Senior Research Specialist

Founded in 1863, Boston College is a Jesuit, Catholic university located six miles from downtown Boston with an enrollment of 9,484 full-time undergraduates and 5,250 graduate and professional students.  Ranked 35 among national universities, Boston College has 888 full-time and 1,281 FTE faculty, 2,711 non-faculty employees, an operating budget of $1.4 billion, and an endowment in excess of $3.5 billion.

Job Description

The TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center is home to two major international research programs that monitor student achievement in mathematics, science, and reading in more than 60 countries. TIMSS (the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) is conducted on a four-year cycle and measures mathematics and science achievement at the fourth and eighth grades. It has regularly reported results for more than 28 years. PIRLS (the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) assesses fourth-grade student achievement in reading literacy on a five-year cycle. Both projects are completing the transition to fully computer-based assessments in TIMSS 2023 and PIRLS 2026 administrations. 

TIMSS and PIRLS are sponsored by the IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement), an independent international cooperative of national research institutes and governmental research agencies headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

This position is a temporary opportunity for a 12-month period, with an option to extend for annual contracts, depending on the needs of the TIMSS and PIRLS projects and the success measures relative to the operational implementation objectives defined for the first year.

The Senior Research Specialist, Insights Analysis & QC Support, supports the Assistant Research Director, Advanced Psychometrics and Machine Learning Applications, in special analysis for insights reports and special projects, and QC procedures for the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center. Under the general supervision of the Executive Director and the assistant director, the successful candidate will conduct data analysis and support the systems verification team to support the following activities:

• preparing and executing analysis plans for TIMSS and PIRLS Insights reports
• support writing Insights reports focusing on data analysis and methods sections
• support activities of the analysis team and systems verification team as needed
• support systems verification team by actively participating in verifications
• assist in examining ML and AI capabilities for data analyses and systems verification

Requirements

• Master's + 4 years of experience
• Strong quantitative skills and experience in automated scoring, deep learning and NLP methodologies, complex data analysis, modeling, and statistical programming targeting analyses of large-scale assessment and/or survey data
• Experience with relevant statistical programming and analysis tools. Experience in either R or Python, and the ability to work with both is desired.
• Willingness to pick up new methodological skills and learn new tools as necessitated by current and future responsibilities is required
• Ability to persevere, maintain focus in reviewing technical material, pay close attention to detail under tight deadlines

Possible travel to one international meeting.

This is a grant funded position.

Competitive salary commensurate with relevant experience.

Closing Statement

Boston College offers a broad and competitive range of benefits depending on your job classification eligibility:

• Tuition remission for Employees
• Tuition remission for Spouses and Children who meet eligibility requirements
• Generous Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Low-Cost Life Insurance
• Eligibility for both University-Funded 401k and Employer-Sponsored 403b Retirement Plans
• Paid Holidays Annually
• Generous Sick and Vacation Pay
• Additional benefits can be found on https://www.bc.edu/employeehandbook

Boston College conducts pre-employment background checks as part of the hiring process.

Boston College is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. In concert with our Jesuit, Catholic mission, Boston College is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic faculty and staff committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment and strongly encourages applications for women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and covered veterans. To learn more about how BC supports diversity and inclusion throughout the university please visit the Office for Institutional Diversity at https://www.bc.edu/diversity .

Boston College's Notice of Nondiscrimination can be viewed at https://www.bc.edu/nondiscrimination .