Job Abstract

ICF seeks a Research Assistant to support projects within the Early Education Services Line of Business. ICF's Early Education Services conducts technical assistance and research and evaluation projects for Head Start, child care, and state programs. The Research Assistant will be heavily involved in supporting research meetings, webinars, grant reviews, and trainings and contributing to the development of innovative, high-quality products and services for the projects.  

Research Assistants at ICF have an opportunity to apply their academic knowledge, gain exposure to major projects, and interact with experts in the field while building content knowledge and consulting skills.?

The position is full-time hybrid/remote based at ICF's office in Reston, VA.

Must be able to obtain PIV credential.   

Key Responsibilities

• Support federal grant reviews by providing technical assistance, recruiting reviewers, maintaining databases, processing applications, and producing materials.
• Provide technical assistance to grantees, including support in using a grantee data management system and fulfilling data collection requirements for the grant.
• Assist in planning and implementation of small meetings at hotel and government sites, as well as virtual meetings (webinars).
• Assist with meeting registration, including online registration, data entry, badge production, reconciliation reporting, and responsive written and verbal communication with attendees prior to, during, and after the meeting. 
• Provide technical assistance webinar support including training material development and background system support (e.g., in Microsoft Teams, Zoom, etc.)
• Assist with data collection for early childhood research projects (e.g., conducting focus groups, interviews, document reviews) and with early childhood constituents (e.g., early childhood staff, parents, children)
• Assist with marketing efforts and strategy: coordination of logo development for meeting materials, development of promotional materials, maintenance and manipulation of marketing databases. 
• Send invitations and coordinate with speakers and advisory committees, maintain databases and listservs. 
• Schedule conference calls, take notes and prepare meeting summaries, track action items, prepare and distribute agendas, materials, and other supporting resources. 
• Prepare high quality written and presentation-based deliverables for clients.
• Format, print, collate, package, and ship conference materials. 
• Participate in business development activities, such as editing resumes for proposals, coordinating proposal meetings, taking and distributing notes, and formatting proposals.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in social sciences with a GPA of 3.0 or higher required. 
• Strong interest in the Early Education field.

• 1+ years of demonstrated proficiency in MS Office Applications (e.g., Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel), Office 365, and Microsoft Teams 

• Experience and comfort communicating about complex technical issues—by phone, email, meetings, webinars, and/or in-person presentations.
• Ability to travel occasionally for in-person meetings or site visits.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience providing logistical support and general project support, such as activity tracking, task coordination, and material formatting.
• Experience applying analytic skills in a working environment, such as merging, cleaning, manipulating datasets.
• Familiar with meeting registration systems (CVENT, Zoom, etc.), and should feel comfortable learning new technology platforms.

Professional Skills:

• Strong ability to prioritize and manage multiple activities simultaneously in a fast-paced, changing environment.
• Strong team player with the ability to take initiative and work well independently.
• Ability to both provide and take direction.
• Superior attention to detail and the ability to meet stringent deadlines.  
• Solid customer service skills.
• Ability to pivot based on changes in project and client priorities.
• Ability to exercise good judgment, discretion, tact, and diplomacy.
• Exceptional verbal, oral, interpersonal, and written skills including courtesy, professionalism, and a cooperative attitude.
• Ability to work with all levels of internal staff, as well as outside clients and vendors.

Working at ICF

We can only solve the world's toughest challenges by building an inclusive workplace that allows everyone to thrive. We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to hiring regardless of any protected characteristic, such as race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability status, or military/veteran status. Together, our employees are empowered to share their expertise and collaborate with others to achieve personal and professional goals. For more information, please read our EEO & AA policy.

Reasonable Accommodations are available, including, but not limited to, for disabled veterans, individuals with disabilities, and individuals with sincerely held religious beliefs, in all phases of the application and employment process. To request an accommodation please email icfcareercenter@icf.com and we will be happy to assist. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.

Read more about workplace discrimination rights, the Pay Transparency Statement, or our benefit offerings which are included in the Transparency in (Benefits) Coverage Act.

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 is: