Labor Categories by Description

Labor Category Description1 Experience and Education
Senior Officer Responsible for staff assignments and overall performance review, assuring adequate resources, and oversight of quality work across a broad range of projects. Typically, a Director of a Westat Study Area or Department. 20 years of successful management and leadership of large and complex projects. College degree is a minimum requirement, but advanced degrees are common.
Officer Typically an Associate Director of a Westat Study Area or Department. Also includes very senior technical staff. 15 years of successful management and leadership or technical direction of large and complex projects. College degree is a minimum requirement, but advanced degrees are common.
Senior Manager – Level 1 Senior-level manager or technical staff with technical or managerial oversight responsibilities for multiple projects. 15 years of successful management and leadership or technical direction of large and complex projects. College degree is a minimum requirement, but advanced degrees are common.
Senior Manager – Level 2 Senior-level manager or analyst with major responsibilities on a project. Skills may fall into survey design, operations analysis, information processing, research reports, etc. 10 years of successful management and leadership or technical direction of large and complex projects. College degree is a minimum requirement, but advanced degrees are common.
Manager Manager of a project or a major component of a larger project. Often uses a range of technical skills. 8 years of successful management and leadership or technical direction of large and complex projects. College degree is a minimum requirement, but advanced degrees are common.
Researcher – Level 1
Researcher – Level 2		 Usually a research analyst, survey developer, or systems staff member at Level 1 or Level 2. May provide senior editorial or graphics support. Frequently plays a major technical role. 5 years experience for Level 1 and 3 years experience for Level 2 in a technical role on projects of varying size and complexity. College degree is a minimum requirement, but advanced degrees are common. Master’s is equivalent to 2 years of experience and doctorate is equivalent to 5 years of experience.
Junior Researcher Provides skills similar to the Researcher Level 2 but less often in a major role. May provide editorial or graphics support. 2 years of experience in a project research role. College degree is a minimum requirement. Master’s is equivalent to 2 years of experience.
Senior Support Staff Sometimes referred to as a Research Assistant. Provides technical skills in support of project development and operations. College degree and 3 years of project support using relevant technical skills are required.
Support Staff – Level 1
Support Staff – Level 2
Support Staff – Level 3		 Three levels of Support Staff are frequently involved in survey operations and in supervising and conducting data preparation and editing. High school degree required.
Level 1 – 2 years of experience.
Level 2 – 1 year of experience.
Level 3 – No prior experience required.
Secretarial Administrative Staff Administrative and secretarial staff skilled in a wide range of word processing and other skills, such as Excel, PowerPoint, Word, scheduling, as well as administration. High school degree required.
Field Supervisor
Field Interviewer		 Staff involved in the supervision and conduct of data collection activities. Field Supervisor position requires some prior supervisory experience. High school degree required, but 2 years of successful interviewer or related experience may substitute for the high school degree.

Field Interviewer does not require prior experience. The ability to successfully perform the tasks required according to specifications after training is the only requirement; no educational achievement is required.
Telephone Center Supervisor
Telephone Center Interviewer		 Provides quality control and support for the telephone interviewing staff.
Conducts interviews by telephone with participants in research studies.		 High school degree required, but college degrees are common.
High school degree required, but college degrees are common.

For both positions, the ability to successfully perform the required tasks after training is the only experience requirement.


1 These are typical descriptions for each category; some variation exists by skill and specialty. The level of each category is not simply tied to degree and skill but also reflects the amount and type of relevant experience, levels of responsibility, and demonstrated achievement for which there is no simple metric. For each proposal, as required by the Request for Quote, staff resumes are provided.