Director of Research

About InnovateEDU

InnovateEDU is a non-profit whose mission is to eliminate the opportunity gap by accelerating

innovation in standards-aligned, next-generation learning models and tools that serve, inform, and enhance teaching and learning. InnovateEDU is committed to massively disrupting K-12 public education by focusing on the development of scalable tools and practices that leverage innovation, technology, and new human capital systems to improve education for all students and close the opportunity gap.

Join a growing, welcoming, high-performing, and diverse team that’s working directly with school districts across the country and leading groundbreaking alliance work in education. Our nonprofit is often described as an “innovative startup” with a focus on impact. Our team members have a variety of backgrounds, but one thing unites them all--their love for our mission and affecting large-scale change.

Position Overview

InnovateEDU is seeking a Director of Research. This leadership role is primarily responsible for managing two research-focused InnovateEDU projects: the Blueprint for Inclusive Research and Development in Education (BIRD-E) and the EdTech Evidence Exchange (the Exchange) and the teams managing those projects. The Director of Research will lead each project’s work and manage each project team’s in service of its mission. They will lead strategic planning processes, product development efforts, grant proposal preparation, partnership development, and engagement with K-12 practitioners. In particular, the Director of Research will build strong alliances with research-focused organizations, including, but not limited to, federal education agencies.

The Director of Research is also responsible for providing research guidance across the InnovateEDU ecosystem. They will serve as a research expert, advising project teams on ways in which they can leverage principles of high-quality research to enhance their impact on K-12 public education (e.g., theories of change and development of learning agendas).

We are looking for someone to fill this role who has rigorous research training and experience and is excited to bring that expertise to an ambitious, practice-focused organization. This person must be flexible and able to apply traditional research methodology in nontraditional scenarios, drawing on both quantitative and qualitative methods. This person will lead existing projects, so they must bring both fresh ideas and respect for ongoing efforts. Working with streamlined teams, they should be ready to dive into the work themselves, leading by example. The Director of Research will have the opportunity to think big and envision how to expand the impact of BIRD-E and the Exchange.

Qualifications:

• Graduate level degree in an education-related field (PhD/DEd preferred. Masters with equivalent experience may also be acceptable)
• 3-5 years of experience leading education-related research
• Minimum 2-3 years experience managing teams and people to deliver high-quality results
• Experience with
  • Academic research environments
  • Managing projects in a fast-paced setting
  • Mixed methods analysis (Stata preferable but not required)
  • Primary data collection in K-12 school contexts
  • Preparing research plans for grant proposals
  • Managing diverse stakeholder groups
• Experience working as part of a remote/distributed team
• Excellent verbal, analytical, organizational, and written skills
• Strong leadership skills and interpersonal/ communication skills
• Strong organizational skills and a high level of accuracy and attention to detail
• Passion for nonprofit work and for being a part of a growing team
• Knowledge and passion for education, technology, and impact
• Flexible approach, ability to operate effectively with uncertainty and change
• Driven, self-motivated, enthusiastic, and with a “can-do” attitude and a bias for action
• Creative thinker, problem solver, and dot-connector

Responsibilities:

• Serve as a model for a strong organizational culture, prioritizing service, communication, transparency, professional respect, positivity, dedication, and understanding.
• Provide strategic and methodological leadership for the BIRD-E and Exchange teams.
• Organize and manage external stakeholder groups (e.g., The EdTech Genome Project stakeholders; BIRD-E steering committee) to inform key project decisions.
• Manage grant and project budgets and donor reports, including key stakeholders.
• Identify strategic priorities and lead development of project roadmaps, working with both InnovateEDU senior leadership and project teams.
• Backwards map from organizational mission and vision statements to identify critical research questions and needs.
• Design research investigations to answer identified research questions.
• Manage BIRD-E and Exchange teams, supporting quarterly goal-setting and performance reviews.
• Serve as a public source of information on the BIRD-E and Exchange projects, engaging with external stakeholders and media representatives.
• Manage relationships with consultants and collaborators, particularly at the University of Virginia Schools of Data Science and Education and Human Development.
• Interface with UVA Institutional Review Board team to maintain up-to-date IRB protocols and ensure all research is compliant with IRB guidelines for human subjects research.
• Manage product development by building project roadmaps, interfacing with development teams, and leading user experience research as needed.
• Prepare and present research plans for grant proposals with clear theories of change, goals, and objectives.
• Prepare and present interim and final reports for funders on awarded grant proposal goals and objectives.
• Analyze collected data to inform internal decision-making and to build external knowledge for the field.
• Prepare public-facing reports and formal research manuscripts to share findings and knowledge.
• Collaborate with teams across InnovateEDU to lend research expertise to existing and new projects.

Compensation:

Consistent with our diversity, equity, and inclusion statement we strive to address systemic gaps in pay often present in our larger society as a result of gender, identity, or sexual orientation. All candidates are pay scaled by an independent third-party service or application which calculates the market rate for the applicant based on skills and qualifications, job duties, market conditions within the location of applicant, education and experience. This position’s compensation range is $110,000-$130,000 annually. InnovateEDU full-time employees receive paid vacation and sick leave, medical/dental/vision insurance, retirement, and other benefits.

Application Instructions:

Please upload your resume and answer the required questions. Applications will be accepted, reviewed, and interviewed on a rolling basis.