ORGANIZATION

The Partnership for Public Service is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to building a better government and a stronger democracy. We believe that our future and our democracy depend on our ability to solve big problems—and that we need an effective federal government to do so. For more than 20 years, we have helped make this vision a reality, helping our government—the public institution most fundamental to our democracy—address current and future challenges.

Our work is strategic, fast-paced and guided by our values: 

• Passion for public service and our work toward a more effective government 
• People who promote a culture of learning, leadership, collaboration, inclusion and respect 
• Persistence to drive change, take strategic risks and deliver results 
• Promise to be trustworthy, nonpartisan and fiscally responsible 

We hire smart and friendly people who are great at what they do and good to one another in the process.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Partnership for Public Service is seeking a research and analysis associate to support the organization’s research on various topics related to its mission of building a better government and a stronger democracy. The associate will support the administration of research projects by scheduling meetings and interviews, tracking stakeholder outreach, and helping to organize and facilitate focus groups and other convenings, among other things. The associate also will be responsible for a range of research activities, such as conducting literature reviews and environmental scans; participating in research interviews and focus groups; analyzing interview and focus group transcripts; collecting, cleaning and analyzing quantitative data; drafting blog posts or portions of larger research products; and fulfilling data requests from other Partnership teams and from external stakeholders, including the media. 

The ideal candidate will have social science research experience, a commitment to effective government, and strong writing, organizational and time-management skills. Candidates should be able to work well both independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced environment. 

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS/PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Schedule and support project meetings with internal stakeholders and project sponsors.
• Schedule and support interviews and other research convenings with federal leaders or stakeholders from the academic, nonprofit, state and local government, or private sectors.
• Track stakeholder outreach and help maintain the organization’s customer relationship management (CRM) platform.
• Use project management software to plan for and track project milestones and deliverables. 
• Maintain effective lines of communication with project sponsors, research contributors and colleagues from across the organization.
• Conduct literature reviews and environmental scans.
• Attend and take detailed notes during interviews, focus groups and other research convenings.
• Clean and analyze interview and focus group transcripts, synthesizing them with the contemporaneous notes of teammates.
• Collect, clean and analyze quantitative data.
• Undertake other research activities as needed, such as rapidly collecting, analyzing and summarizing or synthesizing qualitative or quantitative data on short notice.
• Write clear, compelling summaries of or narratives about research findings and data analysis for non-technical audiences in a variety of formats. This may include authoring blog posts and other short-form research products as well as contributing to high-profile research reports.
• Provide support to other parts of the Research, Evaluation and Modernizing Government Team as needed.
• Over the first year of employment, serve as a program coordinator for one of the Partnership’s leadership development programs, such as the Excellence in Government Fellows Program or Mission Support Leadership Program. This includes: 
• Working with internal and external stakeholders to support the program, ensuring seamless program delivery while providing exceptional customer service to government participants.
• Serving as a positive, knowledgeable representative of the Partnership and our programs when communicating with federal employees, interacting with external audiences and while providing support to external facilitators during sessions.

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Ability to analyze quantitative and qualitative data in a reliable manner.
• Strong eye for detail and an unwavering commitment to sound methodology.
• Ability to translate and synthesize complex concepts and data into easy-to-understand, compelling messages.
• Excellent oral, written and presentation skills.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to juggle multiple projects and work efficiently in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Comfort with ambiguity and ability to provide logical next steps toward action items.
• Flexibility bolstered by a can-do attitude and willingness to pitch in.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a proven track record collaborating on projects in a team environment.
• Commitment to the values of public service and the mission of the Partnership for Public Service.
• Interest in one or more Partnership areas of work (e.g., government reform, innovation, technology, employee engagement, presidential transition, federal hiring and workforce issues, government customer experience, leadership development, or government performance and accountability).

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION

• Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent professional work or military experience. A master’s degree in public policy, public administration, economics, social science, political science or a related field is preferred.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite. 
• Proficiency with data analysis platforms such as SPSS, SAS or R is preferred.
• Approximately one to two years of professional work experience, which may include internships, volunteer experience and graduate coursework.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY/REPORTING STRUCTURE

This position will report to a manager or senior manager. 

WORK ENVIRONMENT

This job operates in a hybrid (remote office) environment in Washington, DC, and requires the candidate to be a permanent resident in the Washington, DC, Maryland or Virginia area. The person in this role is expected to work in the office, on average, two days per week. This position requires consistent use of office equipment such as computer, telephone, printer/scanner and MS Office.

In assessing employee performance at the Partnership, we consider collaboration, results, demonstration of our values and a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. Our performance review process runs the calendar year; we conduct a performance check-in at mid-year and complete a formal full-year assessment at year end. Salary increases are based on the full-year performance assessment.