Academic foundation
Russell completed Boston University’s Dual Degree Program, earning a BA in Psychology and a BS in Communication with a Public Relations specialization.
Russell N. Steiner, MA, PhD Candidate (ABD)
Principal Consultant · Psychometrics · People Analytics · AI-Enabled Decision Systems
Operating experience, measurement science, and applied research brought together to help organizations make clearer decisions with complex human, organizational, and behavioral data.
View ProfileRole Summary
Russell leads PrimeStata’s work across psychometrics, people analytics, applied research, and AI-enabled decision systems. His work combines I-O psychology, measurement science, data analysis, and operating experience to help organizations turn complex human, organizational, and behavioral data into defensible decisions.
His career combines four forms of applied judgment: operating experience from a high-growth startup environment, measurement expertise from psychometric and workforce assessment work, people analytics research in large-scale organizational data, and doctoral training focused on engagement, job attitudes, and validity.
Direct email:
russellsteiner@primestata.com
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Background & Training
Graduate training
He earned an MA in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from The University of Akron and is completing his PhD there as an ABD doctoral candidate. His graduate work has included teaching Introduction to Psychology and Industrial-Organizational Psychology as instructor of record.
Applied Experience
Startup operations & people systems
As an early UrbanStems hire and the company’s first New York market-launch employee, Russell later served as Senior People Operations Manager. He helped build and scale HR infrastructure across states, covering payroll, benefits, onboarding, recruiting, employee relations, and people systems.
He also built and managed a company-wide P&L before a formal finance and accounting team was in place, supporting a $1.5M investor bridge round during a critical growth stage.
People analytics research
As a People Analytics Intern with Google, he analyzed roughly five years of employee exit survey data spanning about 20,000 responses. The work used multivariate statistics, multilevel modeling, multinomial logistic regression, and factor analyses to surface patterns leaders could act on.
He presented findings within Google’s People Operations research environment, translating large-scale workforce data into executive-ready implications.
Psychometrics & workforce assessment
At NCCER, Russell served in psychometric leadership roles spanning Psychometrician and Senior Manager, leading psychometric approach and project management for item, test, and survey development. His work included item response theory, classical test theory, statistical job analysis, competency modeling, and facilitation of relationships with more than 50 subject matter experts.
He also managed graduate interns and helped shape assessment systems that needed to be both statistically defensible and operationally usable.
Psychometric leadership & applied interpretation
As Director of Psychometrics at Inkblot Analytics, he managed three psychometricians and oversaw data-based algorithms, statistical calculations, data-transformation systems, and psychometric surveying for customized marketing campaigns.
Across industry and academic settings, his work has consistently focused on behavioral engagement, job attitudes, measurement validity, and practical systems that connect rigorous analysis to action.
Research, Methods & Applied Consulting
Measurement and validation
Russell’s methodological work draws on item response theory, classical test theory, survey design, validation research, factor analysis, and competency modeling to build measures that are clear, reliable, and decision-ready.
Modeling and interpretation
His background includes structural equation modeling, multilevel modeling, multinomial logistic regression, and related approaches used to connect attitudes, behaviors, and organizational signals to decisions leaders can act on.
Research record
His academic and applied research has appeared in outlets and forums including the Journal of Investigative Medicine, Psychreg Journal of Psychology, INGRoup, and the Eastern Communication Association, with themes spanning work engagement, turnover indicators, psychological safety, growth mindset, motivation and aging, feedback seeking, and media research.
Applied consulting
He has conducted research through academic medical research settings, Boston University, The University of Akron, and The University of Akron College of Business. Through Akron’s Center for Organizational Research, he contributed to applied consulting work for clients including Novo Nordisk, the American Ambulance Association, Avesta, and Tandem Motion.
Selected Credibility Signals
- Google People Analytics research on five years of exit-survey data spanning roughly 20,000 responses.
- NCCER assessment, validation, job-analysis, and competency-modeling work with 50+ subject matter experts.
- UrbanStems people-operations and infrastructure leadership during early-stage, multi-state growth.
- Psychometric leadership at Inkblot Analytics overseeing algorithmic and survey-based systems.
- Published, presented, and applied research across medical, academic, business, and organizational consulting settings.
Relevant PrimeStata Work
Organizational & People Analytics
Validated measurement, people analytics, retention, engagement, and workforce decision systems.
Explore the ServiceData Science
Decision-grade analytics, applied modeling, and executive-ready interpretation for complex datasets.
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Human-centered AI-enabled decision systems designed for adoption, clarity, and operational value.
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