Stanford University Graduate School of Education (GSE) is a top-ranked school of education, known for its prestigious faculty, rigorous graduate degree programs, and its impact on the quality of education across the world. The GSE is committed to developing leaders in education research, practice and policy. Our community includes over 60 faculty, 400 students, 200 staff, 14,000 alumni and countless people from the local and global communities we work with and impact. The work environment is dynamic, deadline-driven, fast-paced, and energetic.
The Stanford Center on Early Childhood, in the Stanford Accelerator for Learning (SAL), seeks to transform methods of translating research to practice, establishing partnerships that leverage interdisciplinary expertise to redesign programs and ultimately systems, in order to accelerate impact across the early childhood sector. Dr. Philip Fisher is the Director of the Stanford Center on Early Childhood and focuses on translating scientific knowledge regarding healthy development under conditions of adversity for use in social policy and programs and on developing and evaluating scalable early childhood interventions in communities.
The Center on Early Childhood seeks an experienced Research Scientist to lead the scientific operations of the RAPID survey project. The RAPID survey project is a program of national and place-based surveys designed to gather essential information on the needs, well-being and health promoting behaviors of young children and the important adults in young children's lives. The RAPID team surveys households and the childcare workforce to provide actionable data to key stakeholders to inform immediate and long-term program and policy decisions. The RAPID survey project, which began as a national survey, has launched a new arm this year, which focuses on community-level surveys. In this work, RAPID seeks to elevate community voices, especially those of low-income and under-resourced communities, to inform the programs and organizations that serve them.
The Research Scientist will serve as the RAPID Science Director, guiding the scientific direction of the RAPID survey project, including proposing and designing new research questions and analysis for future surveys as well as the existing large and continuously evolving dataset. The RAPID Science Director will have scientific oversight of all RAPID projects, totaling a roughly $5 million portfolio, and will work closely with the RAPID Program Director and the SCEC Administrative Director to manage the operational and financial aspects of the project. The RAPID Science Director will oversee and guide ongoing development of survey content and new scientific directions for the RAPID survey project. The RAPID Science Director will take the lead on standardizing procedures for survey operations, including creating a system for tailoring surveys to community and state needs and developing a procedure for creating a technical report following each survey.
Additionally, the RAPID Science Director will work closely with the RAPID Program Director and RAPID data analysis team in writing manuscripts and grant proposals and may have a Co-Investigator role on future grant proposals depending on experience and interests. This position will supervise the Data Analysis team for RAPID and should have experience supervising a small team of graduate-level analysts.
The RAPID Science Director will work under the supervision of Dr. Fisher, working closely with him to develop experimental designs and determine the future direction of the RAPID survey.
Duties include:
Identify and operationalize scientific direction of RAPID project, including developing new research questions and designing analyses to address them.
Act as overall scientific director for RAPID project; manage all scientific aspects of all RAPID projects, and work closely with RAPID Program Director and SCEC Administrative Director to manage operational and financial aspects of RAPID projects.
Guide ongoing development of survey content.
Systematize and standardize procedures for RAPID survey development and operation, including process for tailoring surveys to community or state populations. Develop process for technical reporting tied to each survey.
Provide expertise in data collection and analysis protocols to project teams and staff. Provide mentorship to graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in advanced multivariate statistical analysis methods.
Prepare, write, and publish manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals across various disciplines (e.g., clinical psychology, education, developmental psychology, neuroscience). Present findings at national and international academic conferences. Present findings to non-academic audiences (e.g., educators, policymakers). Provide guidance and support to graduate students in manuscript preparation and publication (e.g., developing and editing manuscript drafts).
Take a lead role in designing methods and analysis plans for federal and philanthropic grant proposals, including proposing study designs, and writing relevant sections of proposals.
QUALIFICATIONS:
REQUIRED:
Ph.D. in Clinical/Developmental Psychology, Data Science, or related field.
Extensive experience with acquiring, analyzing, and interpreting research data, and summarizing findings via written reports and oral presentations.
Proficiency in the use of statistical and programming software (SPSS, Qualtrics, Matlab, Python, R. SPM, FSL, AFNI, or similar platforms) and advanced computational skills
Excellent scientific writing skills
Proficiency with advanced statistical analyses (e.g., linear mixed modeling, structural equation modeling).
Previous project management experience.
DESIRED:
Interest and experience in the field of early childhood
Previous experience with analysis of intervention data (i.e., randomized controlled trial) or longitudinal data.
Topical expertise in early adversity, prevention science, infant and child development, and parenting.
Previous experience with analyses and interpretation of neural measures (e.g. EEG/fMRI) and biological measures (e.g. cortisol)
Previous management experience either during graduate training (e.g. managing a team of undergraduates) or during previous employment.
Experience in the planning, implementation, and tracking of a research project comprising multiple assessments.
To apply, please submit your CV and Cover Letter via Stanford Careers.
Stanford University is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to increasing the diversity of its faculty and academic staff. It welcomes nominations of and applications from women and members of minority groups, as well as others who would bring additional dimensions to the University's research, teaching and clinical mission.
The job duties listed are typical examples of work performed by positions in this job classification and are not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory for all duties, tasks, and responsibilities. Specific duties and responsibilities may vary depending on department or program needs without changing the general nature and scope of the job or level of responsibility. Employees may also perform other duties as assigned.
Consistent with obligations under the law, the University will provide reasonable accommodation to any employee with any disability who requires accommodation to perform the essential functions of his or her job.
Stanford is an equal opportunity employment opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or another other characteristic protected by law.
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