Research Coordinator, Wesleyan Media Project

Wesleyan University, founded in 1831, is a diverse, energetic liberal arts community where critical thinking and practical idealism go hand in hand.

Position Details
Since its founding in 2010, the Wesleyan Media Project ( WMP ) has become the “go to” source for real-time, non-partisan information on the volume, spending, sponsorship and content of political advertising across the United States. Our goals are to track all election-related advertising across TV and online and to provide comparative analysis enhancing the ability of journalists, citizens and scholars to hold governments and special interests accountable.
Reporting to the Associate Director, Wesleyan Media Project, the Research Coordinator will be responsible for supporting the research operations of the Wesleyan Media Project’s tracking and analysis of political advertising and local news.
Responsibilities include:

• Performing data analysis, content identification, and data management tasks.
• Hiring, training and supervising student Research Assistants (RAs).
• Developing and implementing research protocols necessary to achieve the goals laid out by the project team.
• Contributing to public communications including project website, blog posts, and social media feeds.
• Contributing as a co-author to peer-reviewed publications.
• Conducting special research studies or projects as directed, including performing literature review, other research, and data analysis to support those projects.
• Developing and maintaining documentation of data analysis, training protocols, and research processes to keep stakeholders informed and ensure replicability.
• Coordinating logistics for team meetings, including travel, catering, technology needs, conference calls, web tools, etc.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree and at least two years of experience managing operations, programs or projects or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience. Knowledge of statistics and some experience using statistical packages for analyzing and merging data (e.g., Excel, Stata, SPSS , R, SAS , etc.) Strong analytical skills with the ability to collect, organize, analyze, and disseminate significant amounts of information with attention to detail and accuracy. Strong project management skills and knowledge of research processes. Experience working with social media tools and managing website content. Excellent communication and organizational skills. Ability to work independently and as part of a team. Experience in the MS Office suite of applications including Word, Excel and Outlook. Experience with web-based collaboration tools (e.g., Google docs/sheets, Slack, Evernote, etc.) Demonstrated commitment to work within a diverse environment and interact openly with individuals of different backgrounds.
Preferred Qualifications
Masters in a related field such as Government, Public Affairs, Data Science or Communications Experience hiring, training and supervising staff (student/volunteer experience will be considered).
Special Instructions to Applicants
Application close date is January 14, 2021
Additional Information
Any and all offers to external applicants are contingent on the candidate’s completion of a pre-employment background check screening to the satisfaction of Wesleyan University.

Wesleyan requires all employees to be vaccinated against Covid 19 unless they meet the criteria for a medical or religious exemption. New employees must be vaccinated prior to their start date. If an employee needs an exemption for medical or religious reasons, they must submit a request to Wesleyan and be approved before their start date.

Wesleyan University, located in Middletown, Connecticut, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, age, gender, gender identity or expression, national origin, marital status, ancestry, present or past history of mental disorder, learning disability or physical disability, political belief, veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information or non-position-related criminal record. We welcome applications from women and historically underrepresented minority groups. Inquiries regarding Title IX, Section 504, or any other non-discrimination policies should be directed to: Alison Williams, Vice President for Equity & Inclusion/ Title IX Officer, 860-685-3927, awilliams@wesleyan.edu.