[URBANTH-L]ROC Research Coordinator Job Opening

Linta Varghese livarghese at vassar.edu
Sun Jan 25 21:58:02 EST 2009


Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC-United) is seeking a  
Research Coordinator to support worker-led research on the restaurant  
industry, to be used to support policy campaigns to improve working  
conditions for restaurant workers. This position offers an unusual  
opportunity to join a dynamic team of workers and others organizing  
for improved working conditions in the nation's largest private sector  
industry.


Background: Founded initially after September 11th, 2001 by workers  
displaced from the World Trade Center tragedy, Restaurant  
Opportunities Centers United is a national restaurant workers'  
organization with affiliates in New York, Chicago, Detroit, New  
Orleans, Maine, and Miami, and soon to include even more. ROC engages  
in campaigns against high-profile exploitative restaurant companies  
while simultaneously promoting good employers and conducting research  
and policy work to lift conditions industry-wide. Each local ROC  
affiliate a worker-led membership organization conducting local  
restaurant industry research in a participatory manner, which serves  
as the basis for local policy efforts. At the national level, ROC- 
United is supporting this local research and compiling it into  
national findings, to serve as the basis for federal policy efforts.  
Our current federal policy campaign is a campaign to increase the  
minimum wage for tipped workers, currently $2.13 at the federal level.

The Position: The Research Coordinator will support local research  
efforts around the country and collapse them for national research.


Responsibilities will include:

    1. Supporting local research efforts: :

     *Collating and analyzing government data on local restaurant  
industry
     *Coordinating the input of surveys (500 for each affiliate) and  
analyzing the results
     *Coordinating the input of employer and worker interview data and  
analyzing the results
     *Coordinating the development of report outlines with each local  
affiliate
     *Coordinating the writing of the local affiliates' reports on  
their restaurant industry
     *Training the local affiliate to conduct future research

    2. Conducting national research:

     *Collating and analyzing government data on national restaurant  
industry
     *Collapsing survey data from around the country
     *Analyzing the economics of low-wage service industries, drawing  
on government data, academic research and industry trade press
     *Summarizing the state of economic reserach on the restaurant  
industry
     *Authoring research reports and policy papers

    3. Developing public education and media materials for campaigns
    4. Representing ROC at coalition meetings and community events,  
and taking the lead on one or more local New York campaigns
    5. Coordinating with external researchers that are collaborating  
with ROC
    6. Contributing to grant proposal writing, project reporting,  
newsletters and drafting of web materials

Qualifications: The candidate should have a master’s degree or higher  
in economics, industrial relations, sociology or public policy, and a  
very strong grounding in labor market policy and low-wage and  
immigrant worker rights. Additional qualifications are:


Required:

    1. Excellent analytic and research skills, including:

     *Experience manipulating and analyzing web-based labor market and  
industry data
     *Ability to implement a research agenda to help the development  
of new policy models or support existing campaigns
     *Knowledge of applied statistics and actual experience with  
primary data analysis using standard statistical software packages

    2. Excellent writing skills
    3. Ability to supervise and coordinate the work of others

Preferred, But Not Required:

    4.  Experience working with grassroots organizations
    5.  Fluency in another language
    6.  Experience conducting qualitative research and synthesizing  
multiple data types into a coherent analysis
    7. Strong oral communication skills and ability to make public  
presentations

The Research Coordinator will join a national team of three  
organizers, plus staff at each of the local affiliates, most of whom  
are former restaurant workers. The position starts immediately.


Salary: We offer a salary and benefits package competitive with those  
of other leading non-profit employers in New York City.


Applications: Please send (a) cover letter, (b) resume, (c) the names  
and telephone numbers of three references, and (d) three writing  
samples which illustrate ability to present empirical research and  
dissect public policy debates to: saru at rocunited.org, with "Research  
Coordinator job opening" in the subject line. Applications will be  
accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled.


Restaurant Opportunities Center is an equal opportunity, affirmative  
action employer and actively recruits people of color, women, persons  
with disabilities, and lesbians and gay men.







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