Principal Research Scientist

About ETS:

ETS is a global education and talent solutions organization enabling lifelong learners worldwide to be future-ready. For more than 75 years, we've been advancing the science of measurement to build benchmarks for fair and valid skill assessment across cultures and borders. Our worldwide impact extends through our renowned assessments including TOEFL, TOEIC, GRE and Praxis tests, serving millions of learners in more than 200 countries and territories. Through strategic acquisitions, we've expanded our global capabilities: PSI strengthens our workforce assessment solutions, while Edusoft, Kira Talent, Pipplet, Vericant, and Wheebox enhance our educational technology and assessment platforms across critical markets worldwide.

Through ETS Research Institute and ETS Solutions, we're partnering with educational institutions, governments, and organizations globally to promote skill proficiency, empower upward mobility, and unlock opportunities for everyone, everywhere. With offices and partners across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas, we deliver nearly 50 million tests annually. Join us in our journey of measuring progress to power human progress worldwide.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The ETS Research Institute invites applications for a Principal Research Scientist position to lead and contribute to a research agenda focused on human capital development, workforce readiness, and economic mobility in an AI-enabled world. We seek scholars whose research advances understanding of how skills, competencies, and other forms of human capital are developed, measured, and rewarded, and how they influence educational attainment, labor market success, and economic mobility in an economy increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. Particular areas of interest include (1) understanding and measuring the skills and capabilities that drive success in education and labor markets, including how advances in AI are reshaping skill demand, workforce readiness, and pathways to opportunity, and (2) generating evidence on the effectiveness of educational and workforce development pathways, including competency-based education (CBE), career and technical education (CTE), and other approaches designed to promote skill acquisition, employment, earnings growth, and long-term economic mobility.

The successful candidate will join a collaborative team of researchers developing innovative frameworks, assessments, and evidence to better understand how human capabilities contribute to individual, educational, and labor market outcomes. This work seeks to inform educators, employers, policymakers, and workforce leaders as they navigate a rapidly changing economy and create pathways to opportunity for diverse learners and workers.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead and refine a research agenda on academic and workforce readiness science and the expansion of workforce pathways, setting priorities and directing a multi-year program of work.

• Advance the science of readiness for education, work, and upward mobility - examining how skills and other forms of human capital shape educational attainment, labor market success, productivity, earnings growth, and economic mobility in an economy increasingly influenced by AI.

• Investigate how skills, competencies, credentials, and educational experiences predict educational attainment, employment, earnings growth, productivity, workforce participation, and economic mobility.

• Advance research and measurement across competency-based education (CBE) and career and technical education (CTE), and other workforce development pathways, studying how skills are acquired, recognized, rewarded, and translated into educational and labor market opportunities.

• Design and validate measures and indicators that translate evidence of human capabilities into trusted signals of readiness and investigate how those signals predict educational attainment, workforce participation, productivity, earnings, and career advancement.

• Design and lead research evaluating the development, measurement, and economic value of academic, occupational, and durable skills using quantitative, qualitative, experimental, quasi-experimental, or mixed methods approaches.

• Build measurement approaches for recognizing and combining evidence of skills gained across multiple learning and work settings into trustworthy, portable forms.

• Generate evidence on the educational, workforce, and societal impact of skills, credentials, and assessments, and identify opportunities to modernize assessment systems in support of workforce development, economic opportunity, and social mobility.

• Study how technological changes, including advances in artificial intelligence, are reshaping skill demand, workforce readiness, learning pathways, and opportunities for economic advancement.

• Lead proposals, publications, convenings, and partnerships with internal and external collaborators to support and fund the research agenda.

• Mentor junior staff, postdoctoral fellows, and interns, and support a collaborative research culture.

Preferred candidate possesses several of the following qualifications:

• Expertise in research on educational attainment, workforce readiness, human capital development, education-to-work transitions, economic mobility, or human capability assessment.

• Familiarity with labor market dynamics, workforce trends, job analysis, skill demands, occupational change, and related research and data sources, at the national, regional, or international level.

• Knowledge of educational and workforce assessment, including measurement development, evaluation, validation, fairness, and evidence-centered design and the assessment of complex or durable skills.

• Experience with competency-based education (CBE), career and technical education (CTE), , apprenticeships, recognition of prior learning, credentialing, skills-based hiring, or workforce development pathways.

• Strong quantitative research skills, including experience with longitudinal data, predictive modeling, causal inference, quasi-experimental methods, program evaluation, multilevel modeling, or linked education and workforce datasets.

• Experience working with administrative, survey, labor market, educational, or large-scale assessment datasets to investigate skill development and educational or workforce outcomes.

• Strong record of scholarly and applied research productivity, demonstrated through peer-reviewed publications, technical reports, frameworks, policy-oriented research, or other influential contributions.

• Ability to communicate research findings effectively to scholarly, policy, employer, practitioner, and public audiences.

• Experience building partnerships and securing grants/contracts with government agencies, foundations, educational institutions, employers, workforce organizations, or international organizations

EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE:

• A Ph.D. or equivalent in Labor Economics, Economics, Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Education Policy, Higher Education, Human Development, Public Policy, Assessment and Measurement, or a closely related field is required.

• For appointment at the Principal Scientist level, substantial (typically 10+ years) postdoctoral or professional research experience relevant to human capital development, workforce readiness, workforce pathways, labor market outcomes, educational and workforce assessment, CBE/CTE, or skills measurement, including demonstrated record of research leadership, external funding, and partnership development. Rank and years of experience will be commensurate with the level of appointment.

ETS is mission driven and action oriented

• We are passionate about hiring innovative thinkers who believe in the promise of education and lifelong learning.
• We are energized by cultivating growth, innovation, and continuous transformation for the next generation of rising professionals as leaders. Â In support of this ETS offers multiple Business Resource Groups (BRG) for you to learn and advance your career growth!
• As a not-for-profit organization we will encourage you to lean in to your passion for volunteering. Â At ETS you may qualify for up to an additional 8 hours of PTO for volunteer work on causes that are important to you!
• The base salary range advertised represents the low and high end of the anticipated salary range for this position. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. The base pay is only one aspect of the Total Rewards Package that will be offered to the successful candidate.

ETS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by law. We believe in creating a work environment where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity.