Senior Research Specialist/Michigan State Lead

About BDI

The Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI) is a non-partisan research initiative that tracks and mitigates political violence in the United States. BDI supports efforts to grow and build local community resilience through elections and other periods of heightened risk, laying the groundwork for longer-term to bridge the divides we face as a nation. We do this by 1) producing action-oriented and responsive research to fill existing gaps and empower local leaders; 2) enabling cross-sector collaboration, so individuals and organizations are better prepared to mitigate risk and respond to crisis when it does arise; and 3) helping to drive the policy and community response.

Position Overview

BDI’s strategy consists of three core objectives, one of which is: Creating Space for Cross-Sector Collaboration. This portfolio includes projects that focus on Convening Within and Between Sectors, Facilitating Early Action and Response, and Concierge Support to State-Level Violence Mitigation. BDI seeks a Senior Research Specialist/State Lead in Michigan to work in and across all of these projects. This role focuses on the monitoring of political violence, the development of local/state-based partnerships and networks, and the support of state-based coalitions and coordination tables. This person will help to build out and further develop BDI’s state-based research and monitoring efforts.

Responsibilities

• Develop state-based research, monitoring, and analysis around incidents of political violence, actors involved, and its connection to broader trends in the state.
• Understand and communicate the social, political, economic, and other impacts of a given conflict.
• As appropriate, contextualize trends over time by including quantitative analysis of longitudinal data.
• Build BDI’s state-based partnerships and relationships with key stakeholders representing varying sectors including election protection, racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, faith-based, government, and others in order to provide monitoring and analysis support across the board and to better inform our research.
• Actively engage in state-based coordination tables and coalitions by actively providing monitoring support and analysis.
• Provide customized public and private briefings on state-level risks and trends upon request to key audiences and partners.
• Proactively work to build connections with organizations and groups with a focus on supporting and resourcing communities that are particularly vulnerable to incidents of political violence and harm.
• Work closely with the broader BDI team and connect state-level work with national efforts to mitigate risk of political violence.

Qualifications

• Must live in the state of Michigan, or in a state adjacent to Michigan, and have significant state-specific knowledge, networks, and experience in Michigan.
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a related field.
• 5-7+ years of experience in research, policy, community engagement, or related role.
• Research experience focused on the U.S. political violence landscape, especially in identifying relevant early warning indicators.
• Interest in and commitment to supporting civil society efforts to address political violence in the U.S., including work with partner organizations across diverse political affiliations, geographies, and sectors.
• Ability to think strategically and creatively around quantitative and qualitative data, including identifying new/emerging trends, gaps, and alternative analysis methods.
• Excellent writing abilities, especially past experience writing policy-focused memos, recommendations, or reports.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills, and the ability to engage with a multidisciplinary team and collaborators, including a wide array of partners from diverse backgrounds and in a remote work setting.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, including proactivity and agility in response to potential early warning indicators.
• Familiarity with a variety of social media platforms while being able to evaluate source credibility.