Senior Research Specialist - Texas Lead

About BDI

The Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI) is a non-partisan research initiative that tracks and mitigates political violence in the United States. BDI supports efforts to grow and build local community resilience through elections and other periods of heightened risk, laying the groundwork for longer-term to bridge the divides we face as a nation.

We do this by 1) producing action-oriented and responsive research to fill existing gaps and empower local leaders; 2) enabling cross-sector collaboration, so individuals and organizations are better prepared to mitigate risk and respond to crisis when it does arise; and 3) helping to drive the policy and community response. Over the past four years, BDI played an essential role in supporting a wide range of actors preparing for and responding to political violence and democratic crisis. Our data, analysis, and tools continue to help a diverse coalition of national and local decision-makers better target their interventions. BDI is based at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), co-hosted by the Empirical Studies of Conflict (ESOC).

We love being part of Princeton, but we hire for roles exclusively focused on achieving BDI’s mission. Cover letters should be tailored to the work of BDI. Candidates whose cover letters only reference Princeton as a whole will not be considered. For more information, please visit our website: https://bridgingdivides.princeton.edu/. 

Position Overview

BDI’s strategy consists of three core objectives, one of which is: Creating Space for Cross-Sector Collaboration. This portfolio includes projects that focus on Convening Within and Between Sectors, Facilitating Early Action and Response, and Concierge Support to State-Level Violence Mitigation. BDI seeks a Senior Research Specialist/State Lead in Texas to work in and across all of these projects. 

This role focuses on the monitoring of political violence, the development of local/state-based partnerships and networks, and the support of state-based coalitions and coordination tables. This person will help to build out and further develop BDI’s state-based research and monitoring efforts. Key activities include: producing regular state-based Situation Reports (SitReps), issue briefs, and conducting ongoing conflict analysis. Research and monitoring efforts will support BDI’s state-based partners who might encounter instances of political violence in their work. Collaboration with these partners ensures that BDI’s efforts are successfully integrated into the broader mitigation and resilience environment in the state. The SRS/State Lead will be a member of the BDI Collaborations Team – currently a six-person team of other state leads who work in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona – and will report to the Collaboration Director. 

The outcome of this work is reliable and timely monitoring and early warning analysis products, which has proven an essential part of the U.S. early warning infrastructure. Regular reporting, timely issue briefs, and custom memos – drawing on data and collaboration with over a dozen monitoring partners – will provide reliable, trusted, and actionable information to help the entire early warning ecosystem get ahead of and respond to risk.

This is a full-time position based in the state where we are hiring (Texas). BDI is an entirely remote team, with staff in almost a dozen states. The role is envisioned as a one-year minimum engagement, with opportunities for renewal. 

Key Responsibilities

• Develop state-based research, monitoring, and analysis around incidents of political violence, actors involved, and its connection to broader trends in the state. Understand and communicate the social, political, economic, and other impacts of a given conflict. As appropriate, contextualize trends over time by including quantitative analysis of longitudinal data.
• Build BDI’s state-based partnerships and relationships with key stakeholders representing varying sectors including election protection, racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, faith-based, government, and others in order to provide monitoring and analysis support across the board and to better inform our research. 
• Actively engage in state-based coordination tables and coalitions by actively providing monitoring support and analysis.
• Provide customized public and private briefings on state-level risks and trends upon request to key audiences and partners.
• Proactively work to build connections with organizations and groups with a focus on supporting and resourcing communities that are particularly vulnerable to incidents of political violence and harm. 
• Work closely with the broader BDI team and connect state-level work with national efforts to mitigate risk of political violence. 
• Key deliverables for this position will include regular SitRep production for your state, number of meaningful relationships built, building out the state-based SitRep distribution list, briefings with state-based partners, and other research and monitoring products as assigned. 

Required

• Research experience focused on the U.S. political violence landscape, especially in identifying relevant early warning indicators
• Interest in and commitment to supporting civil society efforts to address political violence in the U.S., including work with partner organizations across diverse political affiliations, geographies, and sectors
• Ability to think strategically and creatively around quantitative and qualitative data, including identifying new/emerging trends, gaps, and alternative analysis methods
• Excellent writing abilities, especially past experience writing policy-focused memos, recommendations, or reports
• Outstanding interpersonal skills, and the ability to engage with a multidisciplinary team and collaborators, including a wide array of partners from diverse backgrounds and in a remote work setting
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, including proactivity and agility in response to potential early warning indicators
• Familiarity with a variety of social media platforms while being able to evaluate source credibility. 
• 5-7+ years of experience in research, policy, community engagement, or related role
• Significant state-specific knowledge, networks, or experience in Texas or Ohio
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a related field

Preferred

• Master’s degree in a relevant field
• Expertise in conducting OSINT monitoring to track activities of conflict actors, especially via social media and alt platforms
• Familiarity with ACLED data and/or other relevant quantitative data sources tracking political violence in the U.S. context
• Interest and ability to translate research findings to policy and practitioner audiences
• Experience working on a remote team, including familiarity with relevant work tools (e.g. Slack, Zoom, Asana, etc.)
• Familiarity with common research tools (NexusUni, ProQuest, Google News Alerts).
• Experience with spatial analysis, including aggregation of demographic and point data to spatial units alongside data visualization/cartography.
• Experience developing datasets and subsets from various sources, including creating and maintaining documentation for all data and tools and ensuring data integrity.  
• Experience with HTML/CSS, Python, or other programming languages or interest in developing greater fluency.
• Experience with time series and event data, building analytical outputs for description and predictions, such as forecasting models, indices, and multiple linear regressions.

Our benefits

• 24 paid vacation days with 11 paid holidays
• 2 paid personal days
• 8 sick days 
• Health insurance policy via Aetna and/or UnitedHealth care as well as Vision, Dental, and employer sponsored short and long-term disability policies and life insurance
•  Flexible Spending Accounts (HFSA, DFSA)
• Retirement Savings Plan and 403(b) Princeton contributions are 9.3% of annual salary
• Robust education support program covers 85% of tuition and mandatory educational fees at accredited U.S. institutions, up to $5,250 annually, eligible after one year of service
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and other wellness resources to support employees and their families

Work authorization/visa eligibility: Work must be performed within the United States and is fully remote. This job requires sustained U.S. work authorization and is not eligible for U.S. visa sponsorship.

No matter who you are, BDI is a place you can call home. We know that our unique perspectives make us stronger, smarter, and well-positioned for success. We value and rely on the collective voices of our team to help guide our work on challenging issues.

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS