Description

Position Summary

Wellbeing & Equity Innovations (WEI) is seeking a Predoctoral Research Fellow (Quantitative)
to support rigorous research, evaluation, data management, statistical analysis and
planning, proposal writing, and dissemination activities across WEI projects. This
fellowship is designed for a doctoral student who has completed doctoral-level
coursework, including advanced quantitative statistics coursework, and is interested in
gaining applied, research experience in a mission-driven organization focused on criminal
legal and justice system transformation. The ideal candidate will excel in advanced
quantitative statistics, be proficient in quantitative data management, have experience
working on research teams, and be familiar with services research, intervention research,
program evaluation, or applied research. Mixed methods research experience is preferred
but is not required.

WEI highly values diverse backgrounds and perspectives, including applicants with lived
experience with the criminal legal and justice systems.

Wellbeing & Equity Innovation is a national nonprofit committed to assisting legal, justice and community partners with transforming their systems of care. WEI operates as an applied research translation and implementation partner, working with hundreds of organizations throughout the country to develop, implement, evaluate, and improve their programs.

WEI’s team of nearly 30 multidisciplinary staff and consultants specialize in program and policy intervention strategies rooted in Wellbeing Development; Trauma & Health; and Family Systems. We partner with law enforcement, corrections, prosecutors, public defenders, and service providers to deliver state of the art services to individuals under their supervision and train those organizations to hire their own staff to continue the delivery of evidence-based services in the future. Together with our partners, we identify solutions based on needs they define. WEI helps partners innovate by combining research and the delivery of evidence-informed practices – and we research and refine the strategy to ensure it is working how they expected and that our partners have the capacity to sustain the innovation.

Quantitative Data Management and Quality Monitoring

• Support quantitative data management across research and evaluation projects,
  including data cleaning, organization, documentation, and preparation for analysis.
• Conduct routine reviews of project datasets to identify missing values, out-of-range
  responses, inconsistencies, unusual patterns, and other data quality concerns.
• Develop and maintain data dictionaries, coding guides, variable documentation,
  syntax files, and other data management resources.
• Create and review crosswalks across survey measures, administrative datasets,
  research instruments, and project data systems.
• Support the development and implementation of data quality protocols to ensure
  consistency, accuracy, confidentiality, and compliance with human subjects
  research requirements.

Statistical Analysis and Research Design Support

• Assist in developing statistical analysis plans for research studies, evaluations,
  proposal applications, reports, and publications.
• Run statistical analyses using appropriate methods under the supervision of senior
  research staff.
• Conduct descriptive, bivariate, multivariate, longitudinal, or other advanced
  statistical analyses, depending on project needs and the fellow’s experience.
• Prepare analytic outputs, tables, figures, and summaries for internal review, funder
  reports, manuscripts, presentations, and other dissemination products.
• Support interpretation of statistical findings and translate results into clear,
  actionable language for academic, policy, practitioner, and community audiences.

Research, Writing, and Dissemination

• Contribute to academic publications, research reports, briefs, presentations, and
  other dissemination products.
• Assist with literature reviews, measure reviews, intervention research summaries,
  and synthesis of evidence related to criminal legal systems, reentry, wellbeing,
  behavioral health, services, and program implementation.
• Support proposal writing activities, including drafting background sections,
  research design language, data analysis plans, evaluation plans, and related
  proposal materials.
• Help translate research findings into practical recommendations for programs,
  agencies, policymakers, and community partners.

Project and Team Support

• Participate in research team meetings and contribute to collaborative planning,
  problem-solving, and project implementation.
• Support documentation of research procedures, analytic decisions, project
  updates, and data-related workflows.
• Assist with human subjects research compliance, confidentiality procedures, and
  research protocol adherence.
• Participate in other research-related project tasks as assigned.

Requirements

Required Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in a doctoral program in social work, psychology, public health,
  education or a related field.
• Completion of doctoral-level coursework.
• Demonstrated ability to apply advanced quantitative methods in research.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, SPSS, and Stata.
• Experience managing quantitative research data, including cleaning, coding,
  documentation, quality monitoring, and preparation of datasets for analysis.
• Experience working on research teams, including collaborative data, writing, or
  project support roles.
• Experience developing or contributing to statistical analysis plans.
• Experience assisting with proposal writing or proposal development.
• Familiarity with services research, intervention research, program evaluation,
  implementation research, or applied research.
• Strong writing skills, including the ability to contribute to research reports,
  manuscripts, proposal applications, and other technical documents.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to accurate, ethical, and confidential
  data handling.
• Ability to work independently, manage deadlines, and communicate effectively in a
  remote team environment.
• Availability to work approximately 15–20 hours per week.

Preferred Qualifications

• Lived experience with the criminal legal and justice systems, broadly defined.
• Research experience related to criminal legal systems, reentry, behavioral health,
  substance use, trauma, wellbeing, social services, or community-based
  interventions.
• Experience preparing tables, figures, and statistical results for academic
  publications, research reports, funder deliverables, or presentations.
• Mixed methods research experience, including familiarity with qualitative data
  collection or analysis.
• Familiarity with REDCap.
• Experience with administrative data, longitudinal data, survey data, program data,
  or evaluation datasets.
• Interest in exploring nonacademic research institution employment.

Work Environment

• Remote, flexible work environment.
• Part-time schedule of approximately 15–20 hours per week.
• Collaborative and mission-driven team culture focused on equity, innovation,
  applied research, and professional development.
• Opportunity to gain applied research experience across proposals, publications,
  statistical analysis, program evaluation, and real-world systems change efforts.

Application Materials

Apply by emailing the following documents (resume/cv, cover letter, and writing
sample - such as an academic paper, research report, policy brief, or manuscript) to:
wei@wellbeingandequity.org

Resume/CV

• Cover letter describing interest in the fellowship, quantitative training, research
  experience, and interest in applied/nonacademic research.
• Writing sample, such as an academic paper, research report, policy brief, or
  manuscript.
• Optional: sample statistical output, analysis plan, syntax file, or data-related work
  product.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

WEI provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals without regard to
race, ethnicity, social background, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, veteran
status, national origin, or other protected classification. WEI seeks to continuously challenge the
organization and strives to be an antiracist organization, using its influence to support a culture
of learning, empowerment, and equity. Employees should demonstrate a knowledge of and
concern for issues of equity and an understanding of how disparity influences the experiences
of people impacted by the criminal and juvenile justice systems. WEI prioritizes hiring
individuals with lived experience in the justice system as well as individuals from historically
marginalized and vulnerable communities. Equal employment opportunities include, but are not
limited to, hiring, training, promotion, demotion, transfer, leaves of absence, and termination.
WEI takes allegations of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation seriously and will promptly
investigate when such behavior is reported.