Assistant Researcher Senior - 21557BR
Assistant Researcher Senior
Assistant Researcher Senior
Department:
Social Welfare
Location/Division:
University of Kansas Lawrence Campus
Work Location Assignment:
Hybrid
Reg/Temp:
Regular
Employee Class:
U-Unclassified Professional Staff
Position Overview
The KU School of Social Welfare (KUSSW) seeks a full-time Assistant Researcher Senior to assist with program research, evaluation and data management for small and large-scale initiatives. The position will specialize in research and evaluation, data science projects, and social innovation work that supports initiatives’ missions to optimize the well-being of children, youth, and families. KUSSW works with diverse community partners, including federal, state and community-based organizations, in their work to secure funding, bring key partners to the table, orchestrate large-scale data efforts, and conduct research, cost analysis, research and evaluation. We are looking for individuals who are passionate about impacting social change for good. The person in this position will promote healthy and thriving communities by contributing to research and evaluations of new or existing programs. The successful applicant should have experience in social sciences or a related field, prior experience working with community stakeholders, collecting, managing, analyzing, and reporting quantitative and qualitative data, and sharing findings with partners outside of the academic community. The applicant should also be able to facilitate continuous quality improvement (CQI), actively troubleshoot problems that may arise, and quickly develop and implement solutions. Experience working on issues related to maternal and child health is helpful. This position is contingent upon funding.
Job Description
40% Research and Evaluation Project Coordination
20% Research Methodology and Synthesis
- Assist with ensuring that the projects meet the goals and objectives of the funder in cooperation with federal, state, and local partners
- Track and coordinate deliverables, work plan, and timelines for timely and high-quality completion and of work
- Plan, prepare, and facilitate meetings involving internal staff and external partners
- Support partner programs in accessing, understanding, and using their data and research and evaluation findings
- Assist with supervision of student hourlies, graduate students, or research assistants in carrying out research activities
- Assist with managing and securing program data
- Collaborate with programs under guidance from project leaders to identify and implement data collection protocols and tools
- Identify, prepare, and support data files, syntax, and analysis for evaluation and research projects, including advanced statistical analyses as appropriate
- Assist with data formatting, processing, and analysis using Excel, SPSS, R, and other applications
- Contribute to design, implementation, and maintenance of data-informed reports and analytics solutions including data visualizations and dashboards for different audiences (e.g., community stakeholders, policy makers, scholars)
20% Research Methodology and Synthesis
- Participate in the development and design of evaluation and research plans
- Conduct multi-faceted evaluation and research projects as part of a team
- Provide synthesis of research literature and/or evaluation and research project findings.
- Assist with preparing charts, tables, graphs, and written summaries of research and evaluation data and findings using excel and other data visualization applications
- Assist senior researchers with preparation of written research and evaluation reports and manuscripts for publication, serving as a co-author as appropriate
- Special projects and other duties as assigned.
Position Requirements
Some in-state travel required (5%).
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s Degree and three years of related experience.
- 1 year of experience managing complex data, including primary data collection and administrative datasets.
- 1 year of experience analyzing data and visualizing data to inform practice or programmatic learning as demonstrated by work experience.
- Excellent written communication skills as demonstrated by application materials and previous work history.
- Excellent organizational skills and experience working independently and as part of a team, as demonstrated in application materials and work experience.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree in Social Science or related field
- 1-2 years of experience in studying children and/or youth and/or families, as demonstrated in application materials.
- 1-2 years of experience communicating research and facilitating collaboration between stakeholders and community partners, demonstrated by application materials.
- One year of experience using Microsoft Access or other relational database management system.
- One year of experience using statistical analysis software, such as SPSS, SAS, Stata, or R.
Additional Candidate Instructions
A complete online application consists of the following:
Review of applications begins on May 16th and continues as needed to collect a pool of qualified applicants.
- Resume
- Cover letter
- Writing sample
- Contact information for up to three references
Review of applications begins on May 16th and continues as needed to collect a pool of qualified applicants.
Contact Information to Applicants
Advertised Salary Range
Minimum $48,000
Work Schedule
Standard M-F during the hours of 8am -5pm
Application Review Begins
16-May-2022
Anticipated Start Date
06-Jun-2022