Photo by Aimee Custis Photography

Position Title: Research Analyst

Number of Open Positions: One, full-time.

Hiring Organization: Mobility Lab, a program managed by the Destination Sales & Marketing Group, Limited on behalf of Arlington County Commuter Services.

About the Mobility Lab Program

Mobility Lab is a program of Arlington County, Virginia’s transportation demand management bureau, Arlington County Commuter Services (ACCS). The program has four main functions. One is hosting and co-sponsoring events related to transportation demand management (TDM) and transit-oriented development (TOD). The second is sharing news and information about TDM and TOD via the mobilitylab.org web site. The third is educating policy-makers about TDM.

The Research Analyst will help fulfill Mobility Lab’s fourth function, conducting research. At present, Mobility Lab’s primary research efforts focus on the following four categories:

1. Evaluation and measurement of other ACCS programs.
2. Public-opinion and other market research related to transportation.
3. Fulfilling data and information requests from ACCS programs, as well as groups outside of ACCS and Arlington County government.
4. Special projects.

Prior Mobility Lab research studies may be viewed at http://mobilitylab.org/research/mobility-lab-research-catalog/

Since TDM is an inherently public-facing transportation specialty and the companion elements of the Mobility Lab program are oriented towards outreach and communication, the research program must continuously strike a balance between serving the fast-paced, ever-changing needs for information from colleagues, and maintaining high standards of quality for projects that span many months or years. The program must also provide information to ACCS staff that is, technically sound, easy-to-understand, and actionable.

The research program is highly visible and receives considerable scrutiny from within ACCS.

Why are We Hiring for this Position?

The Mobility Lab Research Director and colleagues have identified a need to integrate program-evaluation-and-measurement research functions further into the day-to-day work of ACCS programs.

As one example, Mobility Lab will work with Arlington Transportation Partners (the business-outreach program of ACCS), to measure the impact of new transportation benefits or outreach on mode shift by analyzing small-scale pre- and post-intervention datasets in partnership with ATP staff as they engage employers regarding offering or expanding TDM benefits to their employees.

The research program will also enhance its integration with other ACCS programs by supporting information gathering for those programs. This will include providing regular written and oral synopses of relevant academic and public research to program staff, with key takeaways that the programs can use to enhance their work. The research program will also provide streams of regularly updated market information, such as demographic and transportation-related Census data, news of business relocations, and new residential construction.

In order to fulfill these new functions, Mobility Lab needs to expand its in-house capacity for collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing data and making informed, evidence-based, data-driven recommendations. The Research Analyst will add knowledge of quantitative-research data collection, statistics, and data management.

Adding in-house capacity will complement existing and future research work managed by Mobility Lab but conducted by consulting firms.

The Research Analyst will report directly to the Research Director. The Research Analyst will also interact with other Mobility Lab and ACCS staff.

Responsibilities

• Draft survey questionnaires for approval by Research Director and other stakeholders.
• Assist with programming and monitoring of internet-based surveys.
• Analyze survey data using descriptive statistics and significance tests, and compare that data with other spatial and non-spatial data.
• Summarize and present analysis findings through written, visual, and oral communication.
• Assist the Research Director and ACCS-program staff with analysis of contact databases, including query and report writing.
• Track and report on outside research relevant to ACCS programs, as well as employer, labor-market, transportation, and demographic data.
• Assist in the creation of a database for the collection of performance metrics for ACCS programs. Lead maintenance and updating of the database for reporting to the Commonwealth of Virginia and other stakeholders.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Strong critical-thinking ability and capacity to build evidence-based arguments.
• Excellent analytic and technical skills that support critical thinking and evidence-based arguments.
• General knowledge of common primary and secondary sources of data, as well as a curiosity for exploring, discovering, and using new sources.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent time management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to be proactive in identifying and offering solutions to problems.
• Proficiency with common statistics packages (such as SPSS, SAS, R, or similar), Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Access.
• One to three years of professional experience in research analysis.
• Proficiency with any geographic information systems (GIS) software is strongly preferred.
• Experience designing and fielding internet-based surveys and analyzing collected data using common statistical tests preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree in geography, business, public policy, economics, sociology, psychology, computer science, statistics, or urban planning. Candidates with degrees in economics, business, sociology, psychology, computer science, and statistics, must demonstrate an interest in cities, transportation, and/or marketing. 

Salary and Benefits

Salary will be commensurate with experience, but in the range of $50,000 to $65,000 per year.

Participation in DS&MG’s 401(k) plan, health insurance (including dental and vision), short- and long-term disability, as well as direct payment of transit/vanpool costs up to $130 per month (up to $1,560 per year) OR bike-commuting costs at $20 per month ($240 per year), and payment of annual Capital Bikeshare membership fees ($75 per year). A “compressed” work schedule that allows employees to take every-other Friday as a day off after six months of employment per supervisor approval. Total paid time off for vacation and illness of 128 hours (16 days) per year. An additional 10 paid holidays per year.

Note that this is not a position with Arlington County Government.

To Apply

Please send a letter of introduction, resume, three professional or academic references, and one writing sample that demonstrates your ability to communicate quantitative information. One sample of any work that demonstrates your ability to communicate quantitative information through visuals is also welcome, though not required.

Send materials in PDF format to stephen.crim@mobilitylab.org. Please include the phrase “Mobility Lab Research Analyst” in the Subject line. No phone calls please.