Research Scientist: Assessment Content - Jobs in Toronto, ON

Job Description

Our Purpose:We are here to create a world served by exceptional professionals. Our product, Casper, helps higher education institutions to look beyond book smarts, seeing a clearer, more holistic view of applicants. It’s used by 265+ academic partners in Canada, the US, Australia (and growing!) with 150,000+ applicants taking the test each year, and covers 80% of all US medical school applicants. We also host the Admissions Summit, an annual 2-day conference, and power the Alo Grant, an annual $100,000 research fund.The roleAre you interested in engaging in diverse and innovative research in the field of assessment and admissions We are looking for a content specialist to help revise our existing assessments as well as build new ones. . You will have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on academic admissions by helping our partners select the best applicants for their professional programs. You will work closely with our content and rating teams and engage in all stages of research and development. Specifically, you will be involved in developing and reviewing all assessment products. This includes participating in collaborative working groups, interacting with our psychometricians and external team, advising on content creation principles and processes, measuring and improving upon efficacy and reliability of test content etc.. You will be involved in company-wide initiatives related to equity.You will be a member of the Internal Research Team (as part of the Altus Research function) and report to the Director of Research.Within 1 Month, You Will:

• Onboard and transition! We will work hard to make sure you feel supported and well-prepared to take on your new role
• Learn more about the research approach we have at Altus and all the different research we have done, this is a lot of reading, but don’t worry we love to sit down and nerd out with you discussing it!
• Spend time with the team and learn about our different approaches! The research team at Altus is made up of people with diverse backgrounds and experiences and that means we each bring our own lens and perspective to problems and ideas.
• Observe and contribute in our team meetings - from a content perspective! In the Monday team meeting we are tactical and make sure we are on task and focused during our Wednesday “Deep Dive” sessions we dig into bigger issues, brainstorming, problem-solving and overall having fun! Your focus on content as well as your unique lens will only make these conversations better and richer!
• Help out with blueprinting (both “content” and “project” blueprints) which establishes how our assessments will be delivered in practice and map out validity plans.
• Start to set your short, medium, and long-term goals for content research!

Within 3 Months, You Will:

• Establish yourself as a key member of the team, supporting others in their development of questions and asking questions that push the team further in our thinking
• Work closely with the Internal & Growth members of our research team to establish ownership of areas that are going to drive better assessments and better processes.
• Work closely with the Operations Team to support their content needs and define key tasks so ownership and responsibility are well established.
• Help the research team co-construct our medium and long term goals, ask questions that could push us to 10x growth - for both internal and external-facing projects
• Put your hand up when you’ve got an idea, question or something that can help make our team and our process better - including existing and new systems that are in place to make the research team more efficient: within the department, as we interact with the larger Altus team, and outward-facing.
• Develop your own WIGs for the next quarter aligned with the company, team, and personal objectives.
• Complete your key content-related objectives and have a plan in place to execute your vision of content research at Altus (qualitative and quantitative)
• Identify areas of potential Intellectual Property for Altus with the operations team as you refine and develop the content process.
• Define areas of growth for you as a Content Researcher that the team or your manager can help support you with.

Within 12 Months, You Will:

• Be an in-house expert on our tests content and their theoretical underpinnings across applications (verticals, levels, languages, etc.)
• Work with operations to develop an external content handbook, showcasing our R&D in an evidence-based manner while being cautious of IP
• Be able to lead the blueprinting process for existing programs and for those identified in our Growth areas
• Work with marketing to develop materials relevant to content for external dissemination (one-pagers, visual abstracts based on outcomes you have discovered)
• Expand your leadership skills - educate our Research and Larger Altus team about how the research you are doing is making our assessments better, more defensible and sustainable.
• Challenge the status quo of “how it’s always been done”. Answer the question “What would make our content 10x better” or “What is it that we don’t feel comfortable with about our process” and come up with a plan to get there

RequirementsRole Requirements:

• Masters or Doctoral degree in Education, Psychology, or related field
• Familiarity with measurement theory (e.g., reliability and validity), and test development principles
• Comfort with ambiguity, experimenting with new methods and challenging the status quo
• Excellent collaboration skills, and the ability to integrate multiple perspectives and ways of knowing to make decisions
• Ability to manage multiple projects at once
• Strong presentation skills for both an academic and lay audience.
• Bonus:
  • Experience using psychometric data to make operational and corporate decisions
  • Knowledge of diversity and equity work in assessments and research
  • Bilingual (French/English)

What we expect from a Mission, Values, & Culture perspective:

• Able to live our core values of Caring, Curious, and Driven to help us attain our goal of creating a world full of exceptional professionals
• We need someone who is a self-starter, highly curious about how the business works, and able to help us focus where it counts
• Great written and oral communication skills
• Has loosely held, strong opinions - knows why they want what they want, but is also abundantly humble, can be wrong, and wants to seek out the best solution, no matter the source
• Interested in being part of an amazing, caring team, and wants to build a sustainable, high growth business
• Ability to thrive in fast-paced environments and prefers change over status-quo
• Nurturing and empathetic with a professional, positive attitude and a sense of humility

Our hiring process:Our hiring process optimizes for a positive candidate experience. The general hiring process looks like the following:

• Introductory phone screen: A member of our People & Culture team will review your application and if selected, schedule a phone call to get to know you better and tell you more about the role and company.
• If you pass the phone screen, you’ll have a video chat with our Director of Research, Gill to discuss your experience in more depth.
• Remote team interview: Once you pass the first phone screen, we will schedule a remote team interview, where you will virtually meet with 4-6 members of our team to assess your technical skills, values fit, and cultural add. You may also be asked to complete a short task that closely mirrors some aspects of the role. The remote interview takes about 2-3 hours.
• Reference Checks: Well ask for 2-3 professional references to chat about your time working together.
• Final Decision: The hiring manager will consolidate all of the feedback and let you know of their decision (there may be a quick additional call at this stage to help us make a decision)
• Offer: If you are our perfect match, and were yours, an official offer will be made!

BenefitsMore about the Altus Assessments team:We’re a quirky, vibrant, and diverse group of 120+ working collaboratively to tackle some tough problems (like how to evaluate empathy in someone who wants to train to become a doctor), and some less tough ones (like how to answer that bonus question on Trivia Night).Our core values are caring, curious, and driven, and we embody these in everything that we do. We genuinely care about the well-being of others, we possess an innate desire to continually learn, and every day we strive to be better than the person we were the day before. To learn more, visit us at www.altusassessments.comPlease note that during the Covid-19 precautions, our team has transitioned to remote work-from-home. Though we expect this to be the case for the next 9-12 months, we are consistently and transparently adapting as we receive more information from the experts.The perks:

• Bi-weekly virtual team lunches: This (typically in-office) ritual is being supported by UberEats coupons provided by Altus so that you have something to eat at home while we connect over video calls
• $3,000 annual personal and professional development budget
• Generous self-directed vacation policy
• Comprehensive health, dental, and life insurance coverage
• RRSP matching program
• Parental leave benefits
• Team building and social events

Altus is proud to be a diverse and equal opportunity employer and as such does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, national origins, age, sexual orientation, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws. Selection decisions are solely based on job-related factors. Special accommodations for candidates with disabilities can be made during the interview process if requested.Quick Apply

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