NORC at the University of Chicago is seeking a Senior Research Associate I to join The Bridge in our Chicago – Hyde Park office. The Senior Research Associate I will work closely with the Bridge’s research and evaluation teams on varied projects in the arts, culture, and community field, and may also work in adjacent areas like education and health. The ideal candidate will have experience conducting quantitative and/or qualitative analyses of moderate complexity, including work with public and project-specific datasets, and will have strong data-interpretation and writing skills.

Applicants will be based in our Chicago, IL Hyde Park office on the University of Chicago campus, with a hybrid in-office/work from home schedule. 

The Bridge at NORC is comprised of a community of researchers and programs focused on a range of social and cultural domains and exemplifying NORC’s commitment to the highest standards of research rigor and innovation. Those domains include early childhood care and education, healthy aging, arts and culture, and equity research. The Bridge staff bring diverse expertise, a highly collaborative approach, and academic excellence to both empirically and theoretically grounded multimodal research. Staff members often collaborate with researchers from the University of Chicago and other research institutions by collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data; providing methodological and statistical expertise; and facilitating pre- and post-award management. 

The Senior Research Associate I will report to a senior research scientist who focuses on arts and culture research, and will also work closely with Slover Linett at NORC (which is also part of the Bridge and likewise focuses on the cultural sector). The SRA I may also collaborate with other NORC experts in areas such as education, health, and data science.

• Assist with business development activities, including participating in early-stage conversations and supporting proposal efforts. 
• Contribute to the design and implementation of key project tasks in collaboration with other researchers. 
• Develop instruments for quantitative or qualitative data collection.
• Conduct quantitative or qualitative data analysis and synthesis. 
• Develop charts, tables, visualizations, and narratives communicating study findings. 
• Draft reports and presentations for clients and other local or national stakeholders. 
• Be informed about national, regional, and issue-specific discourse in the arts and culture sector and related areas, especially equity movements.
• Perform other duties as assigned. 

• Bachelor's degree, with a Masters' degree strongly preferred (ideally in public policy, economics, statistics, developmental psychology, sociology, or education); degrees in other subjects may be considered if relevant skills apply. 
• Minimum three years' research experience, including having played a lead role in managing and executing tasks such as data cleaning, analysis, and reporting.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, along with excellent writing and organizational abilities.
• Experience with quantitative analysis, including working knowledge of R, Stata, SAS, SPSS, or other statistical analysis tools. 
• The successful candidate must also demonstrate effective workplace competencies, including:
  • Attentiveness to detailed tasks, organizational skills, and ability to meet requirements of multiple assignments simultaneously. 
  • Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work collaboratively as part of a team. 
  • Effective written and verbal communication. 
  • Proficiency with Microsoft 365 applications, including ability to work with Microsoft teams.
• Occasional travel for research fieldwork, site visits, meetings, and conferences may be required.

The pay range for this position is $70,000-$96,000.

This position is classified as regular. Regular staff are eligible for NORC’s comprehensive benefits program. Benefits include, but are not limited to: 

• Generously subsidized health insurance, effective on the first day of employment  
• Dental and vision insurance 
• A defined contribution retirement program, along with a separate voluntary 403(b) retirement program 
• Group life insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance
• Benefits that promote work/life balance, including generous paid time off, holidays; paid parental leave, bereavement leave, tuition assistance, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

NORC’s Approach to Equity and Transparency 

Pay and benefits transparency helps to reduce wage gaps. As part of our commitment to pay equity and salary transparency, NORC includes a salary range for each job opening along with information about eligible benefit offerings. At NORC, we take a comprehensive approach to setting salary ranges and reviewing raises and promotions, which is overseen by a formal Salary Review Committee (SRC). 

NORC at the University of Chicago is an objective, non-partisan research institution that delivers reliable data and rigorous analysis to guide critical programmatic, business, and policy decisions. Since 1941, our teams have conducted groundbreaking studies, created and applied innovative methods and tools, and advanced principles of scientific integrity and collaboration. Today, government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world partner with us to transform increasingly complex information into useful knowledge.

For over 75 years, NORC has evolved in many ways, moving the needle with research methods, technical applications and groundbreaking research findings. But our tradition of excellence, passion for innovation, and commitment to collegiality have remained constant components of who we are as a brand, and who each of us is as a member of the NORC team. With world-class benefits, a business casual environment, and an emphasis on continuous learning, NORC is a place where people join for the stellar research and analysis work for which we’re known, and stay for the relationships they form with their colleagues who take pride in the impact their work is making on a global scale.

NORC is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer that values and actively seeks diversity in the workforce. NORC evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other legally- protected characteristics.