Research Associate

WHAT IS SEI AND WHY DO PEOPLE JOIN OUR TEAM?

SEI is a small, Nevada-based consulting firm with over 25 years of experience in health and human services. Our mission is to improve the lives of people by helping organizations realize their potential. As such, we partner with a variety of organizations (such as nonprofits, state and local governmental agencies, foundations, and associations) on a wide range of project types. This includes needs assessments, strategic planning, program development, evaluation, financial planning, capacity building, and collective impact systems, just to name a few.

Working at SEI, you can expect:​

• A collaborative organizational structure. All team members participate in decision making at every level of the business.
• A semi-flexible work schedule. We generally follow traditional work hours (9-5) to align with our clients’ schedules, but we also understand that people have a lot going on in their lives. Adjusting your work schedule to accommodate personal responsibilities or your well-being is encouraged at SEI as long as you meet your obligations to the company and its clients.
• A commitment to becoming an anti-racist organization. Our team is dedicated to becoming an anti-racist organization by expanding our knowledge of diversity, equity, and inclusionary principles and practices and incorporating them into our daily work, with our clients as well as within our organizational operations.
• Personal coaching and organizational support. All SEI team members are connected to another team member to serve as a coach, whose role is to advance their professional development. We take a strengths-based approach, and we want to make sure you are engaging in work that helps you grow and feel fulfilled.
• Variety! No day at SEI is the same—some days you might be crunching data and meeting with clients, on others you might be developing a report or facilitating an all-day virtual conference.

WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING?

We weren’t joking when we said no day is the same at SEI! If you join our team as a Research Associate, the main responsibilities of the role include:

• ​Conducting primary and secondary research. We want to support our clients in making data-driven decisions, and you will play a critical role in collecting that data. You will help to implement primary research activities such as designing surveys, conducting interviews, or facilitating focus groups. You will also engage in secondary research, such as gathering data from our clients or other publicly available sources.
• Analyzing and presenting information. We’ve collected the data, now what? We’ll rely on you to help compile, analyze, and document the results of our team’s research and data collection efforts. Finding meaning in the data is a team effort at SEI, but you will be asked to help identify relevant patterns and findings, and to present the data and those findings in graphically appealing ways.
• Preparing written reports and documents. We regularly produce agendas, meeting materials, narrative reports, infographics, and other documents to summarize the results of our work. Many of these products are shared with the public by our clients, and you’ll be asked to both help develop these documents and get them in tip-top shape before they are distributed.
• Collaborate and communicate to support successful projects. Part of your role is to support your teammates in reaching project milestones such as by scheduling meetings and calendaring events, tracking the status of tasks or objectives, proactively communicating barriers or challenges, and actively participating in project management and client meetings.
• Provide other on-demand assistance for client service projects and internal projects. Your responsibilities will shift as projects, your own skillset, and our client portfolio change over time, so you’ll want to be prepared to take on new tasks throughout your time at SEI.

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU'RE A GOOD FIT FOR THIS ROLE?

We value your individuality and the life experience you’ll bring to this position. We think it is important to share below a few traits that successful (past and current) research associates at SEI have in common.​

• Ability to adapt to rapidly changing conditions and respond to changes with confidence.
• Commitment to upholding SEI values including the application of an anti-racist lens in all client and internal work.
• Robust organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects or tasks at any given time.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships.
• Strong analytical skills to compile, analyze, and interpret large volumes of data, and ability to create data visualizations such as figures, graphs, and charts.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including professional report development.
• Proficient computer skills including the Microsoft suite of products. Willingness to learn and utilize new and innovative technology to achieve the business objectives of the team.

This position is located in the Reno, Nevada area. Successful candidates may work a hybrid schedule out of a home office and the Reno office, but must be located in the Reno area.