Researcher Assistant Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

Department

Harris CHPPP/BIP Lab Research Sub Group (1)

About the Department

The Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab (BIP Lab) at the University of Chicago brings together interdisciplinary scholars to design, evaluate, and disseminate programs to help children from low-income families to achieve their full potential by improving caregivers' engagement in their learning.
The BIP Lab's team of full-time staff, post-doc and PhD scholars, and student research assistants has worked with over 500 community partners serving families with young children in Chicago and across the US. The Lab has also recently expanded to working in Latin America and India. The Lab has been conducting rigorous experimental research to find scalable ways to address inequality in children's skill development for 12 years.

Job Summary

Reporting to the Associate Director, the Research Coordinator at the BIP Lab will perform routine assignments related to the implementation of research projects. The Research Coordinator will work in coordination with the research team to provide support in designing, operationalizing, managing data collection, and providing technical assistance for large-scale projects related to the BIP Lab's research goals.
This support can include creating protocols around field work and data collection, data management and cleaning, management of a team of field Research Assistants in multiple states, ensuring compliance of research activities with institutional, state, and federal regulatory policies, writing literature reviews, and assisting in drafting presentations. We seek a strong multi-tasker with excellent communication skills who will thrive in a dynamic project-based environment. Priority will be given to candidates who are fluent in both English and Spanish. The BIP Lab team has a hybrid work policy; the days team members are expected to be in the office are set and will be communicated by managers.
Primary responsibilities include support with research participant recruitment and school research partner communication, hiring, training and management of research assistants, implementation of data collection activities, quality assurance and management of data, research activity reporting, logistics coordination of field implementation, maintaining research protocols and other duties as assigned.
This position is grant-funded for one year with the potential for future renewal.

Responsibilities

• Support recruitment of and communications with schools and other research partners: 15%
• Support relationship management between the BIP Lab and the research partner organizations.
• Prepare and organize research materials for partner organizations: 15%
• Curate research materials including digital devices, tools and assessments.
• Provide support for onboarding, training, scheduling and management of field research assistants: 15%
• Lead the interview and onboarding process for research assistants.
• Provide ongoing coaching to research assistants.
• Review and approve research assistant time.
• Provide technical support to partner organizations, research participants and research assistants: 10%
• Oversee communication with research participants.
• Respond to inquiries from research sites about research activities.
• Respond to technical questions from research assistants.
• Support development of ongoing research projects: 20%
• Support study design and preparation efforts.
• Recruit research participants on site and remotely.
• Support logistics of implementing all data collection in the field.
• Track and process payments for research participants per study and University protocol.
• Other responsibilities may include: 25%
• Support development of prospective research projects.
• Support project budget and timeline development.
• Clean, format and audit data files.
• Transcribe and code qualitative data.
• Monitor and report on progress of research projects.
• Maintains technical and administrative support for a research project.
• Installs, sets up and performs experiments, interacting with students and other research staff under the direction of the principal investigator.
• Maintains recruiting and scheduling research subjects; assisting with developing or amending study protocols; assisting with developing data collection tools; assisting with building databases; and providing general administrative support. Has general awareness in research techniques or methods, regulatory policies and procedures, and relevant scientific field.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through < 2 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in a field relevant to the research being conducted (e.g., public policy, economics, psychology, education).

Experience:

• Relevant research experience.
• Experience coding in Stata and/or R.
• Willingness to travel to research sites.

Certifications:

• Valid driver's license.

Preferred Competencies

• Experience working with Qualtrics and/or Survey CTO.
• Experience working with messaging management platforms.
• Experience working with low-income communities.
• Organized, resourceful, detail-oriented, effective time manager.
• Team player - collaborative, reliable, ability to receive and give constructive feedback, flexible, supportive.
• Comfortable working with remote collaboration tools.
• Independent - able to problem solve, prioritize and exercise good judgment under time pressure.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Application Documents

• Resume (required)
• Cover Letter (required)

The University of Chicago uses AI-assisted tools to streamline and augment some recruitment processes; however, AI is not used to make hiring decisions.
When applying, the document(s) MUSTbe uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family

Research

Role Impact

Individual Contributor

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

Yes

Pay Rate Type

Salary

FLSA Status

Exempt

Pay Range

$53,000.00 - $56,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University's good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history. A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment. Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

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