<span>United Way of Greater Charlotte - Research Associate</span>

Unclassified - Charlotte, NC

Part-time - Entry Level

Charlotte, NC

About the position

The Research Associate (RA) at United Way of Greater Charlotte will support the Community Impact team on a temporary basis, focusing on research and evaluation related to underinvested neighborhoods. The role involves data analysis, report writing, and creating visual representations of findings to inform community initiatives aimed at improving economic mobility and well-being for families in Charlotte. The RA will work independently and collaboratively, ensuring that diverse community voices are included in the research process.

Responsibilities

• Conduct data cleaning, validation, and transformation to ensure accuracy and integrity of datasets from diverse sources.
• Perform statistical analyses and data modeling (e.g., ANOVAs, regressions, descriptive statistics) to uncover trends, insights, and actionable recommendations.
• Develop and maintain detailed documentation of data processes, methodologies, and results to support transparency and reproducibility.
• Create visually compelling and accessible data visualizations and reports tailored to diverse stakeholder audiences.
• Support efforts to synthesize and present research to inform initiatives and educate various constituencies about key community issues, ensuring research is accessible to all community stakeholders.
• Serve as a 'translator' among multiple stakeholder groups, bridging the gap between research and practice.
• Center racial justice and equity in measurement and evaluation efforts.
• Work closely with representatives from neighborhoods, nonprofit sector, and local government to ensure all voices and perspectives are incorporated into evaluation efforts.
• Collaborate with United Way staff to effectively communicate results and enhance storytelling both internally and externally.
• Represent United Way in local and national meetings on issues relating to data, measurement, and evaluation as necessary.

Requirements

• Significant relevant work experience, with a focus on research, evaluation, and capacity building in the social sector.
• Experience tackling social-sector issues using a mix of quantitative and qualitative research and analysis techniques to assess impact and promote continuous improvement.
• Skilled project manager, able to drive project scope, set and track timelines, and effectively engage others to make progress across multiple projects with competing priorities.
• Knowledge of issues facing disinvested neighborhoods (e.g., gentrification, displacement) is strongly desired.
• Prior experience with Community-based Participatory Research.
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in a dynamic work environment, managing frequent changes, delays, and/or unexpected events.
• Doctorate or Master's Degree in Social Science, Public Health, Psychology, Public Policy, Education, Social Work, or related field is preferred.
• Excellent analytical and critical reasoning skills, problem-solving ability, and comfort with ambiguity.
• Demonstrated experience working with large quantitative and qualitative datasets, and working knowledge of quantitative and qualitative analysis methods and software (i.e., SPSS, R, SAS, ArcGIS, etc.). Experience with SPSS preferred.
• Strong public presentation skills.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with larger scale research projects that involve evaluation design, implementation, analysis, and dissemination.

Benefits

• Flexible working hours (part-time, at least 20 hours, up to 29 hours).