Who We Are
The University of Chicago Urban Labs, launched in 2015, were established to create knowledge to address fundamental urban challenges, and to work with policy makers and practitioners to improve the human condition in cities worldwide. The Urban Labs seek to evaluate the most promising policies and programs across the domains of crime, education, energy & environment, health and poverty to generate gold-standard evidence about what works and why, and to support policy makers and practitioners to scale up programs and policies that can have a significant positive impact on human lives. The Urban Labs team rigorously evaluates promising policies and interventions to make them as informative as possible. Our goal is to assemble a portfolio of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to generate new evidence about what works, for whom, and why, and to conduct benefit-cost analyses of different interventions to enable policymakers to prioritize resources for the combination of strategies that achieve the greatest social good per dollar spent. For more information about the UChicago Urban Labs, go to http:urbanlabs.uchicago.edu/
Five Labs. One Approach.
UChicago Urban Labs:
- Use research and evidence to understand how cities can work better
- Test the most promising, cost-effective policies and programs
- Work with civic partners to implement and evaluate solutions in real time
- Scale solutions to cities around the country and the world
The Role
The UChicago Urban Labs is seeking a Research Manager to work on large-scale social policy experiments designed to test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of poverty interventions. The position offers the opportunity to work directly with leading social policy researchers at the University of Chicago, as well as a team of administrative staff, other project managers, research analysts, and student research assistants.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Contributes to study design and coordinates implementation options with program partners; manages subject selection and randomization process; travels to program sites to monitor and assess implementation
- Conducts and manages the data analysis process to ensure proper data collection to evaluate program progress and feasibility
- Oversees University of Chicago IRB procedures and maintains confidentiality of participant information; ensures compliance with institutional, state and federal regulatory policies, procedures, directives and mandates
- Builds and maintains strong relationships with research partners and all participating partners organizations, government agencies, nonprofits, and other community groups
- Works with PI and Grants Manager to develop budgets and coordinate all aspects of grant submission to federal and foundation funding agencies; manages progress reports, performance, or financial reporting as required by the granting agency; monitors anticipated and actual costs charged to project budgets, regularly communicates these to Grants Manager, to identify and prevent potential overruns
- Develops and disseminates necessary project materials to research team and partner agencies
- Generates tables and graphs for academic papers, reports and presentations; writes, proofreads and fact-checks academic papers, reports and presentations
- Prepares project memos, summaries, presentations, and manuscripts targeting both policymakers, academic researchers and other stakeholders
- May supervise other research staff
- Other duties as assigned
Education
- Bachelor's degree economics, public policy, or a closely related field required; advanced degree preferred.
Experience
- A minimum two years related work experience required.
- Experience with quantitative data analysis to support the research design preferred.
- Previous experience working in a research organization or managing research projects preferred.
- Previous fieldwork experience preferred.
Competencies
- Strong project management skills with exceptional attention to detail required.
- Ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment required.
- Outstanding interpersonal skills and ability to maintain positive relationships with various stakeholders required.
- Strong time management skills with a proven ability to multitask and to prioritize activities to successfully complete projects on tight deadlines with little supervision.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present data in a simple and straightforward way for non-technical audiences required.
- Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgment required.
- Knowledge of urban policy, social policy, behavioral economics and research literature on income inequality preferred.
How to apply
To Apply:
Submit resume, cover letter, writing sample, and transcripts to https://jobopportunities.uchicago.edu , requisition 098388.