Boston College Introduction

Founded in 1863, Boston College is a Jesuit, Catholic university located six miles from downtown Boston with an enrollment of 9,377 full-time undergraduates and 4,420 graduate and professional students. Ranked 37 among national universities, Boston College has 878 full-time and 1,201 FTE faculty, 2,750 non-faculty employees, an operating budget of $1 billion, and an endowment in excess of $2.2 billion.

Job Description

Research Scientist

The Research Program on Children and Adversity (RPCA) at the Boston College School of Social Work (BCSSW) is an applied research program dedicated to improving the evidence base of understanding risk and protective factors influencing mental health, child development, and family functioning as well as intervention research to develop and test behavioral interventions for children and families affected by multiple forms of adversity, including armed conflict, poverty, and infectious disease. The RPCA manages a diverse global research portfolio; including several active projects, the details for which can be found at bc.edu/rpca.
Reporting to the RPCA's Associate Director of Research, the Research Scientist will support Sugira Muryango (SM): A Family Strengthening Intervention for Early Childhood Development and Violence Prevention project based in Rwanda. SM targets families in extreme poverty with young children birth-36 months. The intervention supports responsive parenting to promote early child development and prevent violence through active in-home coaching and father engagement. Standard content on early childhood stimulation, nutrition, and hygiene are presented, along with content on problem-solving, conflict resolution, and stress management. SM is being transitioned to a larger scale-up, reaching all Ubudehe 1 (those in the most extreme poverty) in three districts in Rwanda using Collaborative Teams as an implementation strategy to reach over 10,000 children and more than 14,300 caregivers.

The Research Scientist will play a vital role in providing expertise in implementation science and intervention research and will ensure that SM is delivered as intended (i.e., content, frequency, etc.) which is critical to the successful translation of evidence-based interventions into practice. The Research Scientist will also oversee an embedded cluster-randomized trial (CRT) and will ensure that all data collected from the CRT and expansion study is processed and analyzed in accordance with the lab's best practices. The Research Scientist will ensure findings are disseminated in accordance with the study's aims and objectives. The incumbent will be responsible for:
*Providing implementation science/intervention research expertise in research projects and scientific activities.
*Contributing to all aspects of projects including data acquisition and cleaning, study design, implementation, analysis, and interpretation.
*Collaborates with Rwanda-based implementation and capacity building partners, and data collection firm; supervises research associates and statisticians.
*Serves as lead and/or contributing author of protocols, reports, and manuscripts, as appropriate.
*Participating in project initiation activities, including the development of proposals and responses to research funding opportunities.

Working Conditions: This position will be based in Boston with occasional travel to Rwanda as conditions allow. The incumbent will work from home and in a general office setting. The incumbent may work nights and weekends in order to meet project and reporting deadlines.

All applicants are asked to submit a cover letter and CV/resume to be considered for this position.

Requirements

*A doctoral degree, preferably in Public Health, Implementation Science, Social Work, Developmental Psychology, Mental Health, Epidemiology, or another related field.
*Expert knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies including mixed-methods required.
*Proficiency in utilizing computer applications including Microsoft Office, STATA, RedCap, MAXQDA, and other quantitative and qualitative data analysis platforms required.
*Evidence of leadership in scientific administration, including the supervision of research staff required.
*Experience conducting research in culturally diverse contexts, preferably in Low-to-Middle-Income-Countries (LMICs).
*Understanding of the application of technology both for data collection as well as routine symptom monitoring, fidelity monitoring, and quality improvement efforts in global mental health and child development is preferred.
*A major contributor to peer-reviewed publications beyond thesis paper preferred.
*Authorization to work in the US without restrictions required.

Closing Statement