Associate Research Scientist

Why join OCLC? 

OCLC is consistently recognized as a best place to work by several independent programs. We recognize and reward people and results with a comprehensive Total Rewards package. This means competitive compensation that reflects your unique contributions—performance, experience, and skills—along with exceptional benefits, including best-in-class health coverage, retirement plans with generous company contributions, and a commitment to your overall well-being.

• We know the best ideas don’t always happen at a desk. Take a walking meeting around our 100-acre campus or enjoy lunch on the patio. We’re committed to your success—both personally and professionally. Hybrid work environment: For many roles, three days a week on-site, with occasional additional days based on business needs. 

• Free use of our on-site fitness center, gym sports, group exercise classes, and game room 

• Onsite catering and cafeteria subsidized by OCLC 

• Health and wellness events 

• Work environments with individual and team spaces and the latest technology tools 

• Paid parental leave and adoption assistance 

• Tuition reimbursement and Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility 

• Company-subsidized pricing on local tickets and memberships 

Join us in transforming how people everywhere access information and be part of a mission-driven team that makes a global impact. 

The job details are as follows:

We're growing our Research Insights team at OCLC Research, and we're looking for an associate research scientist to join us. You'll work alongside two senior research scientists and two data and software engineering professionals, contributing to projects that help libraries navigate technology transformation, changing institutional and organizational landscapes, and support research, teaching, and learning.

We're looking for an enthusiastic generalist: someone ready to dive into a range of qualitative, quantitative, and technical projects. You'll draw on large, complex datasets, often OCLC's own data, sometimes collected elsewhere, but you'll also conduct interviews, run surveys, synthesize literature, and help design studies from the ground up. You'll turn what you find into research that matters to library leaders and practitioners, and you'll share that work directly with the people who use it through blog posts, reports, and webinars.

This position is a great fit if you have demonstrated research experience across methods, a working knowledge of library work, and the curiosity and flexibility to pick up whatever skills a given project requires, including quantitative and technical skills.

Major Responsibilities

• Contribute to research projects across the full lifecycle, from framing questions and designing studies to collecting, analyzing, and communicating results

• Work with a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, matching the approach to the research question rather than a single toolkit

• Utilize generative AI tools to assist and augment the research process – in particular to create data preparation and analysis workflows that can be verified and repeated.

• Analyze datasets using Python, R, statistical tools, or qualitative analysis methods as the project requires, partnering with technical staff on data access and quality where needed

• Build your knowledge of library cataloging systems, metadata standards, and library work, and apply that knowledge to research design

• Explore how linked data and AI-enabled discovery and workflow tools are reshaping metadata and library operations

• Co-author blog posts, reports, and briefs that translate research findings for a library audience

• Represent OCLC in webinars and other external communications

• Bring new tools and methods to the team as you continue building your skills

Minimum Requirements

• A master's degree in a relevant field (library and information science, social science, data science, or related); a doctorate is not required but is encouraged

• Demonstrated experience across the research lifecycle, from ideation to completion

• Comfort with at least one area of research methods (qualitative, quantitative, or technical), and a genuine willingness to learn others

• Clear writing and communication skills, with the ability to make research accessible to a library audience

• The ability to work on-site in Dublin, Ohio, three days a week

Preferred — not required

• A working knowledge of library cataloging systems, library operations, or library work more broadly

• Comfort working with large datasets in Python, R, or similar tools

• Experience with relational databases

• Prior experience working in a library setting

• Interest in linked data, knowledge graphs, or AI-enabled discovery and workflow tools

• Experience writing for a professional, non-academic audience

• Experience presenting at webinars or conferences

Why OCLC Research

At OCLC Research, you'll join a team that connects research to practice for libraries worldwide. You'll have the support of an experienced team, access to OCLC's data and member library network, and the chance to shape work that helps library leaders make the case for the value they provide.

Work arrangement

This is a hybrid role based at OCLC headquarters in Dublin, Ohio, with three days on-site and two days remote each week.

Working Conditions: Normal office environment.

ADA/EAA: The above statements cover what are generally believed to be the principal and essential functions of this job. Specific circumstances may allow or require some people assigned to the job to perform a somewhat different combination of duties.