Director of Research

Are you passionate about empowering underserved communities and making a lasting impact? If so, we have an electrifying opportunity for you!

Our NYC-based client is a bilingual education platform that introduces children to the joy of being a polyglot, enables families to stay connected with their heritage language, and empowers teachers and librarians to serve young learners with diverse linguistic backgrounds.

As a versatile platform, they are developing libraries of customized, curriculum-aligned content to support a range of learning objectives, including:

• Indigenous language preservation and revitalization
• Growth mindset and STEM success for children in language-minority communities
• Digital literacy and healthy media consumption habits for culturally and linguistically diverse families

Best-in-Class Benefits:

Our client values their employees’ time and efforts. Their competitive compensation of an OTE of $200K, including a $95-125K annually, commensurate with experience, education, and l benefits package, which enhances their commitment to your success, including:

• Comprehensive Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401K with employer contribution (even if the employee does not contribute)
• Flexible working location, remote-friendly (in the U.S.)
• Paid time off and sick days .

Plus, they work to maintain the best possible environment for their employees, where people can learn and grow with the company. They strive to provide a collaborative environment where everyone feels encouraged to contribute to their processes, decisions, planning, and culture.

To help our client enter the next growth phase, they seek an experienced researcher to join their team of like-minded changemakers. As a Director of Research, you will get to develop cutting-edge proposals that support Indigenous language revitalization, serve as Principal Investigator for one or more funded projects, and contribute to a growing portfolio of NIH-supported grants that address systemic barriers facing underserved populations. In particular, you will lead a community-based research project, working directly with an established group of Indigenous educators to develop and evaluate text-to-speech support tools and an accompanying library of children’s books with traditional food themes, authored, illustrated, and owned by community members. You will also take part in transitioning Indigenous language partnership projects to a nonprofit structure and mapping out the future of how Blossom can support the learning goals of Indigenous communities.

While our client is headquartered in NYC, this position can be remote within the United States.

To Thrive, You Also Should Have:

• PhD, MD, or comparable credentials in Indigenous studies, education, linguistics, computer science, or a similar field.
• Demonstrable experience serving as Principal Investigator or key personnel on funded grants
• Expertise in designing and implementing research protocols, mastery of quantitative and qualitative data collection methodologies, and familiarity with human subjects’ research considerations.
• Exceptional project management abilities, organizational and team management skills, clear-mindedness and focused discipline for navigating multiple competing priorities, extremely strong oral and written communication competence, and meticulous attention to detail.
• Proven experience working with Indigenous communities on projects that center community members’ knowledge, goals, and expertise. Ability to build relationships and engage groups.

Your Specific Responsibilities as the Director of Research Will Include:

• Be an integral member of our Grants and Research Team, carry out rigorous study protocols by the highest scientific standards, and ensure that research findings are translated into actionable insights for our Product and Engineering Team, Marketing and Sales Team, and other internal stakeholders.
• Secure funding for developing, piloting, and evaluating new products, apply our highly effective proposal development process to submit approximately 3 high-caliber proposals each year and serve as Principal Investigator on funded proposals you have developed.
• Build and maintain a robust network of pilot study partners to conduct research work in real-world settings.
• Continuously augment our evidence base and serve as a subject matter expert to disseminate our work through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, webinars, white papers, and case studies.
• Promote awareness of Indigenous language preservation through various channels, including social media, conferences, and community events.
• Advocate for the integration of Indigenous languages in educational curricula and technology.

More about our client:

On our client’s mobile app or website, a user selects a title from a growing library of children’s books, then chooses a first language and a target language, and sees the story come to life in dynamic blends of those two languages. Their unique pedagogy - Bi-Lingual Story Switching Method (BLSSM) - was developed under a research initiative funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to encourage parent-child conversations about important topics such as nutrition and exercise.

Ready to join the revolution?

If you’re ready to unleash your full potential and be a catalyst for change, we want to hear from you! Join our client on this exhilarating journey as they redefine what it means to make a difference. Apply now and embark on this transformative adventure together!

Our client is an equal opportunity employer that welcomes and encourages diversity in the workplace. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.