THE OPPORTUNITY

As we near our ten-year anniversary and begin strategic planning for the next ten years, ReFrame seeks a Research Associate to support our growing body of narrative research. We are a powerful, high-aspiring staff team made up of people with diverse experiences and identities committed to building a narrative ecosystem capable of transforming the world around us toward a common sense rooted in multi-racial democracy and an economy that works for all of us.

In line with our lineage and our aspirations, we actively work to build a resilient organization. Our culture is rooted in care, curiosity, creativity, humor, innovation, and a commitment to excellence in the service of liberation. We lead with anti-racist, pro-queer and trans, working-class, disability justice, and feminist values. We believe liberation is a journey, leaning into learning and enacting how to be curious and rigorous stewards of liberation.

ReFrame is a remote-first organization and is fiscally sponsored by the Proteus Fund which partners with foundations, advocates, and individual donors to advance democracy, human rights, and peace.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Research Associate advances narrative and network monitoring and research including supporting a diverse range of research methodologies across projects, data maintenance, report writing, and production.

Position & Compensation
This is a full-time, exempt position that reports to the Manager of Narrative Research & Learning.
The starting compensation for this role is based on a range between $57,500 and $80,000.

Location
This is a remote position based in the United States. U.S. East and Central Time Zone Preferred. We are not currently accepting applications for those residing outside of the U.S.

Application Close Date & Target Start Date
Applications are accepted through March 31, 2023. The target start date for this position is May 31, 2023.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

We are seeking a collaborative teammate who supports implementing projects from start to finish, who proposes solutions to support organizational goals, and who brings ambition, creativity, and passion to this work. You should have:

A Transformative People-Centered Approach
You have strong alignment with ReFrame’s vision, mission, and approach putting the values of racial, gender, and economic justice – and their intersections – into action in the work environment and beyond. You are self-reflective, tend to your leadership growth, and proactively engage and build a culture of feedback.

An Endless Love for Spreadsheets and Stories

We’re kidding, kind of - ReFrame’s research integrates both lived experiences of our team and organizational research partners, as well as the power of machine intelligence. You enjoy swimming in seas of spreadsheets to support the sensemaking of the data at hand both for your team and for training participants and partner organizations. You believe both qualitative and quantitative data are necessary for research analysis rooted in justice and liberation. You know that data is only as good as the story you can tell with it and don’t shy away from taking the stage to present findings.

An Orientation to Movement Building, Design Thinking, and Hypothesis Setting
Research is not the end-all, be-all and you are committed to leveraging research for the greater good and building narrative power. You bring an intersectional lens to all aspects of research, consider research design as part of your work planning process, and work with teammates to set clear hypotheses as part of the design process and in line with broader organizational goals.

Project Implementation Rooted in Curiosity & Creative Rigor

You can collaborate with cross-functional teams moving toward a common vision and goal. You are excellent at time management while both taking direction and offering solutions and ideas when there are blockers. You are able to pivot when directed and love feedback. You hold high standards of excellence of work in your purview. You can leverage a beginner’s mind and curiosity while engaging different perspectives and methods. You manage yourself with high organization skills to meet deadlines and manage multiple priorities at once.

Interpersonal Savvy

Organizations are only as strong as the teams that move them forward. You are skilled at working across the spectrum of roles and capabilities in the organization. You can build constructive and effective relationships grounded in trust, proactive communication, and shared commitment to the common purpose of the organization.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

Narrative Research: Network Monitoring, Narrative Analysis, and Storytelling

At the direction and guidance of program coordinators, managers and directors implement discreet pieces of programs for narrative research including but not limited to

• Participate in narrative scans across publications, accounts, and platforms spanning the ideological and values spectrum and across a wide range of issues to

  • Discern between narrative and story

  • Identify audiences and networks

  • Identify patterns, trends, and gaps

• Support monitoring volume baselines and networks of core narratives

• Support synthesizing large amounts of information into strategic narrative insights

• Support data interpretation through strategic communications and storytelling tactics to convey research insights to diverse audiences through multimedia vehicles including writing, social media content production, and public presentations

Data Maintenance

At the direction and guidance of program coordinators and managers implement data maintenance including but not limited to

• Implement systematized maintenance of text-based data

• Support creating datasets with a lens toward data management best practices and countering bias

• Support innovation of systems and tools for data management and maintenance

Project Implementation from Writing to Production

At the direction and guidance of program coordinators and managers, implement discrete pieces of research projects including but not limited to

• Implement narrative research product tasks from research design to final production

• Maintain relationships with partners and vendors through timely and clear communications in line with ReFrame values, goals, and timelines

• Participate in project meetings including feedback on agenda development

• Implement project logistics from virtual and in-person events and training to research products

• Support project evaluation and learning

Cross-Project Engagement: Training, Curriculum, and Action Support

At the direction and guidance of program coordinators, managers, and directors:

• Maintain strong relationships for cross-functional projects across internal teams and program participants and partner organizations

• Collaborate across teams to support training content and curriculum

• Collaborate across teams to support the integration of narrative research and narrative action projects

Organizational Ambassadorship, Development and Strategy

• Participate in organization-wide strategy conversations and evaluation

• Represent Reframe values across projects and programming

• Participate in organizational development including quarterly work planning, feedback on policies, drafting project plans, and more.

• Work with the supervisor to develop a leadership development plan and an individual work plan in line with organizational and project goals.

QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES

• Commitment to the mission and values of a progressive social justice organization

• Culturally aligned with an organization that is committed to movement-facing work, grounded in racial and gender justice, flexible, and accountable to multiple stakeholders

• Orientation toward strategy and movent-building with some experience with power building organizing coalitions, organizations, and networks including

  • Familiarity with progressive social movements

  • Familiarity with power building organizing and other change methodologies

  • Familiarity with narrative and strategic communications development and implementation

• 3+ years executing programs in non-profit, for-profit, or philanthropic settings or commensurate with experience

  • Experience working both independently and in multi-dimensional teams with the ability to collaborate on complex projects

  • Strong time management skills

  • Experience elevating blockers to supervisor

• Proficiency in data management, including excel skills

• Proficiency in written and verbal communication skills for a range of audiences

• Meticulous attention to detail

• Proficiency in compelling data storytelling

• Thrives in remote teams and work environments including agility with remote work tools, such as:

  • Google Work Space

  • Asana or similar digital project management tools

  • Slack

  • Airtable or equivalent software

  • Microsoft Office Suite

  • Apple Hardware

• Not required but welcome competencies: bilingual or multilingual, data visualization, design language, and natural language processing.

• Authorization to work in the U.S. and based in the United States

We value candidates who can demonstrate capability and articulate how prior experiences will help them transition into this role.