Associate/Senior Associate

The Data Quality Campaign (DQC) is a national nonprofit policy and advocacy organization that envisions a world where data policy is used to drive systemic change, economic mobility, and student success. DQC is leading the effort to bring every part of the education community together to empower educators, families, and policymakers with quality information to make decisions that ensure students excel. To realize this vision, DQC works toward three goals:

1. 1. Increase public understanding of the value of data in supporting the student journey through the P–20W pipeline (early education, K–12, postsecondary, and workforce).
   2. Build the capacity of policy and education leaders to develop trust with communities to ensure data is used effectively.
   3. Ensure that state leaders use the policy levers available to them across P–20W to make data work for students and communities.

If you want to work with one of the country’s leading education and workforce advocacy organizations that supports your passion for helping students achieve their best throughout education and into the workforce, DQC is the place for you. We believe deeply in using data as the vehicle for improving educational outcomes, and we need passionate individuals to champion our mission. Join our team today!

Position Summary

This position is grounded in DQC’s values of listening, learning, and applying insights to our work while staying closely connected to what is happening across states, districts, higher education, and employers. DQC Associates and Senior Associates are self-starting, thoughtful contributors who are passionate about education and workforce policy and eager to engage deeply in complex topics. They work collaboratively across the organization to conduct research, develop resources, and advance policy and advocacy strategies that make data work for people.

While both levels contribute meaningfully to DQC’s work, Senior Associates take on greater ownership of projects, operate with more independence, and play a stronger role in shaping strategy and external engagement. We encourage people who see themselves at either the Associate or Senior Associate to apply and we will structure the interview process to be in line with the roles and responsibilities at each level.

Who You Are

You bring a combination of curiosity, strong communication skills, and a collaborative mindset to your work.

• • Passionate: you are energized by education and workforce policy and motivated to improve systems through data.
  • Communicator: you clearly convey ideas to a range of audiences, both in writing and in conversation.
  • Researcher and Writer: you enjoy digging into complex policy topics, conducting landscape scans, and translating what you find into clear, useful resources and advocacy tools.
• Collaborator: you are energized by working as part of a team, contribute actively to shared goals, and are as comfortable supporting a project as you are taking ownership of your piece of it.
  • Innovator: you bring fresh thinking and curiosity to how DQC approaches its work.
• Relationship Builder: you seek to build relationships with partners and stakeholders and understand the importance of those connections to advancing DQC’s work.
• Adapter: you are flexible, manage your own priorities and deadlines well, and can move from ambiguous assignments to concrete results.
  • Problem Solver: you approach challenges with a solutions-oriented mindset.

Education and Other Experience:

• DQC values both education and work experiences that demonstrate the ability to lead within the organization.
  • Experience conducting research, analyzing policy, and producing written products for diverse audiences is highly valued.
  • Successful DQC Associates have a minimum of 5 years of experience (reflecting a combination of education and professional experience). For example, the successful candidate might have a Bachelor’s degree and one year of professional experience.
  • Successful DQC Senior Associates have a minimum of 8 years of experience (reflecting a combination of education and professional experience). For example, the successful candidate might have a Bachelor’s degree and four years of professional experience or a Master’s degree and two years of professional experience. For a Senior Associate, at least one year of professional work experience must be directly related to this role.

What You’ll Do

• Work across a varying and evolving suite of projects that includes conducting policy and practice landscape scans, developing internally and externally facing resources, and supporting convenings of state leaders and DQC partners.
• Analyze, distill, frame, and communicate about data use policy and practice found at local, state, federal, and national levels.
• Contribute to the development and execution of DQC resources and advocacy tools, including managing priorities and deadlines to complete impactful products.
• Proactively get smart on DQC’s agenda and emerging issues relevant to data collection, access, and use. A focus on AI technologies will be one of these topics in the near term.
• Translate DQC expertise, including our knowledge of state data legislation, into insights and strategies for state and national partners, funders, and the broader field.
• Work with senior members of the team to develop meaningful, externally facing agendas and presentations and prepare self and other team members for effective, results-oriented conversations.
• Design and support conversations and action-oriented meetings that foster collaboration among diverse groups and further the organization’s mission.
• Learn and maintain knowledge of the important players in the education and workforce policy field, and support DQC’s strong relationships with national and state-level policy and advocacy organizations.
• Stay informed about and keep DQC staff appraised of developments, opportunities, and challenges in the field related to the effective use of data to support student success.
• Coordinate across the organization to manage current and future advocacy tools and share knowledge.

• We offer a competitive and comprehensive benefits package, including health, vision, and dental insurance; leave; 401k/matching; and professional development that recognizes the importance of work-life balance and is grounded in diversity, equity, and inclusion.

• We provide a hybrid work environment, which means all DC-area employees should plan to be in the office 1–2 days per week; however, the expectation is that staff should not be working in the office 100% of the time. We are flexible on working hours and genuinely care about the quality of your work more than the time of day you do it. We ask staff to be available for team meetings and collaboration via technology platforms.