• Innovation Team Research Assistant

    City of Durham (Durham, NC)


    Innovation Team Research Assistant

     

    Print (https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/durhamnc/jobs/newprint/5107272)

     

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    Innovation Team Research Assistant

     

    Salary

     

    $16.00 - $22.95 Hourly

     

    Location

     

    Durham, NC

     

    Job Type

     

    Internship w/o benefits (Less than 1000 hours)

     

    Remote Employment

     

    Flexible/Hybrid

     

    Job Number

     

    25-05623

     

    Department

     

    Budget and Management Services

     

    Opening Date

     

    10/09/2025

     

    Closing Date

     

    10/23/2025 11:59 PM Eastern

     

    + Description

    + Questions

    Position Description

    Work, Serve, Thrive. With the City of Durham

     

    Advance in your career while making a real difference in the community you serve.

     

    Hiring Range: $16.00 - $22.95

     

    Hours: Flexible, approximately 10-12 hours per week with at least some hours in office at City Hall

     

    The Budget and Management Services Department works to solve Durham's biggest challenges. We are innovators, managing City resources like they're our own, guiding the City's future through strategic planning and encouraging a culture of innovation and continuous improvement through special projects, partnerships and trainings. If innovating to solve challenges drives you, too, join our team in Durham!

     

    The City of Durham’s Innovation Team manages the continuous improvement and innovation workplans for the City of Durham. Our process includes detailed exploration, ideation, testing, and analysis phases for each project we take on with a commitment to storytelling throughout. We are looking for a research assistant who can help execute these projects and summarize our work in reports, case studies, blog posts, and proposals for both technical and lay audiences.

    Duties/Responsibilities

    + Support ongoing continuous improvement and innovation projects through early stage research (literature review, existing data review), ideation, prototyping, and testing.

    + Assist with the compilation and writing of technical project reports.

    + Develop content, including case studies and infographics, for the I-Team’s webpage, targeted at residents and non-technical audiences.

     

    Minimum Qualifications & Experience

     

    + Must be a currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate student at an accredited university or college pursuing a degree in public policy, social science, communications, or other related field.

    + Experience writing for both technical and non-technical audiences.

     

    Additional Preferred Skills

     

    + Interest in the work of municipal innovation teams including process improvement, applied research and experiments, and storytelling.

    + Experience with communication design tools such as Canva.

    + Experience and interest in user experience design principles.

    + Minimal familiarity with blogs or website-hosting and publishing platforms such as Wordpress, CivicPlus, SharePoint, etc.

    + Experience conducting exploratory research.

    + Experience with d ata analysis or visualization.

     

    01

     

    Where did you first hear about this opportunity?

     

    + City of Durham Website

    + Walk in

    + Job fair

    + Employee referral

    + Professional organization ***Please list the organization in "other" box below***

    + Internet posting ***Please list the specific web site in the "other" box below***

    + Craig's List

    + Facebook

    + LinkedIn

    + GlassDoor

    + governmentjobs.com

    + Monster.com

    + Indeed.com

    + Employment Security Commission

    + Magazine/Newspaper

    + Other

     

    02

     

    If you listed "other" above please give specific web site, organization, or publication.

     

    03

     

    Please select your highest level of COMPLETED education.

     

    + Less than a High School Diploma or Equivalent (GED, HiSET, TASC)

    + High School Diploma or Equivalent (GED, HiSET, TASC)

    + Associates Degree

    + Bachelor's Degree

    + Master's Degree

    + Doctoral Degree (PhD, Juris Doctorate)

     

    04

     

    Are you currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at an accredited university or college pursuing a degree in public policy, social science, communications, or other related field?

     

    + Yes

    + No

     

    05

     

    Do you have experience conducting exploratory research (e.g., for literature reviews, academic papers, or applied research)?

     

    + Yes

    + No

     

    06

     

    Do you have experience writing for both technical and non-technical audiences?

     

    + Yes

    + No

     

    07

     

    Are you available to work in-person at City Hall at least one day per week?

     

    + Yes

    + No

     

    08

     

    Which of the following skills or tools do you have experience with? (Check all that apply):

     

    + Communication design tools {Canva, Adobe Creative Suite, etc.)

    + User experience (UX) design or research

    + Website platforms (WordPress, SharePoint, CivicPlus, etc.)

    + Process improvement or project management methodologies

    + Data analysis or visualization

    + None of the above

     

    09

     

    What interests you about municipal innovation work, and what relevant experience (if any) do you have with process improvement, research, design thinking, or visual communication? If no interest or experience, please put N/A.

    Required Question