Shire Jobs

Description: The Frederick S. Pardee Institute for International Futures is the home of long-term forecasting and global trend analysis at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies. International Futures (IFs) is a large-scale, long-term, integrated global modeling system that represents demographic, economic, health, energy, agriculture, education, infrastructure, socio-political, environmental, and international politics subsystems for 188 countries interacting in the global system. The Pardee Institute works heavily on sponsored research projects with various government institutions, international organizations, NGOs, and to a lesser extent, private sector clien

The Pardee Institute is committed to building a culturally diverse faculty and staff who, in turn, are committed to working in a pluralistic environment.

Position Summary

Research Associates play a core role in the completion of the Pardee Institute's research efforts and external engagement. A primary function of the Research Associate is to support analytical and associated modelling and related activities for development analysis research at the Pardee Institute. This includes using and developing the International Futures (IFs) model to produce policy-relevant research. This position also may be involved in training, project management, and client interaction and is expected to supervise and manage staff and student employees on projects and deliverables.

Working under the supervision of the Associate Director of Development Analysis, these activities include: (a) effective support and balancing of concurrent but perhaps disparate research projects and associated tasks; (b) building, maintaining, and refining analytical skills, particularly those related to scenario building and analysis; (c) managing a team of research aides who support activities related to development analysis, if applicable; and (d) maintaining timely and targeted communications with internal project teams as well as external audiences, like sponsors, research collaborators, and the general public.

Continuation of the position is contingent on available research funding. This position is funded by external grants and may be terminated if and when external funding is exhausted.

Essential Functions

• Participate and often lead research products or publications for policy-making and academic audiences.
• Learn about and build expertise using the International Futures (IFs) software to conduct research.
• Manage research projects that vary in scope, subject, and duration.
• Manage student researchers in support of project deliverables.
• Conduct literature reviews on various social science topics and synthesize key findings.
• Conduct data gathering and data assessment tasks and synthesize key findings and recommendations.
• Validate and interpret results with the goal of providing actionable insights.
• Discern the appropriate qualitative or quantitative technique to help improve our understanding of the results/challenge at hand.
• Work independently and collaboratively in problem-solving efforts to meet internal and external deadlines and objectives.

• Maintain positive client/sponsor relations through clear, timely, and professional verbal and written communication. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Must have a demonstrated commitment to fostering an environment in which faculty, staff, students, and community partners from diverse backgrounds and cultural identities feel welcome and valued.

• Willingness to become knowledgeable in and eventual ability to demonstrate knowledge with the IFs model, with a rapidly-developed ability to successfully support client-/sponsor-facing analysis, with increasing independence over time.
• Ability and willingness to interrogate research findings and learn new techniques for a refined understanding of research results, especially relating to the use of and results from t e International Futures model.
• Excellent technical writing and presentation skills for communicating complex research concepts.
• Demonstrated ability to perform literature reviews.
• Ability to organize and efficiently manipulate data in Microsoft Excel, relational databases, and other data analysis platforms, as appropriate.
• Participation in devising concrete methods for measuring or estimating abstract phenomena.
• Demonstrated skills in project management including (but not limited to): tracking and communicating progress toward milestones/deliverables; coordinating and steering multiple, concurrent tasks toward completion; communicating and managing expectations between stakeholders; and managing resources effectively.
• Ability to create and present professional quality research presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint and other related presentation software and platforms.

• Experience in training and supporting outreach efforts, including research presentations and conferences, client engagements, and/or student-facing engagements. Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Development Economics, Environmental Policy, International Relations, Political Science, Demography, Economics, Public Policy, or related field; equivalent combination of education and experi

• Experience in high-quality, professional research and writing in a related field. Preferred Qualifications