Research Assistant

Project Bread connects people and communities in Massachusetts to reliable sources of food while advocating for policies that make food more accessible—so that no one goes hungry. To assist us in meeting our mission, Project Bread – The Walk for Hunger is seeking a Research Assistant to join our growing team.

At Project Bread, we have a deep commitment to creating positive social change and recognize that hunger and racism are inextricably linked. We work in a fast-paced environment that values learning, innovation, and diverse perspectives. Knowing its centrality to our work, Project Bread is committed to equity and inclusion. We aspire to build a diverse team, including groups that are traditionally underrepresented among our sector leadership. We strongly encourage people of all backgrounds to apply. 

Supervisor: Senior Director of Research and Evaluation

Salary Range: $55,000 - $60,000

The Role: We are looking for a creative thinker who can help support the mission of the organization by helping to formulate an innovative research agenda. As a member of the Research and Evaluation (R&E) team, the Research Assistant (RA) will support research and policy activities for the team and organization. In particular, the RA will maintain the organization’s data dashboards, support research studies through data collection, data management, and analysis, and support activities involving evaluation, technical assistance, and training.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Maintain an internal dashboard to be used by all levels of staff in crafting presentations, grants, and advocacy efforts. 
• Create and maintain an external dashboard for use as a forward-facing data platform on the organization’s website. 
• Maintain and update data on the organization’s website to ensure accurate and timely statistics.
• Conduct research and complete data requests on a variety of food access topics to help inform decision-making, policies, and advocacy.
• Assist with the preparation of reports, presentations, and blog posts on food access for external audiences. 
• Collect and analyze information from various sources to create literature reviews and systematic reviews. 
• Support the Senior Director of Research and Evaluation with data and evaluation activities.
• Other activities as assigned.

Organizational Responsibilities: 

• Participate in the annual Walk for Hunger, including working as event staff the weekend of the Walk (first weekend in May), and attending pre-Walk events as assigned. 
• Participate in organization-wide events and meetings. 
• Act to promote, sustain, and grow Project Bread’s positive, productive, and inclusive working environment. 

Qualifications:

There are innumerable ways to learn, grow and excel professionally. We know people gain skills through a variety of professional, personal, educational, and volunteer experiences. Project Bread recognizes this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. We want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work. This said, we are most likely to be interested in your candidacy if you can demonstrate most of the qualifications and experiences listed below.

• BA/BS degree plus one year experience required; Master’s degree plus one year experience preferred.
• Functional capabilities in data visualization and computational data analyses via Excel, Stata, Tableau or another statistical platform.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Experiences in roles requiring diligence, detail orientation, and the practice of analytical knowledge, skills, and abilities. 
• Understanding of social/behavioral science research methods, principles, and ethics.
• Knowledge and/or education in program monitoring and evaluation, health and human services, and/or public health systems.
• Demonstrated interest and experience with promoting social justice and working with marginalized and underrepresented populations.

All employees are currently working on a hybrid basis as determined by their Supervisor. The Research Assistant will need to be present in-person in the East Boston office on a weekly basis.

For the safety and protection of Project Bread Staff & Constituents we do have a COVID-19 Vaccine Policy that requires all staff to be fully vaccinated per the CDC definition. Accommodation requests will be considered through our normal request process.

Benefits include Blue Cross Blue Shield health and dental, flexible spending accounts, retirement plan, life and long-term disability, contributions to commuting costs and wellness expenses, and unlimited paid time off. 

Please apply here by completing our application form and uploading your resume and cover letter in MS Word or PDFformat.

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

Project Bread is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, height, weight, or marital status in employment or the provision of services. Please contact us at jobs@projectbread.org if you would like to request special accommodations during the interview process.