About Careertakes

👉 Important disclosure: Careertakes is a third-party recruiting platform supporting this hiring process. If selected, you will be employed directly by our client, Engineering (Applied Research & Development).

Applicants for this role may also receive access to additional matched opportunities through the Careertakes platform.

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Role Overview

Confidential Client is seeking an early-career Junior Program Evaluation Specialist to support program evaluation, evidence-building, and data-driven decision-making for research, development, test & evaluation (RDT&E) portfolios supporting homeland security missions. This is a remote position with occasional travel to client sites and evaluation locations.

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What You’ll Do

• Assist in developing evaluation plans that align with the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, DHS evaluation policies, and organizational priorities.
• Support creation of logic models, theories of change, and measurable performance metrics for RDT&E programs.
• Conduct foundational data collection and validation activities, including interviews, surveys, literature reviews, and document analysis.
• Perform entry-level qualitative and quantitative analyses under the supervision of senior evaluators.
• Prepare draft summaries, visualizations, and presentation-ready findings for internal review.
• Track evaluation tasks, timelines, and documentation across multiple concurrent projects.
• Ensure adherence to data governance, privacy, and information security requirements.
• Participate in learning agenda activities and help maintain evidence inventories.

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Qualifications

• Foundational knowledge of program evaluation, social science research methods, or performance measurement.
• Must be a U.S. citizen.
• Bachelors degree with 2–4 years of relevant experience, OR Masters degree with 0–2 years of relevant experience.
• Demonstrated ability to collect, organize, and validate data reliably.
• Interest in homeland security, science & technology, or applied research environments.
• Comfortable working with multidisciplinary teams and following established evaluation frameworks.
• Flexible and willing to learn which methods best answer specific evaluation questions.

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Preferred

• Practical experience via internships, coursework, or projects in evaluation, program assessment, or data analysis.
• Familiarity with Evidence Act principles, DHS mission areas, or federal RDT&E processes.

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Working Conditions

• This position is remote (TELECOMMUTE) with occasional travel to client and evaluation sites. Candidate should be able to travel as needed for on-site activities.
• Applicants must be eligible to work in the United States and meet any required security or access protocols for work supporting homeland security projects.

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Compensation & Benefits

• Salary range: $87,000 – $116,000 per year (range provided by Confidential Client; final offer depends on experience, education, and skills).
• Confidential Client provides a competitive benefits package; details will be shared during later-stage conversations.

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Why Join

• Work on mission-relevant problems that influence research-to-operations transitions.
• Collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams in an applied research and engineering environment.
• Ideal role for early-career professionals looking to build evaluation and evidence-generation skills in the public safety / homeland security space.

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Equal Opportunity & Hiring Transparency

Careertakes and our client are Equal Opportunity Employers committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. We prohibit discrimination or harassment of any kind.
To support a fair and efficient hiring process, AI tools may be used to assist with application review or resume screening. These tools do not replace human decision-making. Final hiring decisions are made by people.

If you have questions about how your data is used, please contact us directly.