Research And Evaluation Associate

About Acacia Center for Justice:

The Acacia Center for Justice (“Acacia”) provides legal support and representation to immigrants facing deportation through the development, coordination, and management of national networks of legal services providers serving immigrants across the country. Acacia’s goals are twofold: to support immigrant legal services and defense networks to provide exceptional legal services to immigrants; and to advocate for the expansion of these programs and the infrastructure critical to guaranteeing immigrants access to justice, fairness, and freedom. Acacia ensures accountable, independent, zealous, and person-centered legal services and representation to protect the rights of all immigrants.

Job Summary:

The Acacia Center for Justice (Acacia) is leading a federally funded project focused on bridging the representation gap that exists for unaccompanied children by bringing more qualified attorneys and legal staff into the field. As part of this project, Acacia is collaborating with the Immigrant Justice Center (IJC) and a recruitment agency to recruit legal fellows and experienced attorneys to provide legal services for unaccompanied children released from the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). The Research and Evaluation Associate (REA) will report to a Senior Research and Evaluation Associate who works with both Acacia’s and IJC’s research teams to gather data on attorney recruitment and caseloads, to identify and analyze factors that explain attorney retention, and to use this research data to develop proposals for sustaining a universal representation program for unaccompanied minors. The Research and Evaluation Associate will be a member of Acacia’s Research Evaluation and Data Analytics (REDA) team, which is responsible for reporting on Acacia’s entire portfolio of immigrant legal service work. As such, the REA will be expected to attend REDA team meetings as well as other REDA- relevant Acacia activities.

Primary Duties/Responsibilities:

Primary research activities

• Regularly attend planning and administrative meetings that are pertinent to the Attorney Recruitment Project, the Unaccompanied Children Program, and the Acacia REDA team.
• Assist the Senior Research Associate in preparing internal reports and project updates for Acacia and IJC program staff that will inform their service delivery model and recruitment and retention strategies of the project.
• Solicit insights from Acacia and IJC program staff on features of the research process that carry implications for their programmatic work.
• Assist with gathering data and drafting quarterly reports to ORR for the activities described above. Data gathering may include a combination of qualitative methods, including interviewing recruited attorneys, and quantitative data tracking and survey research methods.
• Assist the Senior Research and Evaluation Associate and work with the IJC research team to design research, gather necessary data, and draft Acacia responses to ad hoc requests by ORR.
• Assist the Senior Research and Evaluation Associate and Acacia program staff, in collaboration with the IJC research team, in the development of a comprehensive research agenda for the project (including research goals and theoretical framework, research design, methodology and reporting schedule).
• Work with the Senior Research and Evaluation Associate and program staff to develop indicators for tracking the recruitment, retention, and caseloads of 50 experienced attorneys recruited by the recruitment agency Acacia partners with over the span of the project.
• Assist IJC research team in refining data points, database entry fields for the recruitment, retention, and caseloads of up to 200 legal fellows that will be recruited by IJC over the span of the project.
• Assist with the preparation of quarterly reports for the activities described above (which may include assisting with or supervising the cleaning and writing of code and the interpretation and framing of research findings for IJC).

Required Skills, Knowledge, Abilities:

• At least 3 years of full-time research experience, including at least one 1 year of experience serving as the research lead or principal investigator.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including ability to present research findings to a range of audiences in a variety of formats, and work effectively on a large team to advance shared priorities.
• Methodological proficiencies in qualitative and quantitative research (i.e., mixed methods) with an emphasis on qualitative interview methods, survey research methods, longitudinal or life course research (using qualitative or quantitative methods).
• Strong social and emotional awareness with your team and external partners.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office programs, including Excel and Word.
• Commitment to using research and analysis to address and undo racism and inequity in the immigration legal system required; lived experience preferred.

Preferred Skills, Knowledge, Abilities:

• Graduate level education and/or certification in social science research.
• Prior experience conducting research on recruitment and retention (on any population, not necessarily specific to attorneys or the immigration field).
• Prior experience conducting research in the fields of migrant and refugee studies or working for organizations that serve migrants and refugees.
• Prior experience preparing research reports for government agencies.
• Experience with statistical software (e.g., R, Python, Stata) and qualitative analysis software (Dedoose, Nvivo etc.).

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree in a discipline that requires social science research training (Sociology, Anthropology, Geography, Political Science, etc.).

Compensation and Benefits:

Acacia has established an internal compensation philosophy that centers equity and pay transparency. The salary for this position is set at $80,000 The salary listed is just one component of Acacia’s total compensation package for employees. Supporting Acacia staff—both personally and professionally—is our priority.

• 4 organization-wide Wellness Days
• 20 days per year of vacation time
• Medical/Dental/Vision- Some plans at $0 cost to the employee
• 401k with 5% employer contribution, no employee participation required.
• $2000 Professional Development Stipend
• 12 days per year of sick time
• 11 observed holidays, including the last week of December.
• Home office set-up stipend
• Student loan repayment assistance.
• Gym Reimbursement
• Employee Assistance Program
• Internet Stipend
• 5 personal days

People of color and those who have been impacted by the criminal system or the immigration system are strongly urged to apply.

To Apply:

Please upload a resume and cover letter at the link provided or email [email protected] with Subject: ATTN: Human Resources / [Job Title], Acacia Center for Justice

Equal Opportunity Employment:

Acacia is an equal opportunity employer and seeks to recruit persons of diverse backgrounds and support their retention and advancement within the organization. We are committed to fostering a workplace culture inclusive of people with respect to their race, ethnicity, national origin, gender/gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, marital status, age, disabilities, political affiliation, religious beliefs, or any other characteristic. Our commitment to justice and diversity also means providing a work environment that is welcoming, respectful, and engaging.

This job description is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of duties, responsibilities and requirements but constitutes a general definition of the position's scope and fun.

Acacia Center for Justice is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without unlawful discrimination based on race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior record of arrest or conviction, citizenship status, current employment status, or caregiver status.

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