Senior Research Associate in Alexandria, Virginia at MEF Associates LLC

Do you get excited about diving deep into data, insights, and research?

Do you aspire to conduct research aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable individuals, children, and families?

Do you like working on collaborative teams to drive social change?

The Team

MEF Associates is a small business offering a full range of evaluation, policy research, and technical assistance services. Our mission is to improve the lives of individuals, children, and families by building knowledge and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of public policy and programs.

Since our founding in 2009, this mission has guided our work across a wide range of policy areas—including child and family policy, workforce development, income security, early childhood education, and more. Our portfolio includes a wide range of clients across federal, state, Tribal, and local governments, as well as foundations and philanthropic organizations.

At MEF, we help our clients understand and maximize their impact through rigorous, actionable, and participatory research and evaluation. Wherever possible, we apply the most rigorous methods available to generate reliable evidence about what works, for whom, and under what conditions. This includes designing and implementing randomized controlled trials (RCTs), as well as quasi-experimental and mixed-method studies. We are also skilled at pairing impact analyses with in-depth implementation research to understand how programs operate in practice and to identify lessons that inform continuous improvement and future scaling.

The Culture

Here at MEF, we are committed to:

• Producing the highest-quality products through effective teamwork and creative solutions.
• Generating meaningful change in our communities.
• Fostering a workplace culture that empowers staff, promotes a strong sense of belonging, and encourages work-life balance.
• Upholding ethical research practices through transparency, honesty, and accountability.

As a relatively small firm, we value close collaboration and a supportive work culture. We are committed to the growth and professional development of our staff. We also value the benefits that come from research being conducted by individuals with varied backgrounds and life experiences.

The Opportunity

We are seeking to hire a Senior Associate who can support our work primarily in our Income Support and Economic Mobility domain, which includes areas such as public housing, asset building and financial empowerment, workforce development, post-secondary training, and employment and training programs. The Senior Associate may also contribute to work in other areas of the firm, including work in our Children and Families domain.

This position will involve a leadership role on substantive research and evaluation projects. The work you do will likely center on quantitative research, alongside mixed-methods research, project management, and business development.

While responsibilities vary by project, the work you do could encompass the following responsibilities:

• Serving as project director, project manager, or task lead for ongoing research and evaluation projects.
• Designing research and evaluation projects—from the initial proposal phase to full-scale project implementation.
• Designing and leading analysis plans for quasi-experimental and experimental impact and descriptive outcome studies.
• Leading quantitative data collection activities (e.g., fielding surveys, gathering MIS data from programs, accessing administrative data from agencies).
• Managing quantitative data analysis projects (e.g., data cleaning, conducting impact analyses, outputting results into tables and figures), including overseeing junior researchers.
• Building, reviewing, and documenting reproducible analysis code, and archiving data to support transparency and replication (R, Stata).
• Completing structured and systematic evidence reviews and syntheses to support evidence clearinghouses.
• Authoring reports, briefs, and presentations that translate technical findings into clear, plain-language products.
• Designing data visualizations that communicate findings to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Representing the firm in interactions with clients and partner organizations.
• Identifying new business opportunities and taking leadership in proposal writing and budgeting.
• Supervising, mentoring, and coordinating the work of junior staff.

Qualifications

• Prior experience working on relevant research and evaluation projects. Experience working with both federal and state/local clients would be a plus.
• Deep methodological expertise, including a strong foundation in causal inference and research design. Demonstrated experience designing and conducting experimental and nonexperimental impact studies. What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) certification or previous experience conducting evidence reviews would be a plus.
• Strong foundation in programming and quantitative data analysis. Advanced proficiency in at least one statistical software package (Stata, R) is required. Must also be willing to supervise and mentor junior staff.
• Demonstrated excellence in writing for a variety of audiences and verbal communication, including translating technical results into plain language.
• Experience contributing to proposals and business development.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships with external partners, including research partners, funders, communities, practitioners, and participants.
• Experience managing research projects, including timelines, budgets, and deliverables.
• Experience supervising, mentoring, or coordinating the work of junior researchers or project teams.
• Relationship-driven, effective communicator with strong interpersonal skills and ability to collaborate with others in a respectful way.
• Ability to travel domestically on occasion.
• This position requires a PhD with 3 years of experience, a Master’s degree with 8 years of experience, or a Bachelor’s degree with 11 years of experience. A graduate degree in economics, statistics or data science, public policy, sociology, social work, psychology, education, or related fields is preferred.

MEF is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

This role includes work to be performed primarily in an office environment. It typically includes frequent phone/audio communication and/or video conferencing usage; and extensive computer, keyboard, and mouse use. It requires the ability to travel domestically by airplane on occasion. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

MEF Associates has an office in Alexandria, VA. This position can also be remote.

Compensation and benefits: The salary range for the Senior Associate position is $100,000 to $160,000. Actual salary amounts are dependent on candidates' alignment with our needs and their education level and prior work experience. MEF offers comprehensive benefits.

Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

An offer of employment may be contingent upon passing a background check. Various federal agencies with whom we contract may require that staff successfully undergo security clearance as a condition of working on the project. If you are assigned to such a project, you will be required to obtain the requisite security clearance. Additionally, if you participate in/complete the application process and are denied, MEF may choose to terminate your employment.

As a federal contractor or subcontractor, MEF is required to provide equal employment opportunities to qualified individuals with disabilities. To help us measure the effectiveness of our outreach and recruitment efforts, we invite applicants and employees to voluntarily self-identify as an individual with a disability. This information is voluntary and confidential and will not be used in making employment decisions. Choosing not to respond will not subject you to any adverse treatment. For more details on this requirement, please see: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ofccp/self-id-forms