Research Scientist/engineer 3 (50% - 80% FTE) University Of Washington
Seattle, WA

Job Description

As a UW employee, you will enjoy generous benefits and work/life programs. For a complete description of our benefits for this position, please visit our website, click here. As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem solving skills and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.

UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty. All of which has allowed the UW to be nationally recognized as a "Great College to Work For" for four consecutive years.

The Department of Family Medicine has an outstanding opportunity for a part time (50%-80%) Research Scientist 3 to support its expanding research efforts in practice-based and health services research. This position is housed in the Center for Health Workforce Studies in the Department of Family Medicine's Research Section. The research involves collection/assembly and analysis of both primary (e.g., via surveys and interview) and secondary (e.g., Census, federally-conducted surveys) datasets. This position will collaborate in designing research studies, conduct pilot research projects, collect data, assemble data for analysis, analyze quantitative and qualitative research data, interpret findings, and create graphic and narrative descriptions of research findings. This position will be responsible for preparing, in collaboration with other scientists, grant proposals as well as presentations, reports and manuscripts that describe research findings.

The Research Scientist will work in a collegial and collaborative environment with staff and faculty from the UW Family Medicine Research Section and other groups within the Department of Family Medicine, requiring excellent communication and collaboration skills. This individual must be able to work independently with collaboration and supervision by a variety of faculty investigators on assigned research and grant development. The Research Scientist's direct supervisor will be Bianca Frogner, Director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies.

This position will support a variety of short and long term research projects in the Center for Health Workforce Studies of the Research Section of the Department of Family Medicine. The focus of most of these studies are on health workforce size, distribution, and adequacy to meet the demand of regions, states, and rural/urban areas of the U.S. One initial study will provide qualitative and quantitative analyses to support a Washington State effort to make recommendations for policy and practice improvements to enhance access to behavioral health workforce resources in the state. Other research studies supported by this position are dependent on investigator interest and availability of funding. The studies address research questions of use to planners and policymakers charged with improving the quality, availability and efficiency of health care in the U.S.

The Research Scientist's responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:

Collaborating with teams to design research projects, as expertise allows;

Drafting quantitative and/or qualitative data collection instruments;

Conducting mixed-methods research;

Assembling, cleaning, managing, and analyzing qualitative and quantitative datasets;

Conducting literature reviews, including gray literature, and synthesizing information for manuscripts and grants;

Developing presentations and preparing parts or all (depending on the composition of the research team) of reports and manuscripts describing research findings;

Presenting portions or all of research findings to internal and external audiences;

Developing IRB applications;

Contributing substantially to determining project goals and objectives;

Identifying problems and technical issues that affect project goals and timelines and identifying appropriate solutions;

Preparing and obtaining appropriate reviews of project reports/briefs and publications;

Monitoring progress toward accomplishing project and related departmental goals;

Providing ideas to improve organizational efficiency at group and department levels;

Soliciting input from internal and external research colleagues on study design and interpretation of study findings;

Seeking to identify and develop new funding sources, and

Contributing to positive co-worker/customer/investigator relationships through efficient interaction on current grants/projects.

Minimum Requirements:

The requirements for this position include:

Master's degree (or degree equivalent) in a health-related field, including (but not limited to) health sciences, public health, public policy, psychology, sociology, and/or geography;

At least 3 years of experience developing and conducting health-related research, including data analysis;

Demonstrated ability to work efficiently and independently;

Excellent English writing skills;

Excellent time management skills;

Excellent attention to details

Excellent organizational skills

Demonstrated proficiency using analytic software packages (e.g., STATA, SPSS, ATLAS.ti, NVivo, or similar) and analytic methods with both quantitative and qualitative research;

Proficiency in standard office word processing, graphics and spreadsheet software; and

Interpersonal and communication skills needed to work with a multidisciplinary team of faculty investigators, research scientists, and research staff.

Desired:

1) Knowledge of and/or direct experience with the behavioral health (mental health and substance use disorder treatment) workforce. Could include engagement in clinical practice, education, policy or regulatory roles, or other evidence of familiarity with behavioral healthcare delivery; 2) demonstrated experience with both technical scientific writing and preparing concise summaries of research findings for lay audiences; 3) experience creating effective data visualizations; 4) experience with program evaluation; and 5) experience with the Institutional Review Board human subjects review process.

Application Process:

The application process for UW positions may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select "Apply to this position". Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your "My Jobs" page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.

Committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff, your experiences, perspectives and unique identities will be honored at the University of Washington. Together, our community strives to create and maintain working and learning environments that are inclusive, equitable, and welcoming.