Partner, Research & Evidence

Partner, Research & Evidence

Start Date: Immediate
Role Type: Full-time employee
Location: Flexible -- Fully remote/virtual team
Travel:  Flexible; willingness to travel approximately 4-6 trips annually for 2-3 days, ~10% travel

Who We Are

Transcend’s mission is to support communities to create and spread extraordinary learning for all. Founded in 2015, Transcend has partnered with over 390 schools/partners which collectively serve thousands of students in over 30 states across the country. As a research and development (R&D) hub for the education field, Transcend provides schools and systems with research-backed, community-driven models and capacity so they can make significant leaps to reimagine the future of education. Transcend is a nonprofit that operates with a fully remote, nationwide team; currently with 120+ teammates and growing. For more information, visit our website; follow us on LinkedIn, check out this podcast featuring our two co-founders on Class Disrupted, or read this recent article that illuminates the need for this work.

The Opportunity

At the heart of our work lies our deep commitment to understanding the impact of our work with our partner school communities. By understanding and demonstrating the effectiveness of our design journeys, we can elevate what is possible for schools and inspire many more communities to want to build or adopt extraordinary, equitable learning environments for students. Our measurement and evaluation strategy utilizes a mixed methods approach, gathering both quantitative and qualitative data to illuminate the connection between our work and positive student impact. We believe that by doing so, we can better support communities, model sharers, ecosystem leaders, and our internal teams.

As Transcend's Partner, Evidence & Impact, you'll play a pivotal role in shaping our approach to measuring the impact of our work. You will do so by working primarily across the following buckets of work: 

1. Developing and managing research and impact studies: Leading research studies to answer critical questions about our work. The person in this role would own the process “soup to nuts,” including conceptualizing and designing each study, picking or advising on the measurement tool(s), executing and/or managing others to complete data collection, data cleaning, analysis, sense-making, and reporting, all while collaborating closely with teammates and external partners. The types of studies would include:
   1. Impact evaluations utilizing quasi-experimental designs, including data from tens of thousands of students, and requiring sophisticated analytic techniques such as multi-level modeling and various forms of regression.
   2. Testing the convergent and predictive validity of Transcend’s measurement tools (e.g., surveys, classroom observation rubrics) by exploring associations with existing data, including academic and behavioral outcomes.
2. Sharing insights: Telling the story of insights and findings through clear and compelling reports, presentations, and visualizations.

As an individual contributor, you will report to the head of Transcend’s Evidence Team. You will also work closely with Ali Picucci, Transcend’s Partner, Data & Learning, who leads the evaluation components of federal grants, as well as other members of Transcend’s Evidence and Data teams – Youssef Shoukry, Amber Cross, Zack Goldman and Sofi Gonzalez. Your role will further expand the team’s ability to generate and share evidence of the impact of Transcend’s work and of innovative school models, for the benefit of our partner communities, Transcend, and the field more broadly. 

Click here for a brief video to learn more about this role, the team, and Transcend from David Nitkin!

Who You Are

You are a dynamic leader who is equally passionate about uncovering hard data and analytics with the art of telling human-centered, compelling stories! With a mastery of mixed research methodologies—quantitative and qualitative—you navigate complex datasets with ease, regardless of scale. Your creative expertise enables you to craft narratives that resonate with diverse audiences (from policymakers to funders to educators to families to researchers), supported by clear, impactful visuals. You are committed to centering equity in all aspects of your work, ensuring that data and narratives reflect the lived experiences and perspectives of all students and communities. You are able to equally independently drive work forward while also collaborating with a team. You’re also a highly skilled project manager who is able to juggle big-picture vision with multiple tasks and can see across multiple project components. You also care deeply about people and your strong relationship skills enable you to build deep relationships with teammates and school partners, fostering a collaborative and supportive environment. Ultimately, you’re incredibly excited about the power of evidence to drive change and inspiration on what is possible for students and communities!

And to all of this, you bring: 

• Prior experience running quantitative research studies and building and leading impact evaluations from start to finish. 
• Strong quantitative research skills (research methodologies, HLM, experimental and quasi-experimental designs, etc.), data analysis expertise, and the ability to critically dissect and navigate complex data sets of various sizes, including small samples.
• Experience working with statistical coding packages or languages such as R, Python, SPSS, Stata, etc.
• Experience in the education research space, particularly with non-profits, research institutions, and/or universities.
• Outstanding project management and organizational skills that allow you to gather and organize multiple work streams and logistics efficiently while managing all of the details. You can keep yourself and others on task and on track while preserving a positive and strong collaborative vibe!
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal, to effectively translate data into clear and impactful narratives, including data visualizations.
• A collaborative spirit and the ability to thrive in a team environment.
• A flexible mindset, comfortable with the iterative nature of our work, and open to new approaches.
• Intellectual humility, with a learning and growth mindset and a deep appreciation for feedback.
• A willingness to travel up to 10% of the time to represent Transcend at events and partner visits.
• A commitment to comprehensive data collection and analysis.
• A commitment to Transcend’s mission of transforming education, with a passion for creating extraordinary learning for all. 
• Eagerness to embrace and live into Transcend’s core values.

Perks and Benefits

Transcend is committed to providing our colleagues with a competitive benefits package. Transcend offers medical, dental and vision coverage options, org-wide holidays, paid time off, paid parental leave, professional development opportunities, and fully remote work. We take pride in our collaborative environment, exceptional team, and shared commitment to principled, impactful work.

Join Us!

We are an experienced team focused on extraordinary learning for all. We welcome candidates who are passionate about ensuring that all students thrive.