Research Data Specialist

The Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) is seeking a highly motivated and detail-oriented Research Data Specialist to help build a first-of-its-kind national database of childcare providers using monthly administrative data from each U.S. state. This dataset will power groundbreaking research on childcare supply, affordability, and workforce conditions. This project is ongoing, and data collection is already underway. This position is especially well-suited for individuals considering graduate studies in economics, public policy, data science, or related fields who want meaningful hands-on research experience. We offer mentorship, opportunities for co-authorship and conference presentations, and the chance to work closely with economists and data scientists.

This is a fixed-term position with an end date of one year from date of hire, with possibilities for extension depending on funding and work performance. Interested applicants are encouraged to submit a resume, cover letter, and links to relevant work (e.g. GitHub, portfolio, datasets you’ve worked on, papers you’ve contributed to) by July 15th.

ABOUT US

The Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) is dedicated to solving education's greatest challenges. Through rigorous research, model training programs and partnerships with educators worldwide, we're pursuing equitable, accessible and effective learning for all. The GSE is a top-ranked school of education, known for its prestigious faculty, rigorous graduate degree programs, and its impact on the quality of education across the world. The GSE is committed to developing leaders in education research, practice and policy. Our community includes over 60 faculty, 400 students, 240 staff, 14,000 alumni and countless individuals from the local and global communities that we work with and impact.

POSITION SUMMARY

Reporting directly to faculty, the Research Data Specialist will play a critical role in transforming complex and inconsistent administrative data into a high-quality, research-ready dataset. This includes extracting and validating data, maintaining documentation, ensuring compliance with data governance standards, and conducting foundational analyses to support academic and policy publications.

In this role, you will:

• Extract, harmonize, and validate monthly administrative childcare data extracts from each U.S. state, prioritizing completeness and accuracy across a range of formats and reporting systems.
• Standardize and integrate disparate state datasets by aligning variable names, formats, and structures into a unified national panel.
• Design and maintain clear documentation each state’s dataset, including descriptions of data sources, known limitations, and anomalies.
• Oversee data integrity, identifying problematic or inconsistent entries, tracing root causes, and recommending corrective measures or long-term improvements.
• Conduct exploratory and inferential data analysis, including the creation of summary statistics and interpretation of childcare provider supply, entry/exit, and geographic patterns.
• Create statistical graphics, visualizations, and reports for publication, presentations, and stakeholder engagement.
• Ensure compliance with data privacy, usage, and regulatory guidelines across states and partners.
• Perform data validation using external sources (e.g., ACS, Census, state registries).
• Participate in drafting academic or policy-oriented papers related to the findings from our work.
• Contribute to or lead the development of a data ingestion pipeline for automated monthly updates.
• Draft academic and policy-oriented working papers related to the findings from our work.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

To be successful in this role, you will bring:

• Bachelor's degree and three years of relevant experience or combination of education and relevant experience. Experience in quantitative discipline such as economic, finance, statistics, or engineering.
• Substantial experience with MS Office and analytical programs such as Python, R, or Stata.
• Excellent writing and analytical skills, particularly in conveying data-driven insights.
• Ability to prioritize workload.

In addition, preferred requirements include:

• Master’s degree or current enrollment in a relevant graduate program.
• 2+ years of experience with cleaning, merging, and reconciling messy, real-world datasets—especially from government or administrative sources (this includes coursework that specifically shows mastery of these skills).
• Familiarity with data governance and best practices in privacy, security, and compliance.
• Experience creating data documentation and technical guides for research or public dissemination.
• Proficiency with version control systems (e.g., Git/GitHub).
• Experience working independently and as part of a collaborative research team.
• Knowledge of childcare, early education, or labor market policy.
• Experience with data visualization libraries or tools such as Plotly, ggplot2, matplotlib, or R Shiny.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

This is a fixed-term position with an end date of one year from date of hire, with possibilities for extension depending on funding and work performance. Candidates must be eligible to work in the US. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. May be required to work non-standard, extended or weekend hours in support of research work.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

Sitting in place at computer for long periods of time with extensive keyboarding/dexterity. Occasionally use a telephone. Rarely writing by hand.

Successful candidates will be required to complete a background check prior to working at Stanford University. This role is open to candidates anywhere in the United States. Stanford University has five Regional Pay Structures. The compensation for this position will be based on the location of the successful candidate. The expected pay range for this position is $75,752 - $95,000 per annum. Stanford University provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what the university reasonably expects to pay for a position. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal equity, geographic location and external market pay for comparable jobs. At Stanford University, base pay represents only one aspect of the comprehensive rewards package. The Cardinal at Work website (https://cardinalatwork.stanford.edu/) provides detailed information on Stanford’s extensive range of benefits and rewards offered to employees. Specifics about the rewards package for this position may be discussed during the hiring process.