NORC at the University of Chicago seeks a creative, energetic, and driven Project Coordinator to join the NORC Labs team and to help drive our most important innovation programs across NORC’s diverse offerings. NORC Labs utilizes the best ideas from NORC’s research and technology experts combined with a deep understanding of client needs and market trends to develop and incubate the most effective client solutions. The ideal candidate will enjoy a fast-paced and varied workday, and should have a passion for entrepreneurship, research innovation, project management, and communications.

This position will report to the Manager of NORC Labs and will work across the entire organization including all research administrative departments. The Project Coordinator is tasked with coordinating the day-to-day operations of NORC’s internal investment programs, supporting NORC’s internal hackathon, and supporting other special initiatives.

Come to work every day energized and ready to add value through hard/smart work, critical thinking, and creative insights. Join a cohesive and motivated team that likes to have fun while doing great work.

As a condition of employment, all NORC employees and contractors – including those working remotely - must be fully vaccinated (as defined by current CDC guidance) against COVID-19.

The Business Ventures and Innovation unit (BVI) brings together NORC Labs, the Office of Business Development (OBD), Health Care Strategy (HCS), and AmeriSpeak to launch new ventures and drive revenue growth. BVI is a startup within a well-established research organization, propelling innovation across the company and positioning NORC to grow and evolve strategically in the future. BVI leads NORC in its diversification strategy and can be best described as a fast-paced, professional services/consulting environment.

NORC Labs

As NORC’s innovation hub, NORC Labs collaborates with NORC’s research teams to create and launch cutting-edge data and analytics solutions, and guide the evolution of NORC’s existing services and offerings to meet the future needs of our clients. 

• Display intellectual curiosity, exceptional drive, pragmatism, and resourcefulness in a highly collaborative work culture
• Coordinate NORC’s corporate investment programs including supporting project teams and tracking and reporting on progress of investment projects
• Effectively manage projects and special initiatives including creating and adhering to timelines and budgets and producing high quality deliverables
• Communicate effectively with excellent written and verbal communication skills, as well as strong active listening and presentation skills including maintaining and developing content for NORC’s intranet
• Coordinate presentations, trainings, and events related to investment projects
• Collaborate closely with departments including Finance, IT, and Strategic Communications to support NORC’s investments programs
• Bring a passion for both socially-oriented and private sector entrepreneurship
• Initiate evaluation of processes with a willingness to challenge the status quo, propose improvements, and fill gaps
• Generate new ideas through research and synthesis of information from blogs, journals, magazines, newspapers, social media, online databases, and expert interviews
• Develop and implement an internal communication strategy leveraging NORC-specific channels to update staff on innovation opportunities and investment program results
• Coordinate and support key innovation focused company-wide events including NORC’s internal hackathon program and presentation sessions
• Some travel required for internal and external meetings, client engagements, team meetings etc. < 10%

• Bachelor’s degree

• At least 1 year of project coordination, project, or program management or related experience
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
• Strong time-management skills with ability to coordinate multiple simultaneous projects and tasks and to set and meet deadlines
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• Expertise with Microsoft Office, with expertise in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel
• Proficiency with content management processes and tools, SharePoint experience a plus
• Budget management experience a plus

NORC at the University of Chicago is an objective, non-partisan research institution that delivers reliable data and rigorous analysis to guide critical programmatic, business, and policy decisions. Since 1941, our teams have conducted groundbreaking studies, created and applied innovative methods and tools, and advanced principles of scientific integrity and collaboration. Today, government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world partner with us to transform increasingly complex information into useful knowledge.

For over 75 years, NORC has evolved in many ways, moving the needle with research methods, technical applications and groundbreaking research findings. But our tradition of excellence, passion for innovation, and commitment to collegiality have remained constant components of who we are as a brand, and who each of us is as a member of the NORC team. With world-class benefits, a business casual environment, and an emphasis on continuous learning, NORC is a place where people join for the stellar research and analysis work for which we’re known, and stay for the relationships they form with their colleagues who take pride in the impact their work is making on a global scale.

NORC is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer that values and actively seeks diversity in the workforce. NORC evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other legally- protected characteristics.