Senior Research Associate

Established in 1844 and designated a University Center of the State University of New York in 1962 the University at Albanys broad mission of excellence in undergraduate and graduate education research and public service engages a diverse student body of approximately17000 students in nine schools and colleges across three campuses.

Located in Albany New York New York States capital the University is convenient to Boston New York City and the Adirondacks.

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 YJIs 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 teams 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 Universitys 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 Institutes 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 YJIs 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 YJIs 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 YJIs 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 works impact.
• Work with different stakeholders to identify data needs tailor training programs and assess the impact of data literacy initiatives.
• Expand YJIs 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

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 fieldfrom 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).

Professional Rank and Salary Range: Senior Research Associate R1; $00.

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 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 employers discretion.

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act or Clery Act mandates that all Title IV institutions without exception prepare publish and distribute an Annual Security Report. This report consists of two basic parts: disclosure of the Universitys crime statistics for the past three years; and disclosures regarding the Universitys current campus security University at Albanys Annual Security Report is available in portable document format PDF by clicking this link to NYS Labor Law 194-A no State entity as defined by the Law is permitted to rely on orally or in writing seek request or require in any form that an applicant for employment provide his or her current wage or salary history as a condition to be interviewed or as a condition of continuing to be considered for an offer of employment until such time as the applicant is extended a conditional offer of employment with compensation and for the purpose of verifying information may such requests be made. If such information has been requested from you before such time please contact the Governors Office of Employee Relations at or via email at .

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• Resume/CV
• Cover letter stating all the required minimum qualifications and any of the applicable preferred qualifications
• Contact information for three professional references

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