Principal Research Scientist - AI-Driven Workforce

Educational Testing Service, Inc.; Santa Fe (NM); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Educational Testing Service, Inc. is seeking a Principal Research Scientist to lead a research program on human capital development, workforce readiness, and economic mobility in an AI-enabled world.

The role advances how skills, credentials, and educational experiences drive attainment and labor market success. The successful candidate will guide a collaborative research team, develop evidence to inform educators, employers, and policymakers, and foster partnerships to fund high-impact research

Qualifications

• Expertise in researching educational attainment, workforce readiness, and human capital measurement.
• Familiarity with labor market dynamics, job analysis, and skill demands at national/regional levels.
• Knowledge of assessment development, validity, fairness, and evidence-centered design for complex skills.
• Experience with CBE/CTE, apprenticeships, credentialing, and skills-based hiring.

Responsibilities

• Lead and refine a multi-year research agenda on education-to-work readiness and workforce pathways.
• Advance measurement of readiness for education, work, and upward mobility in an AI-influenced economy.
• Investigate how skills, credentials, and experiences predict attainment, employment, and earnings growth.
• Develop and evaluate competency-based education (CBE) and CTE, and other workforce pathways.
• Design measures translating evidence into trusted readiness signals and predict outcomes.
• Lead research evaluating development and value of durable skills using quantitative and qualitative methods.
• Build portable measurement approaches aggregating evidence from multiple learning/work settings.
• Generate evidence on impact of skills, credentials, and assessments to modernize systems.

Skills

Educational attainment research

Workforce readiness

Human capital development

Education-to-work transitions

Economic mobility

AI in education/work

Research leadership

Education

Ph.D. or equivalent

Job description

Educational Testing Service, Inc. is seeking a Principal Research Scientist to lead a research program on human capital development, workforce readiness, and economic mobility in an AI-enabled world.

The role advances how skills, credentials, and educational experiences drive attainment and labor market success. The successful candidate will guide a collaborative research team, develop evidence to inform educators, employers, and policymakers, and foster partnerships to fund high-impact research