Research & Data Specialist (Research Development & Philanthropy)

Are you looking for more than just a job and want to make difference? If so, then join the National Student Clearinghouse talent community and discover your impact today!

We are a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization and the leading provider of educational reporting, data exchange, verification, and research services. Serving the education, workforce and learner communities has been at the heart of our mission for over 30 years. Our work - performed in a trusted, secure, and private environment - provides numerous time- and cost-saving benefits to students, schools, administrators, and requestors. Education leaders rely on the Clearinghouse's unique national student data resources to better understand student pathways and outcomes in order to help students succeed, and our research better informs practitioners and policymakers about student educational pathways and enables informed decision making.

The Specialist, Research and Data Analytics works with Clearinghouse stakeholders to expand the usage of Clearinghouse data for educational research purposes. As a member of Education Solutions, the Specialist, Research and Data Analytics contributes to research on student enrollment, movement, and other important student outcomes using student-level data provided exclusively to the Clearinghouse by our nationwide network of postsecondary institutions. These reports are to benefit and better inform the educational community, policymakers, community leaders, and others.

This position plays a core role in custom research work with a wide variety of clients, translating project designs into code which captures both the specs and intentions of the project. Just as important, the position must also be able to work closely with team members and outside contacts to refine questions and research ideas, translate the outputs of their findings into meaningful answers in formats that are understandable and usable by the client. The Specialist is comfortable creating their own data sets from the Clearinghouse's data collection and designing the codes to work through the client's requests with close attention to detail required for accurate and actional results.

Currently, this is a remote-first position, and this position may be required to periodically work on-site at our office and the frequency would depend on the department/division's requirements. Therefore, candidates must either reside within a reasonable distance to commute to our office or be willing to travel to our office in Herndon, when required.

• Demonstrate the Clearinghouse's competencies, which align with our corporate values. Manager will provide more detail to candidates as needed.
  
  
  
  • Core Competencies include: Customer Focus, Optimizes Work Processes, Collaborates, Communicates Effectively, and Be Open and Authentic
  
  
  
  

Customer Focus:

• Assist in the creation of research reports by extracting data, conducting analysis, and developing output tables and data visualizations as needed.
• Play an important role in triangulating and incorporating report results with relevant external sources.
• Coordinate and effectively manage multiple research projects simultaneously in a fast-paced team environment.
• Utilize SAS programming techniques and SQL queries to extract educational records from enterprise resources and reshape these data into analytical datasets that facilitate calculation of educational outcomes metrics.
• Extract and manipulate large data sets for analysis to meet the client's needs.
• Assist in requirements gathering and client relationship management.

Optimizes Work Processes:

• Effectively manage multiple research projects/assignments simultaneously in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment.
• Perform and manage quality control checks to ensure tasks are completed in an accurate and timely manner.

Collaborates:

• Provide timely communication, coordination, and collaboration on overlapping projects/assignments and deadlines and across departments, especially with the communications and marketing units.

Communicates Effectively:

• Assist with writing literature reviews, maintaining data warehouse documentation, and responding to information requests from internal and external stakeholders.

Be Open and Authentic:

• Demonstrate openness to new perspectives and ideas.
• Build trust with internal and external stakeholders by demonstrating consistency between words and actions.

Position may be required to perform other duties as required. These essential functions are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the job. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.

• Master's degree in education, Information/Data Science, Social Sciences, Statistics, or related field; Or a Bachelor's degree with a minimum of two years of relevant research experience. A combination of education and experience, including through military service will be considered.
• Experience with SAS programming and other command line driven programming (SQL, Python, R, STATA, SPLUS, or SPSS Syntax).
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and the demonstrated ability to communicate technical terms to a diverse audience.
• Excellent attention to detail, time management and analytical skills.
• Team player and the demonstrated ability to work both independently and collaboratively on a team.
• Demonstrates the Clearinghouse's core competencies: customer focus, optimizes work processes, communicates effectively, collaborates, and is open and authentic.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and other collaboration tools.
• Familiarity with Tableau or other data visualization software, or the ability and willingness to learn it.
• Proficiency with a combination of some of the following (typically acquired by 2-3 years of directly related work experience and experience working on relevant school projects):
  
  
  
  • Conducting quantitative research projects,
  • Large-scale data cleaning, manipulation, and analysis,
  • Quality assurance,
  • Writing research findings.
  
  
  
  
• Experience with large database, data warehouse, and data operations.
• Must live within a commutable distance to Herndon, VA or in one of the Clearinghouse's approved States for hiring purposes. Refer to our HR Policies Page, located on our Careers site at https://www.studentclearinghouse.org/careers/human-resource-policies/, for more details.
• Must be at least 18 years old.

Additional Desired Requirements:

• Strong research planning and project management skills with the demonstrated ability to conceptualize research ideas and develop implementation plans to complete work timely.
• Professional experience in conducting quantitative research that focus on secondary and postsecondary education access and success.
• Familiarity with national and state data sources in secondary and postsecondary education.

• Use of a computer for 8 or more hours a day.
• Use of a copy machine and telephone.
• Frequently required to sit for 7 or more hours per day in close proximity to others in an open office environment.
• Occasionally required to use hands and fingers to operate, handle, and reach.
• Vision abilities include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.
• Travel via car, train, or airplane, when needed for training or professional development (up to 10%).

The National Student Clearinghouse provides a robust benefit program designed to help meet the needs of each employee and their family, both now and in the future. We offer comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, as well as life and disability insurance benefits, for employees and their qualified dependents. Health care, dependent care, and limited purpose flexible spending accounts, as well as a health savings account, are options available for employees to set aside pre-taxed dollars for certain qualifying expenses. We offer a very generous 401k matching contribution program with the opportunity to defer pre-tax and Roth contributions, as well as catch-up contributions for those who are eligible! We are proud to offer a competitive paid leave program consisting of vacation, sick, and personal time, as well as paid holidays, up to 3 weeks of paid parental leave during a 12-month period, and up to 5 days of paid military leave per calendar year. Vacation time will accrue based on length of service, and new full-time hires can accrue up to 13 days of vacation and up to 10 days of sick time per year. On an annual basis, new employees may use up to 32 hours of accrued sick time as personal time. Additionally, the Clearinghouse observes at least 11 paid holidays per year.

Another perk is that employees have the option to get reimbursed for basic wholesale company and roadside assistance memberships (e.g., Costco and AAA) and to request a buy back on portions of unused accrued vacation based on tenure and certain other qualifications. Employees can further their education and professional development by using our Employee Education Assistance Program, which establishes reimbursement for qualified education expenses upon successful completion of the program, and leveraging the enterprise-wide LinkedIn Learning subscription. There are additional employee benefits too, including but not limited to, mental health and well-being benefits. To find out more, please request a copy of our Benefits at a Glance!

Additionally, we reasonably believe that the salary range for this position is between $53,700 and $70,000.

The requisition will be open for a minimum of three days, and applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Internal Candidates: If you feel that you qualify and meet the requirements of the job, we highly encourage you to apply and focus on preparing for the application process. Once the final candidates are selected, they can anticipate a review of the compensation prior to any offer made.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities: The National Student Clearinghouse is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer that does not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion, alienage or national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, disability or handicap, sex, marital status, veteran status (or known to have a spousal, family, business, social or other relationship or association with a protected veteran), sexual orientation, genetic information, arrest record, natural hairstyle, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. Our management team is dedicated to this policy with respect to recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, transfer, training, compensation, benefits, employee activities and general treatment during employment.

Pay Transparency Notice: The National Student Clearinghouse is a federal contractor that abides by all applicable equal opportunity laws and regulations. Under these laws, companies doing business with the federal government must provide applicants and employees with certain policies, including the following information. The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)