Research Specialist, Social Marketing

Our strategic health communications and social marketing work tackles some of society’s greatest challenges and drives audiences to make positive attitudinal and behavioral changes.

A growing research team needs a self-starter to support formative, process, and summative evaluations that guide the planning, implementation, and revision of national health communications and social marketing campaigns. This entry-level position is ideal for someone who is starting a career in mixed methods (i.e., qualitative and quantitative) research and likes to support multiple projects.

We seek to hire a Research Specialist to support formative, process, and summative evaluations that guide the planning, implementation, and revision of national health communications and social marketing efforts.

Job Location: This role will ultimately sit onsite at our Rockville, MD office location.

As a Research Specialist you will:

• Develop recruitment and data collection materials (e.g., surveys or interview guides).
• Conduct sampling (e.g., develop literature review search terms and interview/survey inclusion/exclusion criteria and draw samples).
• Conduct data collection (e.g., extract information from the literature review sources, facilitate interviews, or coordinate survey data collection).
• Conduct data analysis (e.g., code text using software such as NVivo, or analyze campaign outcome data in SPSS, SAS, or some other software program).
• Create reports and presentations (e.g., draft white papers or develop data visuals using software such as Microsoft Excel or PowerPoint).
• Present research plans, updates, or findings at client meetings.
• Lead purchasing, subcontracting, and consulting requisitions by obtaining and comparing vendor and consultant quotes, establishing suitable justifications, developing or modifying forms, and processing payments.
• Lead research review processes (e.g., IRB or OMB approval).
• Contribute to project proposals and research plans that describe project purpose, methods, and staffing and provide an estimated timeline and budget.

As a Research Specialist will have:

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree in public health, social or behavioral sciences, marketing, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in social science research to include experience in conducting qualitative or quantitative research

Professional Skills

• Strong verbal and written communication and organizational skills
• Proficiency in English
• Ability to prioritize, multi-task, and work under strict deadlines in a fast-paced environment

Desired Qualifications

• PhD in public health, social or behavioral sciences, marketing, or a related field
• Strong qualitative and/or quantitative research experience, including research design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead research activities, manage multiple priorities, and deliver high-quality work
• Experience applying behavioral science, human-centered design, or Design Thinking approaches to understand audiences and inform recommendations
• Ability to translate complex research findings into clear, actionable insights for clients and nontechnical audiences
• Proficiency with statistical and/or qualitative analysis software, such as SAS, Stata, SPSS, or NVivo or MaxQDA
• Experience in PowerBI or Looker Studio
• Spanish fluency preferred

Bot and Third-Party Applications

Please note that this application must be submitted directly by the applicant for consideration. Failure to do so may result in the application being excluded for consideration.  Applicants needing an accommodation for disability or religious purposes in connection with the application process should contact [email protected] for assistance.

Working at ICF

Pay Range - There are multiple factors that are considered in determining final pay for a position, including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and competencies that align to the specified role, geographic location, education and certifications as well as contract provisions regarding labor categories that are specific to the position.

The pay range for this position based on full-time employment is: