Protect our Land, Ascend with Us!

Ascension is seeking an Operations / Market Research Analyst to support IT research, benchmarking, market analysis, and operational research activities for a federal cybersecurity and infrastructure mission environment. This position supports the Government’s need for structured research and analysis related to IT products, services, processes, metrics, roles, best practices, and emerging technology trends.

This role is important because CISA leadership requires timely, objective, and well-documented research to inform technology strategies, operational decisions, roadmap planning, advisory discussions, written reports, and strategy document reviews. The requirement specifically calls for licensed access to research and advisory support covering the full spectrum of IT products, services, processes, metrics, and roles/functions, including trends such as cloud computing, mobility, infrastructure, cybersecurity, portfolio management, applications, and telecommunications.

Summary of Contractor Role

The Operations / Market Research Analyst will provide analytical support to help collect, organize, assess, and summarize technology research, market data, benchmark information, and operational insights. The ideal candidate will be a detail-oriented researcher with strong writing, data organization, and analytical skills, capable of translating complex IT and market information into clear findings, comparison summaries, briefing inputs, and decision-support materials.

The analyst will support research into technology trends, vendor/service models, IT operating practices, performance metrics, advisory topics, and strategy-related inputs. The role may also support preparation for advisory calls, workshops, written reports, and strategy document reviews. The SOW includes advisory calls, annual workshops, up to 12 written reports per executive research license holder, and review/comment on up to four strategy documents per year.

This role is best suited for someone who can work independently, manage multiple research requests, document sources clearly, compare alternatives objectively, and produce concise, accurate summaries for senior-level review. The candidate should be comfortable working in an ambiguous environment where priorities may shift based on leadership needs, emerging technologies, or customer-requested research topics.

Anticipated Day-to-Day Activities

• Conduct IT market research on technology products, services, platforms, vendors, processes, metrics, and government technology trends.
• Analyze research findings related to cloud computing, cybersecurity, infrastructure, mobility, telecommunications, applications, and portfolio management.
• Develop structured research summaries, comparison matrices, briefing inputs, and written findings.
• Support benchmarking and best-practice analysis to inform technology planning and operational decisions.
• Prepare draft inputs for research reports, advisory call summaries, workshop materials, and technology roadmap discussions.
• Review customer-provided strategies, plans, policies, or briefing materials and provide organized comments for senior review.
• Track research requests, status, assumptions, risks, sources, deadlines, and follow-up actions.
• Support data collection from online research sources, interviews, meetings, and subject matter expert discussions.
• Develop cost/market analysis inputs, performance metric trackers, and risk assessment matrices.
• Facilitate or support working sessions, Integrated Project Teams, and stakeholder meetings when needed.
• Document meeting notes, action items, decision points, and research priorities.
• Maintain organized files, templates, version history, and research repositories in Microsoft 365 or SharePoint.
• Ensure written products are clear, professional, source-supported, and suitable for Government review.