Director, Qualitative Research & Insights | Research, Data, & Insights Team

About the role

The Director, Qualitative Research & Insights plays a crucial role in advancing Houston as a leading education city. This role is essential in driving the organization's mission to advance Houston as a leading education city through the production and strategic use of data, research, and evaluation.

Responsibilities

• Manage capacity (staff and contractors) to conduct recurring and ad hoc qualitative data analysis that maximizes Good Reason Houston’s impact and aligns with strategic and external affairs objectives.

• Lead planning and execution of a portfolio of research projects with a significant qualitative analysis component, including refining research questions, developing and codifying research methods, accessing and/or collecting data, analyzing data, surfacing insights, and creating visualizations, presentations, and reports on the research findings.

• Collaborate with the Director, Quantitative Research & Data on integration of qualitative and quantitative research and findings and creation of mixed methods studies.

• Ensure timely and accurate delivery of initial and final findings from research projects.

• Collaborate with cross-functional division leaders and team and external partners to develop appropriate research questions and data collection instruments, and coordinate research activities and dissemination.

• Build staff capacity to interpret and leverage data by developing and facilitating training and workshops, providing small group and individual coaching, and serving as a consultant to internal teams tackling research questions.

• Facilitate collaboration across communications, advancement, and client service teams to integrate qualitative insights into broader business strategies.

• Maintain expertise on relevant research topics and methods. Encourage innovation in qualitative methodologies, tools, and frameworks through continuous learning and knowledge-sharing.

• Surface insights from data analyses and create visualizations, presentations, memos, and reports that communicate key insights to various audiences.

• Present findings both internally and externally and ensure staff and partners are equipped to understand methodology and interpret findings.

• Collaborate with the leadership team to develop presentations that center data in support of key messages and organizational objectives.

• Manage development of deliverables (including reports, presentation slides, one-pagers, etc.) that center data in support of cross-departmental project goals and organizational key messages and objectives.

• Oversee district data relationships and data sharing agreements as well as requests for data from external partners and internal teams.

• Coordinate IRB and ensure documentation of informed consent with research participants. Lead ethics oversight.

• Create and maintain systems for organization of data inputs and final deliverables that streamline access and collaboration and ensure consistency, accuracy, and compliance with data sharing agreements and data privacy laws (e.g. FERPA).

• Serve as a liaison between Good Reason Houston and other local and national organizations focused on education research.

• Develop and maintain dashboards or databases to share frequently requested data from internal and external stakeholders.

• Lead and mentor a team of qualitative researchers, strategists, and analysts, fostering a culture of curiosity, collaboration, and methodological rigor.

• Provide clear guidance, coaching, and performance feedback to support the professional growth and career development of team members.

• Manage performance evaluations, career progression plans, and succession planning for key research talent.

• Manage resource allocation, workload balancing, and project assignments to optimize team efficiency and well-being.

• Support recruitment, onboarding, and ongoing training of researchers to strengthen the team’s capabilities and methodological range.

• Promote a positive, inclusive team culture that values diverse perspectives and approaches to insight generation.

Qualifications & Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field required, advanced degree preferred

• 5+ years of professional experience

• Expertise in an area of education policy required

• Prior experience independently leading qualitative research projects required, experience conducting quantitative and/or mixed methods research preferred

• Demonstrated experience organizing and leading interviews, focus groups, and community listening sessions with diverse populations and stakeholders

• Survey research experience a plus

• Demonstrated project management experience

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Demonstrated experience writing research reports and insights for diverse audiences a plus

• Advanced Microsoft Office skills, including Powerpoint skills

• Experience managing a team or playing leadership roles within project teams

• Deep experience working with qualitative data analysis software (e.g., NVivo, Dedoose, MaxQDA, ATLAS.ti)

• Some experience working with data visualization software (e.g., Tableau)

• Experience working in an organization or on a team that requires flexibility, a high degree of responsiveness, and comfort with ambiguity