The Smith Family is looking for a Senior Research and Advocacy Officer

• Location: Flexible
• Position Type: Permanent Full Time

• Be a part of an organisation that makes a difference
• Lead and conduct nationally significant research and evaluation projects 
• Flexible location (Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Hobart, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin)

The Smith Family is a national, independent children’s charity helping disadvantaged Australians to get the most out of their education, so they can create better futures for themselves. We are currently seeking a Senior Research and Advocacy Officer to join our team. 

Reporting to the National Manager, Research and Evaluation, you will project manage significant longitudinal research and evaluation studies to provide new policy and practice insights into the factors influencing the educational outcomes of young people experiencing disadvantage. 

The role requires a depth of experience that will have been gained through having led multiple large-scale longitudinal projects focussed on contemporary social policy issues. You will have demonstrated experience in applying a range of longitudinal techniques including but not limited to mixed effects and multilevel modelling, and sequence analysis across in a variety of applied projects. 

A day in the life of a Senior Research and Advocacy Officer might look like this, but every day will be different. You will be responsible for:

• Effectively and efficiently leading and managing longitudinal quantitative research and evaluation projects
• Recommending, applying and interpreting findings from analytic approaches that:
- utilise the eight waves of data currently available
- explain compositional changes 
- adjust for attrition and absence 
- control for observable and unobservable differences 
• Producing milestone, annual and final project, research and evaluation reports
• Developing research briefing papers, presentations and advocacy materials
• Developing and maintaining internal and external relationships aimed at developing and undertaking research and evaluation projects

It takes a special person to be a Senior Research and Advocacy Officer. Our successful candidate will bring the following:

• Relevant tertiary qualifications
• Extensive experience in completing complex applied quantitative research projects
• Highly developed longitudinal quantitative data analytic skills 
• Extensive experience producing research and evaluation materials
• Extensive experience working at the research-policy-practice interface
• Outstanding communication skills, both written and verbal written 
• Strong interpersonal skills and natural ability to influence
• Capacity to manage concurrent projects
• Ideally, you’ll also have experience in conducting qualitative research or evaluation projects  

Living up to our employment promise, our team members tell us that working for The Smith Family provides great job flexibility and the ability to work alongside committed, passionate and professional team members whilst engaging in challenging, fulfilling and diverse work. In turn, our team members believe they offer commitment to our vision, mission and values and effective collaboration with fellow team members to deliver strong performance outcomes.

If you are passionate about what you do, committed to making a difference and this sounds like your next role, we’d love to hear from you.  Please contact us today by sending your application to careers@thesmithfamily.com.au including a cover letter addressing the highlighted essential criteria in the position description and outlining your applied experience having led multiple large-scale longitudinal projects. You may view the position description at Position Description link.  

Closing date:  until filled

Due to the nature of this role, the successful candidate must be prepared to undertake a National Police Check and a Working with Children’s Check. We are an equal opportunity employer and are committed to principles of cultural diversity. Applications from people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent are encouraged.