Research Scientist, Water Insecurity Measurement (Assistant/Associate Rank)

Description

The Research Scientist, Water Insecurity Measurement, at the Assistant or Associate rank is responsible for working with a large interdisciplinary team of social scientists to collate and analyze household-level survey data collected from multiple Arizona sites collected as part of the AWII, alongside with comparative international and national samples collected by HWISE-RCN. The position goal and expected outcomes is to ensure development of an innovative water insecurity measurement tool that will improve capacities to monitor household water insecurity across a wide range of sites in Arizona and beyond that will improve measurement reliability and validity in lower income communities embedded in higher income settings, and then ensure data are collated and stored to allow long-term access and future utility to researchers across multiple fields. Beyond this central task, the researcher will also provide ongoing administrative support and guidance as a quantitative expert for other team members, such as data management, cleaning, analytic planning, and modeling of social science data sets produced by projects included in wider Arizona Water for All activities.

This is a benefits-eligible, full-time, 12-month position, with no tenure implications. The initial appointment will be for one year, with the opportunity for renewal contingent on funding availability and satisfactory performance. The anticipated start date is May 2025.

Essential Duties

75%: Research

This position requires strong organizational skills to manage multiple tasks, maintain overall program mission, conduct data analysis, curate complex datasets, develop data protocols, and work cooperatively in a disciplinary team environment which includes people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders and personal identifiers. The researcher will collaborate with other research staff and be principal data manager for the collaborative dataset.  The position includes collaboration with an international group of researchers to advance the goals of the project. The person in this position supports the research team and project objectives, leads and contributes to academic publications, participates in team meetings, and presents research.

10%: Program Coordination

The successful candidate will coordinate with the Household Water Insecurity Experiences Research Coordination Network as part of this collaboration.  It will require day-to-day team interaction with, liaison between, and coordination of a wide range of internal and external constituencies involved in program activities. This work responsibility includes writing, editing, administrative support tasks, including creation, typing, and editing of program correspondence.  May perform specialized activities of a programmatic nature in direct support of the accomplishment of program objectives.

10%: Project Management

The successful candidate will organize and manage project data, arrange events and meetings relating to the project, engage in project management, and contribute to the analysis and dissemination of research. 

5%: Other Duties

Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

Assistant Research Scientist

• PhD degree and three years of experience with computational modeling and analysis of social ecological systems, computational modeling, statistical inference, data analysis and visualization.
• Proven experience in quantitative social science modeling of complex multi-level data sets, including STATA and R, and complex datasets. 
• A track record in academic peer-reviewed publication in a relevant area
• Proven capacity to work effectively and productively within transdisciplinary teams
• Proven track record in successfully developing and managing data repositories
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and robustly document code.
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and presentation skills) and excellent academic writing skills in English

Associate Research Scientist

• PhD degree and five years of experience with computational modeling and analysis of social ecological systems, computational modeling, statistical inference, data analysis and visualization.
• In addition to the required qualifications above, the successful candidate at this rank should have demonstrated expertise in statistics, data science, and specialization in the social and ecological sciences. This includes evidence of scholarship and a demonstrated record of computational modeling competence of social and ecological sciences (published computational models, journal articles, etc.).

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