Research and Learning Scientist

About TalkingPoints
TalkingPoints is an award-winning education technology nonprofit on a mission to unlock every student’s potential by activating one of the most underutilized forces in education - families. We believe that when families and schools work together, students thrive - and we’re building the tools to make that partnership possible for every family.

Our platform helps schools reach and engage every family - including those historically underserved - through accessible, two-way communication in 150+ languages, along with data, insights, and supports that strengthen relationships and drive student success.

Today, millions of educators and families are using TalkingPoints in their classrooms, schools, and districts across the U.S. to build stronger partnerships and improve outcomes for students. Our work is grounded in research and has been shown to meaningfully impact attendance, learning, and more.

We partner with leading school districts nationwide and are supported by a strong community of philanthropic and strategic partners, including major foundations, technology leaders, and education organizations.

TalkingPoints is at an exciting stage of growth and impact. As we continue to expand our reach and deepen our impact, we’re looking for passionate, mission-driven team members who want to help schools and families succeed - together. Learn more at www.talkingpts.org.

The Opportunity

The Research and Learning Scientist drives rigorous, actionable research on how TalkingPoints improves student outcomes through family-school partnerships. They support R&D for our family learning products, making sure the home practices we promote match how children build literacy and numeracy skills. They also contribute to studies across our broader research agenda. Reporting to the Director of Research, they own projects from design to dissemination and work cross-functionally on a team that values rigor and rapid iteration.

You will:

• Drive research for our at-home learning and personalized recommendation products, and contribute to studies across the research agenda
• Support product R&D by applying learning science and behavior-change principles and testing whether features strengthen family practices and student learning
• Advise on AI-powered family recommendations, including which data signals to use, how they map to skills, where data is too thin to personalize, and how good the outputs are
• Design and run mixed methods studies from rapid-cycle, descriptive, and correlational analyses to quasi-experimental designs and randomized trials
• Manage, clean, and analyze quantitative and qualitative platform, partner, and public data (e.g., NCES, state systems)
• Develop and administer measures of family and educator outcomes linked to student outcomes
• Turn findings into impact stories and strategic recommendations for product, partnerships, and fundraising
• Represent our research with districts, funders, and external researchers, lead long-term district research partnerships, and informally mentor other researchers as needed

Who You Are

Required

• PhD in education, learning sciences, developmental or educational psychology, or a related field
• 8+ years of applied research experience, including product, R&D, and funder-facing work
• Learning science expertise in literacy and/or math, home learning, and families as learning partners
• Expertise in mixed methods, experimental and quasi-experimental design, and measure validation, with honest communication of tradeoffs
• A record of translating evidence for non-research audiences and delivering with little oversight
• Proficiency in R, working knowledge of SQL and/or Sigma, comfort using AI tools, and experience with public education datasets and PII

Nice to Haves

• Family engagement or attendance research expertise 
• Evaluating AI-powered or personalized recommendation tools
  

Overall fit with our org culture - we look for team members who are:

• User and Mission-Oriented: we are devoted to our mission with empathy towards the communities we serve.
• All-in Together: we go above and beyond the job description, working together as a team.
• Agile & Action-Oriented: we get things done, knowing that our progress is urgent to our communities.
• Always Learning: we are always learning, with a growth mindset, to reach our full potential.
• Boldly Courageous: we take risks in order to achieve big things.
• Resourceful: we are creative, solution-oriented, and scrappy.
  

What We Offer

• An incredible opportunity to build a mission-driven, rapidly growing startup tech nonprofit
• 401K match
• Flexibility to work remotely
• Fun, smart, dynamic, motivated team focused on working together to transform family engagement to serve the families who need it most
  
  

Compensation

The base salary range for this role is $120,000 – $130,000, commensurate with experience. The actual base compensation may vary depending on factors such as relevant experience, location, market conditions, education/training, and skill level. This range does not include bonuses, other forms of compensation, or benefits.

How to Apply

Please submit your resume, a brief paragraph describing your interest, and a link to your LinkedIn profile.

TalkingPoints is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace where all qualified individuals have an equal opportunity to contribute and succeed. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal laws, rules or regulations.