Join Our Team as a Research Assistant - Early Education Services at ICF

ICF is seeking a dedicated Research Assistant to support our projects within the Early Education Services Line of Business. At ICF, we conduct innovative technical assistance, research, and evaluation projects for Head Start, child care, and state programs. As a Research Assistant, you'll play a critical role in supporting research meetings, webinars, grant reviews, and trainings, contributing to high-quality products and services.

Why Join ICF

As a Research Assistant at ICF, you will have the chance to apply your academic knowledge, work on major projects, and interact with experts in the field. This is a full-time hybrid/remote position based at our Reston, VA office. The role requires eligibility to obtain a PIV credential.

Key Responsibilities

• Support federal grant reviews by providing technical assistance, recruiting reviewers, maintaining databases, and processing applications.
• Provide technical assistance to grantees, including support in using a grantee data management system and fulfilling data collection requirements for the grant.
• Assist in planning and implementing in-person and virtual meetings, including webinars.
• Manage meeting registrations, including online registration, data entry, badge production, and responsive communication with attendees.
• Support technical assistance webinars, develop training materials, and manage background system support for platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom.
• Assist with data collection for early childhood research projects, including focus groups and interviews with early childhood staff, parents, and children.
• Contribute to marketing efforts, such as logo development, promotional material creation, and database management.
• Send invitations, coordinate with speakers and advisory committees, and maintain databases and listservs.
• Schedule conference calls, take notes, prepare meeting summaries, and track action items.
• Prepare high-quality written and presentation-based deliverables for clients.
• Format, print, collate, package, and ship conference materials.
• Participate in business development activities, including editing resumes for proposals and coordinating proposal meetings.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in social sciences with a GPA of 3.0 or higher required.
• Strong interest in the Early Education field.
• 2+ years of demonstrated proficiency in MS Office Applications (Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel), Office 365, and Microsoft Teams.
• Experience and comfort communicating about complex technical issues via phone, email, meetings, webinars, and in-person presentations.
• Ability to travel occasionally for in-person meetings or site visits.

Preferred Skills

• Experience providing logistical and general project support, such as activity tracking and material formatting.
• Experience applying analytic skills in a working environment, including data merging, cleaning, and manipulation.
• Familiarity with meeting registration systems (CVENT, Zoom) and comfort learning new technology platforms.

Professional Skills

• Strong ability to prioritize and manage multiple activities simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent team player with the initiative to work independently.
• Exceptional attention to detail and ability to meet stringent deadlines.
• Superior customer service skills.
• Ability to exercise good judgment, discretion, tact, and diplomacy.
• Exceptional verbal, oral, interpersonal, and written communication skills.
• Ability to work with all levels of internal staff, as well as outside clients and vendors.

Working at ICF

ICF is a global advisory and technology services provider. Our team combines unmatched expertise with cutting-edge technology to help clients solve complex challenges, navigate change, and shape the future. We are committed to building an inclusive workplace that allows everyone to thrive. As an equal opportunity employer, we welcome applications regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability status, or military/veteran status.

Reasonable Accommodations: We provide reasonable accommodations for disabled veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those with sincerely held religious beliefs. To request an accommodation, please email