Careers
JBA is a small business that delivers big results. Driven by a shared passion for improving the lives of others, staff collaborate on an array of challenging projects with local and national significance.
We offer a comprehensive and generous benefits package that includes excellent health care coverage, a 401(k) plan with an above-average company match, and reliable profit sharing. Bonuses are awarded annually for exceptional performance.
Various federal agencies with whom we contract require that staff successfully undergo a background investigation or security clearance as a condition of working on the project. If you are assigned to such a project, you will be required to obtain the requisite security clearance. As a condition of employment, all JBA employees—including those working remotely—must be fully vaccinated (as defined by current CDC guidance) against COVID-19.
An affirmative action, equal opportunity employer, we value and actively seek diversity in the workforce. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected status under applicable law. We are committed to excellence and inclusion in our work and in our practice, and we encourage individuals of diverse backgrounds with multidisciplinary experience to apply.
Senior Research Associate, Child and Family Development
We are seeking a full-time senior research associate to join our Child and Family Development practice area. We are looking for an individual to build evaluation capacity and support evaluations of family strengthening and early childhood health and development programs using an equity approach. The ideal candidate would also be able to provide expertise in the application of equity principles and approaches in early childhood research, evaluation, policy, and practice.
This position may be located in our Arlington, VA, office or in another location by telecommuting. The salary range for this position is $85,000 to $110,000, based on experience.
Responsibilities
- Lead evaluation and technical assistance (TA) projects or tasks, which includes overseeing staff responsibilities, monitoring budgets, and coordinating completion of deliverables and tasks
- Collaborate on teams, supporting a cohesive, team-oriented culture and promoting communication and integration among team members to ensure diverse perspectives are represented
- Author technical memos, TA tools, issue briefs, webinar presentations, reports, and journal manuscripts
- Design and conduct research and evaluation studies for state, federal, and private-sector projects in collaboration with external partners
- Provide culturally sensitive evaluation TA to early childhood programs, particularly programs that engage groups marginalized by systemic inequities
- Apply rigorous analytic thinking to the collection and interpretation of qualitative and quantitative data, including equity-informed data disaggregation
- Translate complex, technical behavioral and social sciences research for end users with non-technical backgrounds
- Present findings to diverse audiences, including program participants and staff, researchers, policy partners, and funders
- Contribute to business development activities, including conceptualizing and writing responses to requests for proposals
- Occasional travel for site visits, client meetings, and conferences
Required Qualifications
- Effective written and oral communication skills
- Ability to work effectively as an individual as well as part of a team
- Strong organizational skills and high level of attention to detail
- Ability to multi-task effectively and produce high-quality work under time constraints
- Demonstrated expertise in applying equity principles and approaches in early childhood research, evaluation, policy, and/or practice
- Experience in developing and implementing design, sampling, and analytic plans for early childhood studies (early childhood systems, home visiting, two-generation programs), including use of qualitative and quantitative analytic methods and development of products to disseminate findings
- Experience managing projects and/or tasks (e.g., data collection, community engagement), including staff supervision, coordinating timely completion of project activities, budget management, and report writing
- Business development experience, including proposal writing and budget development
Preferred Qualifications
- Ph.D. with 5+ years of experience or master’s degree with 7+ years of experience in education, public health, behavioral or social sciences, and program evaluation with proficiency in research methodology and evaluation design
- Demonstrated experience providing individual and group TA to early childhood programs to build their capacity to conduct evaluation, performance measurement, and continuous quality improvement activities
- Experience developing measurement tools for early childhood research
- Experience working directly with people from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds
Email cover letter and resume.
Senior Research Associate, Child Welfare
We are seeking a full-time senior research associate to join our Child Welfare practice area. We are looking for an individual with the ability to support the evaluations of various federal child welfare projects and provide expertise in the application of equity principles and approaches in human services research, evaluation, policy, and practice.
This position may be located in our Arlington, VA, office or in another location by telecommuting. Some travel is required when safety permits given the COVID-19 pandemic . The salary range for this position is $90,000 to $110,000, based on experience.
Responsibilities
- Lead and participate on teams, drawing on experience, analytic skills, and technical knowledge
- Design and conduct research and evaluation for state, federal, and private-sector projects
- Advise senior staff on statistical and methodological issues
- Provide evaluation technical assistance (TA) to human services programs, particularly programs that engage groups marginalized by systemic inequities
- Apply rigorous analytic thinking to the collection and interpretation of quantitative data
- Translate complex, technical behavioral and social sciences research for end users with nontechnical backgrounds
- Author technical memos, TA tools, issue briefs, webinar presentations, sections of reports, and journal manuscripts
- Contribute to business development activities, including idea generation, and responding to requests for proposals (RFPs)
Required Qualifications
- Effective written and oral communication skills
- Ability to work effectively as an individual as well as part of a team
- Strong organizational skills and high level of attention to detail; flexibility to lead and manage multiple priorities, sometimes simultaneously, under deadlines
- Demonstrated expertise in applying equity principles and approaches in human services research, evaluation, policy, and/or practice
Preferred Qualifications
- Ph.D. with 5+ years of experience or master’s degree with 7+ years of experience in behavioral or social sciences and program evaluation with proficiency in research methodology and evaluation design
- Experience developing and implementing design, sampling, and analytic plans for effectiveness studies of human services programs
- Demonstrated experience providing individual and group TA to human service programs to build their evaluation capacity
- Experience with work that addresses inequities within the child welfare system
- Project and task management experience and report writing
Email cover letter with salary requirements, resume, and writing sample.
Research Associate, Tribal Evaluation
We are seeking a full-time research associate to join our Tribal Evaluation practice area. We are looking for an individual to support our research, evaluation, and technical assistance (TA) projects within American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. The ideal candidate has substantial experience with research and evaluation methods, is highly organized and detail oriented, can coordinate and support the development of written products, and is able to communicate effectively with diverse partners. We are seeking an individual who is proactive, able to problem solve, experienced with working in tribal communities, confident working independently as well as collaboratively with team members, and interested in professional growth.
This position may be located in our Arlington, VA, office or in another location by telecommuting. The salary range for this position is $60,000 to $80,000, based on experience.
Responsibilities
- Provide TA on program evaluation, performance measurement, data collection and reporting, and continuous quality improvement
- Serve as a liaison to tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations
- Develop and deliver TA webinars, trainings, and presentations
- Facilitate meetings with and engage AI/AN community partners
- Apply rigorous analytic thinking to the collection and interpretation of quantitative and qualitative data
- Work collaboratively on teams, supporting a cohesive, team-oriented culture and promoting communication and integration among team members
- Contribute to the development of reports, technical memos, TA tools, issue briefs, presentations, and journal manuscripts
- Translate complex, technical behavioral and social sciences research for practitioners and others with non-technical backgrounds
- Draw from Indigenous and Western evaluation frameworks to develop and implement culturally responsive evaluation approaches
- Use community engagement, action research and/or other strategies to implement studies in partnership with local communities
- Contribute to business development activities, including responding to requests for proposals (RFPs)
- Occasional travel for site visits, client meetings, and conferences
Required Qualifications
- Master’s degree in public health, child or human development, social work, family studies, anthropology, public policy, education, psychology, or related field
- At least 5 years of experience working collaboratively with tribal communities in an evaluation or research capacity
- Experience with community-based participatory research processes
- Knowledge of the diversity of Native communities and tribal sovereignty
- Experience developing and implementing research designs, data collection plans, and instruments, both qualitative and quantitative
- Experience with early childhood, public health, health services, child welfare, behavioral health, or substance use prevention in AI/AN communities
- Strong organizational and analytical skills
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Ability to collaborate and build strong working relationships with others, including working effectively as part of a team
- Flexibility to multi-task effectively and produce high-quality work under time constraints
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with performance measurement
- Experience with continuous quality improvement
- Experience with institutional review board (IRB) processes, including tribal research review boards
- Knowledge of human services data systems
- Knowledge of home visiting
Email cover letter, resume, and writing sample.
Qualitative Research Associate, Tribal Evaluation
We are seeking a full- or part-time qualitative research associate to join our Tribal Evaluation practice area. We are looking for an individual to support our research, evaluation, and technical assistance (TA) projects with American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. We are seeking an individual with experience in qualitative research methods who can support qualitative data collection, analysis, interpretation, and writing up of findings across multiple projects. The ideal candidate is proactive and collaborative but also confident working independently, able to problem solve, experienced working with tribal communities, and interested in professional growth.
This position may be located in our Arlington, VA, office or in another location by telecommuting. The salary range for this position is $60,000 to $80,000, based on experience.
Responsibilities
- Contribute to the development of mixed-methods study designs
- Develop qualitative interview and focus group protocols
- Participate in recruitment of study participants
- Conduct qualitative interviews and focus groups
- Collect and analyze qualitative data
- Use coding software
- Facilitate meetings and engagement sessions with AI/AN community partners
- Contribute to the development of reports, technical memos, TA tools, issue briefs, presentations, and journal manuscripts
- Present findings to diverse audiences, including program participants and staff, researchers, policy partners, and funders
- Work collaboratively on teams, supporting a cohesive, team-oriented culture and promoting communication and integration among team members
- Draw from Indigenous and Western evaluation frameworks to develop and implement culturally responsive research and evaluation approaches
- Use community engagement, action research, and/or other strategies to implement studies in partnership with local communities
- Contribute to business development activities, including responding to requests for proposals (RFPs)
- Occasional travel for site visits, client meetings, and conferences
Required Qualifications
- Minimum of a master’s degree in anthropology, sociology, public health, education, child or human development, family studies, psychology, social work, or related field
- At least 3 years of experience working collaboratively with tribal communities in an evaluation or research capacity
- Knowledge of qualitative research design and methods
- Experience conducting interviews and/or focus groups with AI/AN community members
- Experience analyzing qualitative data
- Experience using coding software
- Strong organizational and analytical skills
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Ability to collaborate and build strong working relationships with others, including working effectively as part of a team
- Flexibility to multi-task effectively and produce high-quality work under time constraints
Preferred Qualifications
- Knowledge of community-engaged research practices
- Experience with home visiting, early childhood, public health, health services, child welfare, behavioral health, or substance use prevention in AI/AN communities
- Familiarity with implementation science
- Experience developing IRB protocols
- Knowledge of mixed-methods study designs
Email cover letter with salary requirements and resume.
Desktop Publishing Assistant
We are seeking a full-time desktop publishing assistant to format and prepare documents, exhibits, and presentations in a fast-paced, team-oriented, client-driven environment. The ideal candidate has expert technical, creative, organizational, and communication skills (written and verbal); ability to prioritize and meet deadlines; ability and willingness to learn new technology and skills; a positive attitude; and attention to detail. Must be available to periodically work evenings and weekends.
This position may be located in our Arlington, VA, office or in another location by telecommuting. The salary range is $45,000 to $60,000, based on experience.
Responsibilities
- Format documents and presentations to ensure professional, visually appealing products
- Closely review and revise files during development and final production to ensure quality, consistency, and adherence to brand, client, and/or proposal specifications
- In Microsoft Word, create, modify, and apply templates; work with styles, other Word functions, and document elements (e.g., covers, tables of contents, headings, pictures, text boxes, links, sections, footnotes/endnotes, headers/footers, tracking); design new page layouts as needed
- In Microsoft PowerPoint, create, modify, and apply templates; design new slide layouts as needed
- In Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, create and format tables and charts that effectively visualize concepts and adhere to design and quality standards
- Search for stock photo options
- Place photos, graphics, tables, and charts in appropriate sizes and formats
- In Adobe Acrobat Pro, compile files in various formats into PDFs with footers and bookmarks for navigation
- Collaborate with staff to understand formatting needs and deliver solutions and guidance
- Resolve most technical issues independently and provide troubleshooting for staff (Microsoft Office programs and Adobe Acrobat Pro)
- Occasionally print, assemble, and package documents, in coordination with other staff as needed
- Perform other duties as assigned to support communications and project staff
Required Qualifications
- 3+ years of demonstrated expertise in complex document production as described above using Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel and Adobe Acrobat Pro
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience and interest in graphic design using programs such as InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Canva
- Experience in federal contracting, including proposal production
- Experience preparing and testing PDFs to meet Section 508 and WCAG 2.1 standards
- Relevant training and certifications such as Microsoft Office Specialist: Expert
- Bachelor’s degree
Email cover letter and resume.