Senior Research Associate, Policy & Compensation

Overview: James Bell Associates (JBA) is a nationally recognized program evaluation and applied research firm specializing in evaluations of health and social service programs and capacity building technical assistance (TA). Its mission is to improve the lives of children, families, and communities through evaluation. JBA projects cross disciplines with an emphasis on child welfare, child and family development, tribal evaluation, and health care. Clients include federal, state, tribal, and local governments as well as universities, foundations, and nonprofits. JBA is seeking a full-time Senior Research Associate focused on workforce policy and compensation to support efforts to improve pay and build career pathways for the early childhood home visiting workforce. Candidates should have extensive experience in compensation design and public policy or financing analysis. Experience in home visiting, early care and education, childcare, or maternal and child health is strongly preferred, as is experience with large-scale federally funded projects. This is a remote position with some travel required. The salary range is from $85,000 to $100,000, dependent on experience. JBA offers a generous benefits package that includes health care coverage, a 401(K)-matching plan, and profit sharing. JBA seeks to create a workforce where all staff have opportunities to advance and thrive. We value a work culture with staff from all backgrounds, cultures, abilities, and experiences. JBA is an equal opportunity employer.

About the Role: The Senior Research Associate will lead our compensation and workforce policy activities for JBA’s home visiting workforce project. Responsibilities include developing recommended national compensation frameworks with salary floors and pay bands, linked to career advancement, and identifying policy and financing options that open funding streams for higher wages. This person will serve as the project team's in-house subject matter expert on workforce compensation, public financing, and policy, working with home visiting programs, state agencies, key national partners, and the funder. The role also connects pay and career advancement to research and quality improvement. This person will help programs test compensation and career pathway changes, measure their effects on retention and service quality, and plan to sustain what works.

Responsibilities: Compensation research and pay scale design

• Collect and analyze wage data for home visitors, supervisors, and related roles from national, state, and program sources (e.g., BLS, state wage surveys, MIECHV and model-specific workforce data).
• Benchmark home visitor pay against comparable roles in early childhood, nursing, social work, and community health.
• Develop recommended national compensation frameworks, including salary floors and pay bands, that account for cost of living, credentials, role, and experience.
• Build pay structures that reward career steps such as credentials, degrees, specialized training, and supervisory duties.
• Estimate the cost of proposed pay scales at program, state, and national levels, and model funding scenarios.
• Produce clear tools for programs and states: pay scale templates, cost calculators, and implementation guides. Policy and financing analysis
• Analyze federal, state, and local policies and finance approaches that raise home visitor pay, including Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program Funding, Medicaid financing, state general funds, wage supplements, and early childhood workforce initiatives.
• Compile examples of state and local policies, budget provisions, and financing mechanisms that have created or clarified pathways to fund higher pay and career ladders.
• Write policy briefs, issue papers, and recommendations for policymakers, funders, and program leaders.
• Track relevant policy and budget developments and advise the team on timing and opportunities. Research, quality improvement, and sustainability
• Support the design and implementation of small-scale tests of compensation and career pathway changes with partner programs
• Evaluate how pay and advancement changes affect home visitor recruitment, retention, and turnover, and in turn service quality and family outcomes.
• Help programs use research and data to decide which compensation strategies to adopt and spread.
• Develop sustainability and financing plans so effective pay and career initiatives last beyond pilot funding.
• Contribute research designs, evaluation plans, and narrative sections to grant proposals, including federal funding opportunities. Partnership, communication, and project support
• Engage home visitors, program leaders, model developers, and state agencies so recommendations reflect workforce experience.
• Present findings to internal teams, funders, and external audiences.
• Contribute to grant reports, deliverables, and work plans tied to funder requirements.
• Build the team's capacity on compensation and policy topics through training and resources.

Qualifications: Required

• Bachelor's degree in public policy, economics, labor relations, human resources, public administration, social work, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• At least five years of relevant experience in: compensation analysis, workforce policy, public finance, applied research or evaluation, or policy analysis, including demonstrated experience in compensation design and policy or financing analysis.
• Hands-on experience building pay scales, salary structures, or wage standards, including salary floors and pay bands.
• Experience analyzing public policy, budgets, or financing mechanisms.
• Strong quantitative skills, including cost modeling and labor market data analysis in Excel or similar tools.
• Experience with applied research or evaluation methods, such as survey design, quasi-experimental designs, or mixed methods.
• Clear, plain-language writing for policymakers, practitioners, and the public.
• Ability to manage several projects and deliverables on funder timelines. Preferred
• A Master’s degree, JD, or PhD, in public policy, economics, public administration, law, or a related field.
• Knowledge of home visiting, early childhood, maternal and child health, or the broader care workforce.
• Familiarity with home visiting funding streams such as MIECHV, Medicaid, Title V, TANF, and state early childhood funds.
• Experience studying workforce recruitment, retention, or turnover and their links to service quality and family outcomes.
• Experience writing or contributing to federal grant proposals, especially for HRSA or ACF.
• Experience with wage supplement, compensation parity, or workforce registry initiatives.
• Experience designing career ladders, competency frameworks, or registered apprenticeships.
• Experience working with state agencies, policymakers, or advocacy coalitions.
• Statistical software skills (R, Stata, SAS, or SPSS).
• Peer-reviewed publications or presentations at research or policy conferences.

How to Apply: To apply, submit a cover letter, resume, and relevant writing sample, to our hiring team at. A policy brief, compensation analysis, or similar work product is preferred. Applicants may redact confidential information.