Research Associate

Job Title
Research Associate

Agency
Texas A&M University Health Science Center

Department
Center for Community Health & Aging

Proposed Minimum Salary
$3,750.00 monthly

Job Location
College Station, Texas

Job Type
Staff

Job Description

Our Commitment

Texas A&M University is committed to enriching the learning and working environment by promoting a culture that respects all perspectives, talents & lived experiences. Embracing varying opinions and perspectives strengthens our core values which are: Respect, Excellence, Leadership, Loyalty, Integrity, and Selfless Service.

Who we are

As one of the fastest-growing academic health centers in the nation, Texas A&M Health encompasses five colleges and numerous centers and institutes working together to improve health through transformative education, innovative research and team-based health care delivery.

What we want

The Research Associate supports the TOPS (Texas Opioid Prevention for K-12 Students) evaluation core lead. The Research Associate manages and executes daily evaluation operations of the TOPS project, including collaborating with school implementation and community engagement teams, liaising with external partners involved in the project, ensuring timely completion of evaluation activities, compliance with funding requirements and trains undergraduate and/or graduate students and other laboratory, technical or field staff involved in research.

What you need to know

Please note: This position is grant funded; future employment may be contingent upon future funding.

Responsibilities:

Project Research

- Design, plan, and coordinate community-based participatory research, public health program planning, and public health evaluation activities.
- Develop and implement qualitative and mixed-methods research protocols (e.g., community needs assessments, key informant interviews, focus groups, surveys, and other participatory evaluation methods), ensuring ethical and rigorous data collection.
- Collaborate with community-based organizations, school districts, local health departments, and other public health stakeholders and research teams to ensure successful implementation of project activities, and ensure findings are relevant and actionable.
- Develop online tools, including surveys tools to collect qualitative and quantitative data.
- Manage data collection and support analysis of qualitative and quantitative data using appropriate software and techniques (such as Qualtrics and REDCap); maintain organized and secure data records.
- May supervise research and data collection assistants involved in program evaluation activities.
- Support capacity-building activities with partner organizations, such as workshops, training, and dissemination events.
- Coordinate research learning events and other activities to enhance the culture of research.

Project Reporting

- Assist in preparing reports to funding agencies.

Dissemination of Project Findings

- Summarize and disseminate results for peer-reviewed publications, policy briefs, reports, and translating findings for community stakeholders, policymakers, and practitioners.

Qualifications:

Required Education and Experience

- Bachelor’s degree in public health, health education, health promotion, social and behavioral sciences, community health, or closely related social science discipline.
- Two years of related public health, health education, health promotion, program management experience.

Preferred Qualifications

- Master’s Degree in related field (e.g. public health, health education, health promotion, program management or other related fields).
- Three years or more related professional experience.
- Demonstrated experience working in the community health field, including direct engagement with community members, health educators, or prevention specialists.·        Experience working directly with underserved communities in health promotion or prevention contexts – including but not limited to rural communities.
- Familiarity with social-ecological models, health behavior theories (e.g., Social Cognitive Theory, Health Belief Model), and community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles.
- Experience conducting community-based or school-based research in social/behavioral science contexts.
- Experience with community-engaged research and program evaluation projects.
- Professional background in substance-use prevention, opioid misuse prevention, or behavioral and mental health awareness.
- Experience with managing data collection to ensure progress is maintained.
- Familiarity with evidence-based prevention models, trauma-informed approaches, and youth resilience frameworks.
- Experience developing and utilizing online survey tools and software.
- Experience in writing grant proposals.
- Qualitative data experience (collecting and managing)
- Excellent oral and written communication skills.
- Desire and ability to work collaboratively and help maintain a fun and supportive team environment that is focused on advancing our work to effectively address health disparities for underserved populations.
- Two years of experience in community-based or school-based research projects focused on health behavior, health education, or health promotion.
- Program management coursework or experience
- Program planning coursework or experience
- Program evaluation coursework or experience

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

- Understanding of evidence-based prevention programming
- Ability to effectively utilize a computer and applicable software to collect and manage data, present data, and perform other computer related tasks
- Ability to multitask and work cooperatively with others
- Ability to conduct literature reviews and assist in academic writing (such as conference abstracts, presentations, and articles for publication)
- Ability to generate reports for academic and community-based audiences
- Ability to build and sustain trust-based relationships with community partners, including schools, families, and local organizations
- Ability to liaise between internal project staff and external partner organizations, including but not limited to schools and community-based organizations
- Familiarity with qualitative analysis software (e.g., NVivo, Dedoose, Atlas.ti)
- Familiarity with MS office apps including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook

Why Texas A&M University?

We are a prestigious university with strong traditions, Core Values, and a community of caring and collaboration.  Amenities associated with a major university, such as sporting and cultural events, state-of-the-art recreation facilities, the Bush Library and Museum, and much more await you.  Experience all that a big city has to offer but with a reasonable cost-of-living and no long commutes.

- Medical, (https://www.tamus.edu/benefits/medical/) prescription drug, (https://www.tamus.edu/benefits/prescriptions-express-scripts/) dental, (https://www.tamus.edu/benefits/dental/) vision, (https://www.tamus.edu/benefits/vision-insurance/) life and AD&D, (https://www.tamus.edu/benefits/life-add/) flexible spending accounts (https://www.tamus.edu/benefits/flexible-spending-accounts/) , and long-term disability insurance (https://www.tamus.edu/benefits/long-term-disability/) with Texas A&M contributing to employee health and basic life premiums

- 12-15 days (https://service.tamu.edu/TDClient/45/Portal/KB/Article/1793/University-Holiday-Calendar) of annual paid holidays

- Up to eight hours of paid sick leave (https://service.tamu.edu/TDClient/45/Portal/KB/Article/1794/Sick-Leave)  and at least  eight hours of paid vacation (https://service.tamu.edu/TDClient/45/Portal/KB/Article/1757/Vacation)  each month

- Automatic enrollment in the  Teacher Retirement System of Texas (https://www.trs.texas.gov/Pages/Homepage.aspx)

- Health and Wellness: Free exercise programs and release time (https://flourish.tamu.edu/wellness-release-time/)

- Professional Development: All employees have access to free  LinkedIn Learning (https://linkedinlearning.tamu.edu/)  training, webinars, and limited financial support to attend conferences, workshops, and more

- Educational release time and tuition assistance (https://livingwell.tamu.edu/employee-tuition-assistance)  for completing a degree while a Texas A&M employee

- Living Well, (https://livingwell.tamu.edu/) a program at Texas A&M that has been built by employees, for employees

Instructions to Applicants : Applications received by Texas A&M University must either have all job application data entered, or a resume attached. Failure to provide all job application data or a complete resume could result in an invalid submission and a rejected application. We encourage all applicants to upload a resume or use a LinkedIn profile to pre-populate the online application.

All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution’s verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution’s procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.

Equal Opportunity/Veterans/Disability Employer.