Research Associate
Protagonist
Date: 1 week ago
City: Washington, Washington, D.C.
Contract type: Full time
Join Our Talented Team at Protagonist
We fuse rigorous, methodologically sound analysis with our cutting-edge technology platform, Narrative Analytics. This powerful combination enables us to quantitatively analyze open-source media, deliver strategic recommendations, and craft executive-level communication strategies for clients with missions that matter.
Why Us?
Our team is a vibrant mix of communication specialists, data scientists, and subject matter experts with extensive experience across U.S. Government agencies, non-profit organizations, and Fortune 500 companies. By joining Protagonist, you'll immerse yourself in a collaborative environment where innovation thrives, and your contributions truly matter.
What We Do
At Protagonist, you'll work on compelling projects that make a real difference. We seek talented individuals eager to contribute to our mission and grow alongside us. If you're passionate about communication, data analysis, and making an impact, we invite you to explore a career with Protagonist.
Explore Your Future with Us!
Ready to take the next step in your career? Join us at Protagonist and be part of a team that's making a difference.
Primary Responsibilities
As a Research Associate, your role may look different on different projects—e.g., in certain instances it will be primarily focused on data analysis and interpretation, while other cases will have a more direct role in deliverable development, and others still may have a stronger writing component.
Specific responsibilities include:
Protagonist is a values-driven company that is committed to doing meaningful work for organizations we respect. We are headquartered in Washington, DC, and offer a competitive salary, flexible paid time-off policy, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits, and a retirement plan.
Protagonist is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Salary Range: $67,000-$84,000 based on education and level of relevant experience.
Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
We fuse rigorous, methodologically sound analysis with our cutting-edge technology platform, Narrative Analytics. This powerful combination enables us to quantitatively analyze open-source media, deliver strategic recommendations, and craft executive-level communication strategies for clients with missions that matter.
Why Us?
Our team is a vibrant mix of communication specialists, data scientists, and subject matter experts with extensive experience across U.S. Government agencies, non-profit organizations, and Fortune 500 companies. By joining Protagonist, you'll immerse yourself in a collaborative environment where innovation thrives, and your contributions truly matter.
What We Do
- Innovative Solutions: We co-develop cutting-edge solutions with our clients to address tough communication problems and capitalize on opportunities to make a tangible impact.
- Data-Driven Insights: Our tools and methodologies provide actionable insights that help clients meet their communication objectives and stay ahead of global challenges.
- Applied Expertise: We integrate our solutions within client organizations, leveraging our profound expertise to address critical issues and ensure sustainable success.
At Protagonist, you'll work on compelling projects that make a real difference. We seek talented individuals eager to contribute to our mission and grow alongside us. If you're passionate about communication, data analysis, and making an impact, we invite you to explore a career with Protagonist.
Explore Your Future with Us!
Ready to take the next step in your career? Join us at Protagonist and be part of a team that's making a difference.
Primary Responsibilities
As a Research Associate, your role may look different on different projects—e.g., in certain instances it will be primarily focused on data analysis and interpretation, while other cases will have a more direct role in deliverable development, and others still may have a stronger writing component.
Specific responsibilities include:
- Collaboration: As a part of a highly collaborative and creative team, you will be responsible for communicating clearly and effectively with the entire team—including presenting ideas to senior team members. You will contribute to pushing the boundaries of our collective understanding of narratives, media environments, and messaging strategies.
- Data Analysis and Interpretation: You will work to turn often messy, unstructured data into actionable reports and presentations. Data fluency is essential, as you will be expected to work independently with high-level instructions on tasks such as data gathering, performing analyses, and building data visualizations. On many projects you will be responsible for developing and writing clear and concise insights, applying an understanding of what is most important both in the data and to the client.
- Operating in Grey Spaces: You will leverage data to address big questions without predefined answers, advancing the understanding of narratives and media environments. This role requires expertly managing multiple projects simultaneously, prioritizing tasks in accordance with team needs, deadlines, and expectations, and conducting independent analyses to test often imperfectly-defined theories.
- Staying Curious about the World: You will spend significant time engaging with material covering current and historical events, requiring a firm grasp of the breadth of perspectives animating public conversations. This role involves utilizing such contextual knowledge in your interrogation of data, applying a critical lens to the content before you.
- Client Interaction: You will develop client-facing materials and insights and will attend meetings with external clients and help answer questions as they arise. With certain customers, you may be expected to present sections of material; this role involves clearly and concisely conveying analytic material to a new audience.
- Communications: You'll conduct audience research, apply messaging principles, and identify narrative dynamics to help clients craft more effective communications in a rapidly evolving and often contested information environment. This role will support the development of clear, actionable communication strategies grounded in audience insight and narrative analysis.
- Must have a bachelor's degree + 5 years' experience in field of expertise, or advanced degree + 3 years' experience.
- A degree with a quantitative focus (e.g., statistics, computer science, data science, mathematics, economics) or work experience in a quantitative field.
- Experience with data analysis, including data cleaning, statistical programming, and visualization.
- Proficiency in tools like SQL, R, Python, and/or Tableau.
- Strong writing skills, capable of conveying complex ideas succinctly.
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate complex problems clearly.
- Experience managing multiple projects and meeting tight deadlines with attention to detail.
Protagonist is a values-driven company that is committed to doing meaningful work for organizations we respect. We are headquartered in Washington, DC, and offer a competitive salary, flexible paid time-off policy, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits, and a retirement plan.
Protagonist is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Salary Range: $67,000-$84,000 based on education and level of relevant experience.
Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
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