratory data analysis, statistical analysis, and advanced analytics, to answer research questions
• Complete administrative tasks of the research team at the discretion of the Research Scientist, including scheduling and/or attending meetings for research team members representing LA FIRST, updating data dictionaries, drafting and submitting communications materials, and coordinating special project teams
• Translate research findings for broad and varied audiences using a variety of deliverables including but not limited to academic papers and presentations, policy briefs and papers, public presentations, webinars, video recordings, and data visualizations and dashboards
• Participate in training, user agreements, and business processes established by the LA FIRST Information Division to protect individual data privacy and confidentiality
• Participate in synchronous and asynchronous team management practices for LA FIRST, including but not limited to team and personal annual planning to achieve annual objectives; building, monitoring, and carrying out research plans; Kanban boards, biweekly 1:1s, daily check-ins, and other project meetings.

Qualifications:

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree with at least 2 years of experience in social science research or data and analytics
• Or a graduate degree will substitute for the above experience requirement
• Demonstrated experience conducting exploratory data analysis and statistical analyses of longitudinal or cross-sectional data using statistical software (R or STATA)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Interest in education or workforce policy
• Prior work or academic study in education or workforce policy
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills, advanced analytical skills, and strong computer software skills (including by not limited to Microsoft Office)
• Creativity in problem solving
• Ability to work independently on assigned tasks and collaboratively in teams

Job Ad# (req3870)