Career Center

The Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning is a leading university-level research center that for over two-decades has built on the legacy of its namesake—one of the longest serving Louisiana state superintendent of education—to produce rigorous, innovative, and actionable evidence in order to ensure that all children get a strong start and continuous support to excel in school and life. Among its signature current projects are collecting CLASS observations in several thousand early childhood to early elementary classrooms annually statewide, conducting a bi-annual Caring Communities Youth Survey (CCYS) that supports behavioral health interventions in schools across the state, and leading an Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Task Force at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The third largest university in Louisiana, UL Lafayette’s research expenditures more than doubled over the last half-decade, placing it currently in the top 10 nationally for funding through partnerships with business and industry. 

The post-doc will work under the mentorship of Picard Center Director Rachel Gordon to grow the Center’s research portfolio in the Center’s signature areas of early childhood education and socio-emotional development. With particular focus on collaborative projects with state partners that have local and national relevance, this research may draw on the current projects just described as well as upon other administrative and secondary data sources. The Picard Center’s 40,000+ square foot building located in the university’s research park includes state-of-the-art information technology that facilitates large scale data analysis. The author of two applied statistics textbooks and pedagogical papers on psychometrics, Dr. Gordon is a multi-disciplinary and multi-method scholar who brings over two decades of research experience meta-analyzing dozens of secondary datasets and leveraging new data collection technologies, often in co-creation partnerships with practitioners and policymakers, to support diverse children and families’ developmental trajectories. A leader in supporting faculty research development, Dr. Gordon is committed to establishing mentorship plans with post-doctoral fellows that support their professional goals along with fulfilling Center needs. These supports include co-writing external grant applications that might fund continued work at the Center after the post-doc period ends. 

Responsibilities: 

The Picard Center is simultaneously hiring two Post-Docs, one in Statistics or Psychometrics and one in Social, Behavioral, Educational, or Health Sciences. This pair of Post-Docs will work closely together, supporting one another and the broader Center with complementary skills. Both will be hired for two-year terms, with an option of a third year if mutually desired. 

• A primary responsibility of the post-doc will be to develop a substantive research plan for a series of brief reports and related scholarly publications that are both relevant to state decision makers and contribute to national dialogue.
• The scholarly publications will target top-tier scholarly journals in the social, behavioral, educational, or health sciences and in statistics/psychometrics, and would be written collaboratively with the second post-doc and with other Center faculty and staff.
• A second responsibility of the post-doc will be to contribute to and, where appropriate, lead external grant submissions, including with state practice and policy partners.
• These external grant submissions will target federal agencies and national foundations, and might fund the Post-Doc’s continued work at the Center after the Post-Doc term.

The Post-Doc in Social, Behavioral, Educational, or Health Sciences will need to perform duties independently and confidentially and must exercise a high level of judgment and initiative. The Post-Doc must be able to anticipate problems and critical issues as they arise, providing summary information to facilitate timely responses. The Post-Doc must be able to handle correspondence and phone calls professionally and efficiently, including determining appropriate action, and be enthusiastic about working collaboratively with multiple teams. 

Salary is competitive and commensurate with qualifications, experience, and proven ability. The holder of this position is an employee of the State of Louisiana and as such enjoys a generous benefits package. 

The ideal candidate will possess:

• A PhD in the social, behavioral, educational, or health sciences is required
• Substantive training in child, human, or lifespan development is essential
• Strong quantitative background to support collaborating with statisticians and data scientists
• Exceptional written, verbal, and interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated ability to interact positively with both internal and external constituencies
• Ability to prioritize work with minimal supervision
• Motivated to learn new skills, as needed
• Committed to the mission of the center

Applications should include:  1) a letter that demonstrates the candidate's understanding of the position and how his/her background meets the position criteria; 2) a curriculum vita; 3) three to five references