Who We Are:
At the nonprofit Urban Institute, we believe in the power of evidence to improve lives and strengthen communities. Our employees are empowered to open minds, shape decisions and offer solutions. We encourage intellectual honesty, innovation, diversity, and mutual respect, and our analysis elevates the debate, wherever it takes place.

Urban’s greatest asset is our people. We strive to attract and cultivate a vibrant, creative, and diverse community. Our employees drive Urban’s mission through entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership, effective communication, results-orientation, and relationship cultivation. Our success depends on engaging individuals who possess and value these attributes.

Our Mission
To open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions through economic and social policy research. Our Values
Collaboration: Whether working with fellow Urban Institute colleagues or partnering with communities, we strive to build teams with diversity of thought, background, and experience. We seek to maintain a culture of mutual respect where everyone feels their contributions are valued.
Equity: Our staff members are united by the belief that all people—regardless of income, race or ethnicity, education, or zip code—should have the chance to achieve their highest potential. We are committed to interrogating and mitigating structural racism in society and within our workplace.
I_nclusivity_: In our research, we embrace lived experience as a form of evidence, knowing it is important for conducting high-quality, authentic analysis. Within Urban, we seek to build a culture of belonging, where people feel they can bring their whole selves to work.
I_ndependence_: Urban does not have an agenda, ideological or otherwise, nor do we take institutional positions on issues. Staff members have autonomy to pursue new ideas, and they are empowered and supported to share their own evidence-based views and policy recommendations.
Integrity: Experts are committed to following the facts wherever they lead, offering solutions to societal and policy challenges that are rooted in rigorous research. Our strong policies and cultural

norms ensure the conclusions of our experts are rooted in evidence and free from outside influence, and that we are transparent about our funding sources.

WorkRise, hosted by the Urban Institute, is a national platform for identifying, testing, and sharing bold ideas for transforming the labor market. We aim to be a trusted resource for the data, evidence, and tools today’s leaders need to shape a more equitable, inclusive, resilient labor market and improve the lives of historically marginalized workers with low wages. We do this by funding research and building evidence on promising practices, policies, and programs that can strengthen employers, inform policymaking, and provide genuine economic mobility and security for workers—especially Black and other people of color, including women and youth, who face systemic barriers to opportunity—and convening and collaborating with often-siloed groups— employers, worker advocates, practitioners, policymakers, scholars, and philanthropists—to ensure the solutions we deliver are relevant and scalable.
For more information on the Urban Institute, please visit www.urban.org.

The Opportunity:

The Research Director will join WorkRise’s senior leadership team to lead the research component of the bold research-to-action WorkRise platform. The Research Director will develop and implement WorkRise’s research agenda and related research priorities, working closely with senior leadership and WorkRise’s Leadership Board to ensure that the evidence developed and elevated via the platform is aligned with the priorities identified by the initiative’s diverse networks of labor market stakeholders. The Research Director will provide leadership and research oversight for WorkRise’s competitive grantmaking programming, as well as for commissioned research and related stakeholder working groups. Working in close collaboration with the WorkRise Engagement team, including communications and external relations experts, the Research Director will play a pivotal role in ensuring that WorkRise creates a productive feedback loop between research, policy, and practice.

The Research Director will manage a growing team of research staff, including research assistants and interns, playing a central role in talent development for junior staff. In collaboration with the Engagement team, the Research Director will cultivate and nurture WorkRise’s growing network of external researchers across the United States, with a particular focus on developing, supporting, and elevating BIPOC researchers and scholars housed in Minority Service Institutions (MSIs), especially HBCUs. The Research Director will lead WorkRise’s engagement with scholars across the Urban Institute, including senior fellows and others in the Center for Labor, Human Services, and Populations, the Income and Benefits Policy Center, the Policy to Action Lab, the Racial Equity Analysis Lab, the Tax Policy Center, the Health Policy Center, and the Center for Education Data and Policy.

What You’ll Do:

• Research agenda:

• Manage the development of WorkRise’s research agenda, in close collaboration with the Executive Director, Deputy Director, and Engagement Director

• Serve as lead liaison to Leadership Board re: defining and refining research priorities

• Own the strategy for determining which elements of the research agenda flow down into which operational stream for evidence-generation, i.e., competitive grantmaking, commissions, internal research content

• In collaboration with the Engagement team, provide guidance/approval on public- facing versions of the research agenda, including high-level summary, versions for segmented audiences, etc.

• Competitive grantmaking:

• Own the research component of all RFP-driven grantmaking, including recruitment/outreach to research communities, research review, consultations with invited applicants, and follow-up with grantees (e.g. re: future research ideas stemming from initial funding, etc.), with operations and logistical/project management support from project manager/associate director (CQ)

• Collaborate with Engagement team re: engagement/outreach strategy for research investments, with an emphasis on the research component (i.e., what’s new/interesting from a researcher perspective?), and including but not limited to engagement in relevant research conferences via WorkRise-organized panels/sessions that elevate our grantees’ work, advertise WorkRise, and give us the opportunity to learn

• Commissioned research:

• Manage the development and execution of WorkRise’s commissioned research, i.e. work where WorkRise directs the question, methods, and sets the scope of work via contract with researchers (and, in some cases, partners with an applied background). (N.B. Commissioned work will include both outside authors and Urban senior research staff.)

• Collaborate with Engagement team re: the development of an outreach and engagement strategy for each piece of commissioned work, including Working Groups; own the research component of this outreach strategy

• Manage commissions vis-à-vis regular check-ins with commissioned authors, review + substantive feedback on draft publications

• Internal research content:

• Manage the development and execution of WorkRise’s internal research agenda,

• i.e. work that we have determined is best done by in-house staff (including but not limited to full-time RAs).

• Provide supervision, timely guidance, and oversight to junior core research staff on research products, including data features, briefs, infographics, and other work

• Serve as a key advisor and contributor to the newly-rebooted content portal, e.g. provide guidance and support on recruiting senior subject matter experts + junior contributors, provide back-up subject matter expertise/review capacity in areas where senior subject matter experts are not able to, collaborate on development of templates for products, provide support on recruitment of external authors, actively contribute ideas for content (e.g. journal articles of interest, think tank or other reports of relevance, events, etc.).

• Contribute at least 4 pieces of content per year (1 per quarter) to the newly rebooted content portal (e.g. research summaries, features)

o Contribute at least 1 piece of new data analysis per year to WorkRise website, e.g. data features, data visualizations, data tools, etc.

• Leadership, management, and mentoring

• Manage the WorkRise research team (including core research assistants, other Urban staff dedicating hours to WorkRise efforts, and WorkRise research interns) to execute on key strategic priorities, on deadline, with an unwavering commitment to high-quality, evidence-backed deliverables

• Own the development of research skills and relevant practice + policy expertise for junior research team members, including WorkRise research assistants and interns, including supporting professional development plans and honing opportunities for growth

• Serve as WorkRise’s lead liaison with other mid- and senior-level Urban researchers, including Senior Fellows and Senior Research Associates across Urban’s centers and offices: LHP, IBP, Lab, REAL, OPRE, HPC, TPC, and EDP

• General research-relevant outreach and networking:

• Develop and, in collaboration with Engagement team, execute on strategy for bringing new researchers into WorkRise’s network, e.g., major research conferences (ASSA, APPAM, SOLE, NEA, ASHE, ASA, etc.), with a specific focus on inclusive strategies targeting MSIs + BIPOC scholars

• Engage in ongoing scan of the horizon for new/innovative/next-frontier research questions and potential opportunities for the development of new evidence

• Support fundraising efforts for WorkRise with expertise and strategic engagement around research/evidence

• Serve as a public-facing expert for evidence on problem-definition and actionable, evidence-backed policy + practice solutions advancing economic security and labor market mobility for low-wage workers, especially Black workers and others who face structural disadvantages

What You’ll Bring:

Candidate Profile:
We recognize that there is a spectrum of lived and professional experience that will set candidates up for success in this role. While no one candidate will have every experience outlined in the position description, ideal candidates will have the following professional and personal qualities, skills, and characteristics:

Passion for the Mission
Mission-driven at your core, you believe that WorkRise’s research will rebuild a more equitable and resilient labor market that expands opportunity and economic mobility for low-wage workers everywhere. A visionary leader, you bring a strong track record of collaborating with senior-level thought leaders, preferably those with a focus on labor market policy, improving the economic well-being of low-wage workers, and/or building impact-oriented relationships between researchers and labor market stakeholders including employers, worker advocates, practitioners, policymakers, and philanthropists.

Research and Policy Competency
You have recognized expertise in key U.S. labor market issues and demonstrate fluency in applied evidence pertaining to labor market challenges facing low-wage workers. You demonstrate experience and commitment to lifting up evidence in order to inform policy and practice. An excellent communicator, you possess substantial public presentation skills with an emphasis on making complex data accessible to non-research audiences including workers’ advocates, employer networks, and philanthropy. You excel at identifying key actionable take-aways from research.

Organizational Efficacy
As an experienced leader of research teams working to inform action in the public and private sector, you drive strong operational results by coordinating and aligning cross-functional teams and extending a vision that breaks down silos and fosters communication, transparency, and shared accountability. You drive organizational strategy and alignment in a fast-paced, high- growth, mission-driven environment, and guide both people and projects to collaborate on results-oriented work. An exceptional and adaptive communicator, you have a record of accomplishment in research that reaches internal and external audiences; managing
conversations with diplomacy; synthesizing multiple points of view and perspectives; aligning your organization’s mission, goals, and direction, and reaching a range of audiences (from grassroots community organizations to global executives) to facilitate dialogue at all levels of the organization.

Strategic Networking
A natural collaborator, you value community engagement in the development of both high-level research priorities and targeted research projects. You have a proven track-record of engaging non-researchers in reciprocal partnerships that generate new research questions and/or evidence. You are a voracious learner and continuously grow strategic networks to funnel innovative ideas, research, and relationships into your work to maximize your organization’s impact. A connected leader in the world of labor market research, you build relationships across scholars and research institutions, in service of coalescing diverse voices, facilitating the free exchange of ideas, and applying best practices and thought leadership to shape and impact research informing policies and practice around labor market barriers, trends, and opportunities.

In addition, strong candidates will offer:

• Ph.D. in public policy, economics, sociology, or a related field preferred. (Required education and experience may be substituted by an equivalent combination of education and experience deemed sufficient for qualification in the position).
• Demonstrated leadership experience in developing, implementing, and managing high-
• impact labor market research projects with clear impact on policy and/or practice.

What You’ll Experience:

No matter your role with Urban, you will contribute to meaningful work that makes a difference for people and communities across the country. And whether you call the Washington, D.C. area or elsewhere home, you can expect to be part of a welcoming and hybrid workplace. We are

committed to cultivating a community and working in a manner defined by collaboration, equity, inclusivity, independence, and integrity.

Compensation & Benefits

Urban’s greatest asset is our people.
Urban is committed to supporting our staff’s physical, emotional, and financial well-being through a robust benefits package for yourself, eligible dependents, and domestic partners. It includes generous paid time off, including nine federal holidays, medical (including prescription), dental and vision insurance, and transit benefits. Urban is unique in that we offer 403(b) retirement plan participation immediately after you’re hired and a generous employer contribution after five months of service and 1,000 hours, with immediate vesting. You’ll also have access to a health advocate, personal finance coaching, an Employee Assistance Program, and educational assistance for undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Urban features a competitive compensation for this position, commensurate with the candidate’s skill and experience.

The Urban Institute is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. All qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender or gender identity, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, veteran status, pregnancy or family responsibilities, matriculation, disability, political affiliation, or any other protected status under applicable law.

As a federal contractor, Urban will comply with Executive Order (EO) 14042 that requires federal contractors, subcontractors, and their respective employees to comply with Covid-19 vaccinations. All Urban Institute employees must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and comply with masking and distancing requirements, regardless of responsibilities or work location. New hires must also be fully vaccinated before starting work. Employees may request exemption from vaccination against COVID-19 based on either a medical condition or a sincerely held religious belief that prevents them from being vaccinated. Where such an exemption is approved, Urban will discuss with each employee potential accommodation.

The Urban Institute is committed to Equal Employment Opportunity without regard for race, ethnicity, gender, protected veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other protected status under applicable law.

The Urban Institute is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer Minorities/Women/Disabilities/Veterans.

Job Type: Full-time

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