The Institute for Behavioral Health at Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management seeks to hire a Senior Research Associate who will contribute substantively to evaluation and research studies related to treatment services for substance use and mental health disorders and co-occurring conditions.

This person will work as part of a team comprised of researchers and collaborating partners, and participate in the planning, design, review, and analysis of research studies, with a focus on community-engaged evaluation and research involving qualitative and quantitative analyses. This includes a variety of projects that require engaging stakeholders, implementing research designs including experimental and nonexperimental studies, conducting interdisciplinary literature reviews, and contributing to information dissemination including publications targeting a broad range of audiences. The person in this position will serve as a project manager and key researcher on major research studies. They will conceptualize and oversee complex data collection, data synthesis, qualitative analyses, and regression analyses, modeling and other quantitative analyses. They will also author reports and presentations and publish findings, develop proposals and budgets for research projects, and provide day-to-day direction to research staff and student workers. Strong skills in qualitative and quantitative methods and analyses and evaluation are essential. Excellent written and verbal communication skills and familiarity with academic writing are required.

Successful applicants will have a PhD in a relevant field (e.g. health policy, public health, social policy, public policy, statistics, epidemiology, or related fields) and an understanding of community-engaged evaluation and research and substance use and/or mental health services. Experience or interest in Implementation Science a plus. Applicants may be immediately postdoctoral or beyond; very strong candidates with a Master’s degree and 5-8 years’ experience will be considered. We value a diversity of backgrounds and experience.

The Senior Research Associate will work with the research teams to guide data collection and analysis, provide analytic interpretations, write and contribute to proposals and manuscripts, present at relevant conferences and organizations, and work with the research and analytic teams to meet data sharing requirements. They will provide general research support and oversight as needed. In addition, they will have opportunities and mentoring to develop their own research agenda, lead manuscripts and presentations, and develop, contribute to and submit grant proposals.

The Institute for Behavioral Health and the Heller School for Social Policy and Management are vibrant research and educational environments, with many opportunities to participate in seminars, lectures, and community events.

Please upload your resume and cover letter in a single PDF file in the resume upload field.

Key Responsibilities:

Community/Stakeholder Engaged Research  

• Conceptualize and oversee complex data collection, data synthesis, qualitative and quantitative analyses.
• Develop proposals and budgets for research projects.
• Participate in the design of survey and interview protocols and instruments. Collect background data for studies from various database sources and present summarized findings at research meetings. 
• Conduct stakeholder interviews, including behavioral health professionals, consumers, program participants, and caregivers/family members.
• Develop logic models, network maps and other tools to document the design and implementation of new programs (formative evaluation).
• Create and maintain databases for storage and retrieval of research data. 
• Create data cleaning protocols for SAS/ Stata/SPSS/Excel datasets in support of research projects.

Data Analysis

• Perform data analyses, including descriptive statistics, correlational analyses, frequency/distributional analysis to identify data anomalies/peculiarities, and other analyses to inform the development of indicators and measures.
• Perform qualitative data analysis using a range of different methods, such as content, narrative,  framework or discourse analysis. 
• Collaborate with IBH researchers and staff on the design and analysis of research protocols.

General Research Support

• Act as project manager on research studies and provide day-to-day direction to research staff and student workers on assigned projects.
• Manage data-related aspects of presentations, papers and publications/policy briefs, i.e., produce tables, charts, graphs, and other data visualizations in Excel, PowerPoint and Word. Conduct web searches for data sets and policy information.
• Author scholarly, peer-reviewed publications, policy briefs, reports and presentations, including preparation of methods and results sections.

Education & Experience:

Master's degree plus 5-8 years’ experience required, PhD preferred.

Closing Statement

Brandeis University is committed to providing its students, faculty and staff with an environment conducive to learning and working and where all people are treated with respect and dignity. We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, ethnicity, caste, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, including transgender identity, religion, disability, age, genetics, active military or veteran status and any other characteristics protected under applicable federal or Massachusetts law.