About the Position

Dexis is looking for a highly qualified Research Associate to support work with the Department of State’s (State) Bureau of Arms Control and Nonproliferation, Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction (ACN/CTR). Specifically, this role will support Dexis’ implementation of the CTR Metrics project, which assesses the performance and effectiveness of CTR programming, identifies cross-cutting lessons and trends, and provides evidence to inform programmatic and strategic decision-making. Evaluation tasks will primarily include analyzing available CTR program data and reports, conducting open-source research on partner countries’ performance in several threat reduction objectives, and contributing to major reports assessing CTR’s success in achieving its desired outcomes. The RA will actively participate in learning sessions and regular meetings with the client and support the project team in developing infographics and dashboards for CTR’s use. 

This role has an anticipated start date of Jan 2027 and is contingent upon award.

Responsibilities

• Support data collection efforts remotely through interviews, note-taking, surveys, and other data collection instruments. 
• With guidance from the project team, conduct qualitative research, literature reviews, and other desktop studies.  
• Support virtual key informant interviews (KIIs) as requested with a range of stakeholders, including Department of State staff, implementers of CTR programming, biological/chemical/nuclear/radiological security experts, and partner country officials in select countries abroad.  
• Clean, code, and manage large volumes of qualitative data. 
• Provide support for data visualization and analysis.  
• Draft reports, findings from evaluations, presentations and briefs, and other products. 
• Communicate results and programmatic updates to partners, clients, and other relevant stakeholders through check-in meetings, learning sessions, and other debriefs, as needed.  
• Provide additional support, including copy editing, preparation of deliverables, and other tasks as needed. 
• Manage electronic files and tracking systems to ensure compliance with Dexis policies and standard practices. 
• Help ensure compliance with Dexis processes, contractual requirements, and U.S. Government regulations. 
• Help identify and resolve common problems, escalating and tracking more complex issues to their resolution. 

Qualifications 

• Minimum BA in a relevant field (National Security, International Relations, International Development, etc.) plus one year of relevant work experience (including part-time work, if applicable).   
• Experience working on applied research and project monitoring and evaluation for donor-funded projects (experience with Department of State-funded projects highly desirable). 
• Understanding of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) principles (i.e. indicators, project evaluation, KIIs, 18 FAM 300, Managing for Results, etc.).  
• Familiarity with manual or software-based qualitative analysis techniques. 
• Familiarity with survey development and analysis. 
• Quantitative analysis capabilities, including developing findings from large amounts of data in Excel.  
• Strong writing and communication skills. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Master’s degree in a relevant field (National Security, International Relations, International Development, etc.) preferred.   
• Active Secret clearance.  
• Three years of professional experience. 
• Quantitative and qualitative research experience.  
• Experience with data visualization tools Familiarity with qualitative analysis software such as NVivo. 
• Familiarity with SurveyMonkey. 
• Familiarity with CTR Global Threat Reduction (GTR) programming and/or USG threat reduction programming. 
• Familiarity with chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) security or U.S. nuclear policy in general.  
• Project management experience, especially for U.S. Government (USG) – funded projects. 
• Business development experience, including bid management, technical writing, and recruiting.