Research Associate
Manhattan Institute is focused on higher education reform and is seeking a Research Associate to contribute to City Journal’s college rankings. The role involves gathering and analyzing data, writing school descriptions, and managing communications with various stakeholders.
Responsibilities
- Research & Writing
- Work in support of, John Sailer and Kevin Wallsten, the lead scholars overseeing the City Journal college rankings, working with them to adjust the rankings methodology and data collection process
- Understand the rankings methodology and gather and organize data for annual college rankings updates
- Draft 100+ school descriptions annually, drawing on analysis of the rankings data and reporting on ongoing changes at the schools
- Help manage the contributions of contractors and interns (as available) to the data and school descriptions that comprise the rankings
- Working with City Journal and MI editorial staff and others, manage the release lifecycle for the school descriptions and other site content (for example, editorial review, copyediting, PDF review, website testing and review, etc.)
- Provide general support and work cross-team to annually release City Journal’s college rankings
- Support marketing efforts
- Communication
- Manage college rankings external inquiries and communicate with external inquirers, such as university representatives, journalists, and government representatives
- Communicate and work with stakeholders for project requirements and to provide project timelines and status updates
- Website & Digital Content Management
- Work with MI staff and software developers to update and maintain college rankings website content
Skills
- Bachelor's degree in Political Science, or related field—or equivalent experience
- Strong writing ability a must
- Experience with data or statistical analysis (e.g., a basic understanding of indices, a familiarity with basic regression analysis, the ability to produce simple cross-tabs with Excel/R/STATA)
- Strong research, data collection ability
- Strong ability to write for public audiences
- Strong ability to engage with external stakeholders
- Strong attention to detail and excellent organizational skills
- Strong verbal communication skills
- Interest in higher education reform
- Strong ability to juggle multiple projects and work collaboratively across teams under high stakes deadlines
- Public speaking ability/experience
- Familiarity with website content management systems (CMS)
- Experience researching/engaging with higher education/university policies
Benefits
- Four weeks paid vacation
- A Flexible Fridays program
- Paid paternity/maternity leave
- Medical and dental coverage with HSA options
- Medical and dependent-care FSA
- Mental health benefits
- Remote medicine
- A paid company cell phone
- Life insurance
- A 401(k) with a company-funded match
Company Overview