Senior Policy Research Analyst

The Kathleen Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is an independent, interdisciplinary research center and archive engaged in research across a range of topics in public policy, including education, poverty and economic opportunity, criminal justice reform, health and healthcare, the coast and environment, and governmental ethics.

The Senior Policy Research Analyst will support the Research Scientist in designing and conducting research for the Causes and Consequences of Criminal and Delinquent Acts annual legislative research report and other ad hoc reports at the Blanco Public Policy Center.

Essential functions:

Support LA FIRST research team by

• Building a center of expertise in criminal justice and criminal justice reform in Louisiana using quantitative and qualitative research skills, including but not limited to interviews with practitioners and policymakers, building and maintaining a library of extant literature, and crafting expert literature reviews and presentations that can inform research focus and policy discussions
• Participating in interagency working groups to support the direction and plan of work for LA FIRST research teams

Collaborating with agency stakeholders, LA FIRST Information Division staff, and LA FIRST Research Division staff to create and maintain research documentation for LA FIRST data and analytical files

• Collaborating with Information Division staff to extract, organize, and clean analytical data files for research use

Carrying out research designs under the supervision of the Research Scientist, including exploratory data analysis, statistical analysis, and advanced analytics, to answer research questions

• Work with the LA FIRST Director and Research team to develop and implement quality assurance and quality control processes and improve those over time to ensure high quality research and other work products at the Blanco Center
• ''Translate research findings for broad and varied audiences using a variety of deliverables including but not limited to academic papers and presentations, policy briefs and papers, public presentations, webinars, video recordings, and data visualizations and dashboards
• Participate in training, user agreements, and business processes established by the LA FIRST Information Division to protect individual data privacy and confidentiality
• Participate in synchronous and asynchronous team management practices of LA FIRST