Housing Solutions Lab Research Director

The NYU Furman Center seeks a Research Director to lead the research activities for a new initiative, the Housing Solutions Lab. The Housing Solutions Lab (Lab) will work with cities across the country to plan, develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate promising local housing policies. With a focus on small and midsize cities (those with populations of 50,000-500,000), the Lab will help cities to design housing strategies and conduct rigorous evaluations that identify the most effective policies and programs. 

The Research Director will lead the Housing Solutions Lab’s research agenda and ensure the rigor, integrity, and quality of all research activities.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Collaborates with faculty and leadership to build a portfolio of research and evaluation projects for the Housing Solutions Lab 
• Leads the identification of projects to conduct with small and midsize cities
• Engages with city stakeholders on research and evaluation concepts 
• Oversees the development of research and data agreements with cities
• Manages all research activities including project design, data collection, analysis, and dissemination of research findings
• Conducts research, analysis, and writing for selected projects
• Leads the dissemination of research findings through publications, policy briefs, and presentations  
• Hires, trains and supervises research staff, fellows, and graduate students
• Maintains effective communication and coordination with leadership staff and faculty
• Contributes to the Lab’s leadership team

Qualifications:

Required

• Graduate degree in relevant field (e.g. Public Policy, Urban Planning, Economics) 
• 5+ years professional experience leading research activities in an academic, policy, or government environment
• Experience with and/or interest in advancing evidence-based policy design and research
• Excellent interpersonal skills and comfort working with internal teams and external partners
• Strong strategic thinking and decision-making skills
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Experience working with large data sets and knowledge of statistical software, including (e.g., R, SAS, Stata, and SPSS)
• Demonstrated commitment to promoting equity in public policy

Strongly Preferred

• Doctoral Degree in relevant field
• Experience with program evaluation
• Interest in/or experience with interdisciplinary research