Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Youth Program Researcher

🎯 Role Definition

This role requires an experienced Youth Program Researcher to design and lead rigorous mixed-methods evaluations of youth-serving programs, measure outcomes, and translate evidence into program improvement recommendations. The ideal candidate will have a strong foundation in quantitative and qualitative research methods, experience managing data systems and surveys, demonstrated skills in stakeholder engagement and dissemination, and a commitment to culturally responsive, youth-centered practice.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Research Assistant / Research Associate (Youth focus)
Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Coordinator or Analyst
Youth Program Coordinator or Case Manager

Advancement To:

Senior Researcher / Evaluation Specialist
M&E Manager or Director of Evaluation
Director of Programs or Chief Program Officer
Policy Analyst / External Affairs Lead (youth policy)

Lateral Moves:

Data Analyst or Data Scientist (social sector)
Grant Writing / Fundraising Manager
Program Design & Implementation Lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead the design, implementation, and management of mixed-methods evaluations (quantitative, qualitative, and participatory) for youth programs, ensuring methodological rigor and alignment with program goals and funder requirements.
Develop comprehensive evaluation plans, logic models, theories of change, and measurable indicators that clearly articulate short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes for youth development initiatives.
Design, pilot, and manage youth-focused surveys, outcome measures, and assessment instruments, including sampling strategies, question design, and data quality control procedures.
Conduct complex quantitative analyses using statistical software (for example R, Stata, SPSS) to evaluate program effects, run regression models, propensity score matching, longitudinal analyses, and subgroup analyses.
Lead qualitative research activities including designing interview and focus group protocols, conducting key informant interviews and youth focus groups, training interviewers, and overseeing transcription and coding processes.
Synthesize quantitative and qualitative findings into cohesive mixed-methods reports that inform program improvement, policy decisions, and funder communications.
Create and maintain secure, well-organized data systems and databases (e.g., REDCap, SQL databases, Excel) that protect participant confidentiality and facilitate reproducible analyses.
Prepare clear, compelling written deliverables including evaluation briefs, final reports, policy memos, grant deliverables, and peer-reviewed publications that translate evidence into actionable recommendations for program teams and funders.
Develop and maintain interactive data dashboards and visualizations (e.g., Tableau, Power BI, ggplot) to make key metrics accessible to program staff, leadership, and external stakeholders for real-time decision-making.
Manage vendor relationships and oversee external consultants, evaluators, and research assistants, ensuring deliverables meet quality, timeline, and budget expectations.
Coordinate Institutional Review Board (IRB) or ethics review submissions and ensure adherence to human subjects protections, informed consent procedures, and trauma-informed practices when working with youth participants.
Design and execute recruitment and retention strategies for youth and caregiver participants, including outreach, consent/assent processes, incentives, and culturally appropriate engagement.
Lead cost-effectiveness or cost-benefit analyses and support economic evaluation components where appropriate to quantify program return on investment and inform scaling decisions.
Facilitate stakeholder engagement workshops, dissemination events, and community feedback sessions that center youth voice and ensure findings are accessible and actionable to practitioners, families, and partners.
Train program staff, partners, and youth researchers on evaluation methods, data collection protocols, ethics, and using data for continuous program improvement.
Monitor program-level performance indicators and develop regular monitoring dashboards, progress trackers, and data quality assurance processes to support ongoing implementation fidelity.
Translate evaluation findings into pragmatic recommendations and co-develop implementation plans with program teams to improve curricula, interventions, and service delivery for youth.
Respond to funder reporting requests and contribute to grant proposals by drafting evaluation sections, metrics, and methodologies that align with objectives and funding requirements.
Conduct literature reviews and environmental scans on youth development best practices, emerging evidence, and relevant policy trends to inform program design and evaluation questions.
Ensure analyses account for equity considerations by disaggregating data by race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and other demographic variables to identify disparate impacts and opportunities for targeted improvements.
Maintain version-controlled, reproducible analysis scripts and documentation (e.g., R Markdown, Jupyter, Git) to ensure transparency and enable replication of evaluation results.
Present findings to diverse audiences — program staff, executive leadership, funders, youth advisory boards, and community stakeholders — using clear storytelling and evidence-based recommendations.
Promote participatory and youth-centered research approaches by involving youth in study design, data collection, analysis, and dissemination to elevate youth voice and co-create solutions.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests from leadership and program teams and provide rapid analyses to inform operational decisions and grant deliverables.
Contribute to organizational data strategy and the development of an evaluation roadmap aligned with strategic priorities and funding cycles.
Collaborate with program managers and instructional designers to translate evaluation findings into revised curricula, service models, and staff training modules.
Participate in cross-functional planning meetings and agile-style project management activities to align research timelines with program implementation cycles and funding deadlines.
Support capacity-building initiatives across the organization by developing training materials, toolkits, and templates for consistent data collection and reporting.
Represent the organization at external convenings, research networks, and working groups focused on youth development, M&E best practices, and evidence-based programming.
Assist in maintaining and updating participant tracking systems and case management tools to ensure longitudinal follow-up and complete outcome measurement.
Pilot new data collection technologies and platforms (mobile surveys, SMS follow-ups, remote assessments) to increase reach and reduce participant burden without compromising data quality.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Mixed-methods research design: proven ability to design and integrate quantitative and qualitative approaches in complex program evaluations.
Advanced quantitative analysis: proficiency in R, Stata, or SPSS for statistical modeling, longitudinal analysis, and causal inference techniques.
Qualitative methods: experience conducting interviews and focus groups, coding (NVivo, Atlas.ti or manual coding), thematic analysis, and synthesizing qualitative data.
Survey design & sampling: expertise in instrument design, psychometrics, sampling strategies, and implementing large-scale surveys.
Data management & governance: experience with database systems (RedCap, SQL, Excel), data cleaning, secure storage, and FERPA/HIPAA-compliant handling of youth data.
Data visualization & reporting: ability to build dashboards and clear visualizations in Tableau, Power BI, or programmatic tools (ggplot2, matplotlib) for stakeholder consumption.
Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) frameworks: familiarity with logic models, theory of change, indicators, targets, and performance monitoring systems.
Reproducible analysis & documentation: working knowledge of version control (Git), reproducible notebooks (R Markdown/Jupyter), and clear code documentation.
Ethics & human subjects protection: experience preparing IRB applications, informed consent/assent processes, and trauma-informed research practices with minors.
Grant writing & reporting: track record contributing to evaluation sections of proposals and preparing funder-ready evaluation deliverables.

Soft Skills

Excellent written communication: ability to translate technical findings into clear, concise narratives and policy-relevant recommendations for diverse audiences.
Strong interpersonal skills: experience building trust with youth, families, community partners, and program staff; culturally responsive engagement.
Project management: track record managing multi-site evaluations, timelines, budgets, and cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality results on schedule.
Facilitation & training: comfortable leading workshops, focus groups, and staff trainings with both adult and youth participants.
Critical thinking & problem solving: capacity to design solutions for complex measurement challenges and adapt methods to real-world program constraints.
Stakeholder management: skill in synthesizing stakeholder needs, negotiating priorities, and translating feedback into actionable research questions.
Attention to detail: meticulous approach to data quality, documentation, and reporting accuracy.
Adaptability & initiative: ability to work in fast-paced, resource-constrained environments and to proactively identify opportunities for improvement.
Cultural humility: demonstrated commitment to equity, anti-bias practices, and centering youth lived experience in research design and interpretation.
Presentation & storytelling: strong oral presentation skills and comfort delivering findings to executive leadership, community groups, and funders.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field such as Sociology, Psychology, Public Health, Education, Social Work, or Statistics.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree or higher in Public Policy, Social Science Research, Evaluation, Education, Public Health, Sociology, Psychology, Statistics, or a closely related discipline.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Sociology
Psychology
Public Health
Education
Social Work
Public Policy
Statistics / Data Science
Youth Development / Child & Adolescent Studies

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–7 years of applied research, evaluation, or M&E experience with youth-serving programs, NGOs, government agencies, or academic research centers.

Preferred:

5+ years leading mixed-methods evaluations or research projects focused on youth outcomes, program improvement, or policy impact.
Demonstrated experience managing multi-site studies, interacting with IRBs, and producing funder-facing evaluation reports and peer-reviewed publications.
Experience working with marginalized youth populations, trauma-informed practice, and disaggregated equity analyses.