The YouthTruth Student Survey, a national nonprofit initiative of The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) seeks a highly motivated Senior Research Analyst with a desire to utilize her/his abilities to integrate student perception data into instructional and leadership decisions in K – 12 schools. CEP is currently recruiting for one Senior Research Analyst to be based in San Francisco, CA.

Organizational Overview:

YouthTruth harnesses student perceptions to help educators accelerate improvements in their K–12 schools and classrooms. Through our validated survey instruments and tailored advisory services, YouthTruth partners with schools, districts, states, and educational organizations to enhance learning for all students. Since student perceptions are predictive of academic outcomes and teacher effectiveness, administrators use YouthTruth data to integrate what students really think into instructional and leadership decisions. Through YouthTruth's surveys, students in grades 3‐12 provide feedback on their overall school experience and/or on specific teachers on the topics that matter most for student learning: student engagement, academic rigor, relationships with teachers, and school culture. Results are shared through our interactive online reporting platform, which makes it easy to construct meaning from the data. For more information about YouthTruth's mission, team, and products and services, please visit www.youthtruthsurvey.org.

YouthTruth was developed by the Center for Effective Philanthropy in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2008. To date, YouthTruth has surveyed over 365,000 students across more than 60 districts and networks. YouthTruth is dramatically expanding the number of schools, districts, and charter management organizations that are utilizing student perceptions in their instructional and leadership decisions. This position plays an important and unique role in supporting our rapid growth as we shift our business model from being funded by grants to earning revenue through a fee‐for‐service nonprofit model.

YouthTruth is comprised of a small and dynamic team based in San Francisco, CA, and we function as an incubated start‐up within the Center for Effective Philanthropy. Our culture is highly productive, thoughtful, flexible, and fast‐paced, and we value a keen eye for detail and a sense of humor.

Responsibilities:

The Senior Research Analyst will work closely with an energetic and diverse staff to provide district leaders, school principals and teachers with data‐driven insights to enhance the effectiveness of their districts, schools and classrooms. The Senior Research Analyst will conduct high‐level analytic and methodological work, and provide data and product management for complex client work.

The core function of the Senior Research Analyst job on the YouthTruth team is to create data‐driven reports based on the results of standardized surveys of students in grades 3‐12, oversee quality, and manage YouthTruth’s ever‐growing dataset. More specifically, she/he can expect to be involved in the following:

Survey Administration & Reporting

• Co‐manage the survey administration and data collection processes, report template design, and innovation process for YouthTruth’s surveys
• Create and administer online surveys for our clients on tight deadlines
• Create data‐driven reports for our clients in an online interactive platform
• Manage and implement processes for larger and/or complex clients
• Support school administrators with data interpretation and application through follow‐up phone consultations

Product Management

• Ensure product integrity and quality control of client deliverables
• Design survey questions, refine survey instruments, and contribute to new product development
• Drive efficiencies in our data management system and online interactive reporting platform
• In collaboration with YouthTruth team members, work to continuously improve our products and processes, and monitor project effectiveness

Data Analysis & Research

• Perform rigorous quantitative and qualitative analyses on large‐scale datasets, using inferential statistics and qualitative coding techniques
• Write clear and compelling summaries that synthesize findings drawn from analysis
• Manage and complete research projects on the larger YouthTruth dataset; gather insights from our data for marketing, blogs, and communications

Team Leadership

• Actively contribute to team discussions, collaborating on cross‐team projects, and helping develop YouthTruth’s internal knowledge base and operations
• Work collaboratively with a Research Analyst, modeling rigor and best practices to support capacity and skill building on the team

Qualifications/Requirements:

• College degree (B.S., B.A.) and 2‐4 years of work experience required
• Demonstrated ability to conduct high quality quantitative analysis and synthesize findings.
• Proficiency in basic statistical analyses such as T‐Tests, ANOVA, and Chi Squares is required
• Demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft Excel and experience with SPSS (or similar statistical analysis) software is required
• Experience with Salesforce is desired
• Demonstrated ability to proactively manage projects and processes and identify efficiencies
• Ability to manage multiple critical deadlines while adapting quickly and confidently in a fast‐paced environment
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Interest and aptitude with computer programming and querying languages such as SQL and Python is a plus but not required: these languages form the basis of CEP’s Online Reporting
• System and all Analysts will receive some training on these systems

Desired Professional Attributes

• While much of a Research Analyst’s work is independent, all Research Analysts work on teams and therefore are hard‐working, empathetic, team‐oriented, and reliable
• YouthTruth’s work depends on the high quality of our analysis. Research Analysts must have high standards for quality control and an emphasis on rigor
• Like YouthTruth as an organization, Research Analysts must be confident that their work makes a difference but humble in the knowledge that they and YouthTruth are always learning and improving
• A passion for student voice as a powerful tool to make important changes in education
• A sense of humor and flexibility!

We believe diversity and inclusion are key drivers of creativity and innovation and we actively seek out candidates from many types of diverse backgrounds to apply for this exciting role.

Compensation is competitive and includes generous benefits. CEP is based in Cambridge Massachusetts, with a second office in San Francisco, California, where the entire YouthTruth team resides.

To Apply: Please email a resume and thoughtful cover letter, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position and stating how you heard about this opportunity, to leahaw[at] effectivephilanthropy [dot] org, attention: Alyse d’Amico, Director of Human Capital. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.