Princeton University · 1 month ago
Senior Research Specialist
Princeton University is home to the Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI), a research initiative focused on mitigating political violence in the U.S. They are seeking a Senior Research Specialist/State Lead in Michigan to develop state-based research and partnerships, monitor political violence, and support coalitions and coordination tables. This role involves producing reports, conducting conflict analysis, and collaborating with various stakeholders to enhance community resilience.
EducationAlumniHigher EducationUniversities
Growth OpportunitiesNo H1B
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
Qualification
Required
Must live in the state of Michigan, or in a state adjacent to Michigan, and have significant state-specific knowledge, networks, and experience in Michigan
Bachelor's degree or higher in a related field
5-7+ years of experience in research, policy, community engagement, or related role
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
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
Company
Princeton University
Interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate education.
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$11.44MKey Investors
Arnold VenturesUS Department of EnergyAlfred P. Sloan Foundation
2026-07-07Grant
2024-06-06Grant· $2M
2023-08-14Grant
Leadership Team
Jason Fung
Co-Founder
Michael W. Zhang
Co-Founder and Co-Principal Investigator, Museumverse
Recent News
2026-08-12
2026-06-06
2026-06-02
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