Research Scientist, RPCA

Boston College Introduction

Founded in 1863, Boston College is a Jesuit, Catholic university located six miles from downtown Boston with an enrollment of 9,484 full-time undergraduates and 5,250 graduate and professional students.  Ranked 35 among national universities, Boston College has 888 full-time and 1,281 FTE faculty, 2,711 non-faculty employees, an operating budget of $1.4 billion, and an endowment in excess of $3.5 billion.

Job Description

Competitive salary commensurate with relevant experience.

The Research Program on Children and Adversity (RPCA) at Boston College School of Social Work focuses on observational research to understand trajectories of risk and resilience in children facing multiple forms of adversity while also using these research outcomes to develop and test evidence-based interventions to promote child health, development and family functioning. The program team, including a network of talented local collaborators, has developed and evaluated several transdiagnostic interventions that are both feasible, effective and able to be integrated into a range of social protection, health and education programs in low- and middle-income countries. Using implementation science methods, the program also tests implementation science strategies for quality improvement and sustainment of integrated evidence-based interventions including collaborative team approaches to improve fidelity and quality of the interventions to support early childhood development, violence prevention, and family strengthening so that they can be effectively and sustainably delivered at scale in low-resource settings. The RPCA manages a diverse global research portfolio; including several active projects, the details for which can be found at www.bc.edu/rpca

Reporting to the Director and Principal Investigator, the Research Scientist will oversee aspects of program implementation, research design, data management, data analysis related to the aims of the U.S. refugee research portfolio focused family strengthening, as well as implementation science. The RPCA refugee program works with philanthropic and federal partners to conduct research to inform the delivery of a mental health and family strengthening intervention that are designed to support families during resettlement. The Refugee Program currently has a research portfolio with Afghan refugees and is conducting research to inform delivery specific to Afghan youth and develop a culturally validated mental health screening tool that can be used with resettled Afghan youth and is response to recognizing the signs and symptoms of trauma. The RPCA partners with local resettlement agencies and focuses on community based participatory research methods.

The Research Scientist responsibility includes managing that the interventions are delivered as intended (i.e., content, frequency, etc.) and that qualitative and quantitative data across the RPCA’s research studies is collected, processed, and analyzed in accordance with the lab’s best practices and that all findings are disseminated in accordance with the study’s aims and objectives. The Research Scientist will implement quality checks to maintain the integrity of intervention delivery and data collection and lead publications and analyses related to the findings of the RPCA research. The Research Scientist will cultivate and support important stakeholder relationships and support the dissemination of research findings by working with the Program Management teams to plan dissemination activities and share research findings through the facilitation of presentations and events at the local, national and international level. The Research Scientist’s scope of work is dependent on grant-funding; the Research Scientist is responsible for ensuring that research strategies related to RPCA research activities meet the highest scientific standards.

Duties and Responsibilities:

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION (30%): Work closely with the refugee program management team to provide implementation science expertise and quality improvement approaches to contribute to the success of study outcomes; Support activities related to the training and supervision of research assistants to adhere to research integrity; Provide ongoing evaluation of research activities; Provides expertise on implementation science to participate in project initiation activities, including the development of proposals and responses to research funding opportunities.

DATA MANAGEMENT AND ANALYSIS (40%): Provide expertise to local teams with understanding of validity studies, community-based participatory research, and development of a culturally validated mental health screening tool for Afghan youth; Conduct qualitative analysis of participant interviews and monitor reliability and validity testing; Use statistical analysis to measure validity of the mental health screening tool that is developed; Design, develop and execute implementation-science-informed statistical analysis leveraging research study databases in conjunction with study staff and other statisticians; Produce tables and figures depicting results of analyses, along with written interpretation.

RESEARCH AND DISSEMINATION (30%): Collaborate with team members to complete dissemination deliverables to support out reach of findings to refugee service providers. This includes participating in and developing public webinars, producing downloadable resources, and supporting the development of community advisory boards; Engage in high-level research and analysis, drafting reports to sponsors and government stakeholders, and publishing on projects regarding ongoing work related to RPCA research; Contribute to and/or serving as lead author on manuscripts related to RPCA research studies.

This position will be based in Boston with expected travel around New England and the U.S. as conditions allow. The Research Scientist may work nights and weekends to meet project deliverables, as well as follow a flexible office schedule.

The Research Scientist will work in the general office setting in the School of Social Work. The Research Scientist is grant funded.

Requirements

Doctoral degree, preferably in Public Health, Implementation Science, Social Work, Developmental Psychology, Mental Health, or other related field. Minimum of 3 years of postdoctoral experience in Global Public Health research or related field is expected. Expert knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies including mixed-methods required. Expert knowledge of refugee child development research required. Proficiency in utilizing computer applications including Microsoft Office, STATA, RedCap, MAXQDA, and other quantitative and qualitative data analysis platforms required. Experience conducting research in culturally diverse contexts. Experience in community-based participatory research and qualitative methods is required. Coursework and training in psychometrics and validity studies is required. Previous experience working with refugee populations is preferred. Strong record of peer-reviewed Implementation-Science focused publications beyond thesis papers is required.

Closing Statement

Boston College offers a broad and competitive range of benefits depending on your job classification eligibility:

Tuition remission for Employees
Tuition remission for Spouses and Children who meet eligibility requirements
Generous Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
Low-Cost Life Insurance
Eligibility for both University-Funded 401k and Employer-Sponsored 403b Retirement Plans
Paid Holidays Annually
Generous Sick and Vacation Pay
Additional benefits can be found on https://www.bc.edu/employeehandbook
Boston College conducts pre-employment background checks as part of the hiring process.

Boston College is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. In concert with our Jesuit, Catholic mission, Boston College is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic faculty and staff committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment and strongly encourages applications for women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and covered veterans. To learn more about how BC supports diversity and inclusion throughout the university please visit the Office for Institutional Diversity at https://www.bc.edu/diversity.

Boston College’s Notice of Nondiscrimination can be viewed at https://www.bc.edu/nondiscrimination.