Principal Research Scientist - AI-Driven Workforce

Educational Testing Service; Dover (DE); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

BRG programs for professional growth

Volunteer PTO

Job summary

Educational Testing Service (ETS) seeks a Principal Research Scientist to lead a strategic research program on human capital development, workforce readiness, and economic mobility in an AI-enabled economy. The role advances understanding of how skills, credentials, and assessments relate to educational attainment, labor market success, and opportunities for diverse learners and workers.

The successful candidate will direct multi-year research, collaborate with internal and external partners,

Qualifications

• Expertise in research on educational attainment and workforce readiness.
• Familiarity with labor market dynamics and data sources.
• Knowledge of educational and workforce assessment and measurement development.
• Experience with CBE/CTE and workforce development pathways.
• Strong quantitative research skills including longitudinal data and causal inference.
• Experience with large-scale education and labor datasets.
• Strong scholarly productivity and policy-relevant impact.
• Ability to communicate findings to diverse audiences.
• Experience securing grants/contracts with government, foundations, or industry.

Responsibilities

• Lead and refine a research agenda on academic and workforce readiness science.
• Advance the science of readiness for education, work, and upward mobility in an AI-enabled world.
• Investigate how skills and credentials predict educational and labor outcomes.
• Advance research across CBE and CTE and other pathways.
• Design and validate measures translating evidence into signals of readiness.
• Lead research evaluating development and economic value of durable skills.
• Build measurement approaches for portable evidence across settings.
• Generate evidence on impact of skills, credentials, and assessments.
• Study how AI reshapes skill demand and opportunity.
• Lead proposals, publications, and partnerships to support the agenda.
• Mentor junior staff and support a collaborative research culture.

Skills

Educational attainment research

Workforce readiness research

Human capital development

Economic mobility research

AI impact on skills demand

Quantitative research methods

Qualitative research methods

Policy communication

Education

Ph.D. or equivalent

10+ years postdoctoral or professional research

Job description

Educational Testing Service (ETS) seeks a Principal Research Scientist to lead a strategic research program on human capital development, workforce readiness, and economic mobility in an AI-enabled economy. The role advances understanding of how skills, credentials, and assessments relate to educational attainment, labor market success, and opportunities for diverse learners and workers.

The successful candidate will direct multi-year research, collaborate with internal and external partners,