Senior Researcher, Human and Community Development

Overview

Join AIR as a Senior
Researcher with our Human and Community Development program to foster pathways for young people, families, and communities to thrive through the generation, dissemination, and application of evidence. This position will focus on prevention science with emphasis on preventing violence and other forms of harmful behaviors in the military. The Senior Researcher will collaborate within and outside AIR, including with program providers, subject matter experts, as well as federal, state, and local agency officials.

The Senior Researcher will contribute to the strategic vision for primary prevention of violence and provide mentorship and guidance to teams. They will oversee data collection, management, analysis, and visualization for contract and grant research and evaluation projects. The ideal candidate is committed to building out our prevention portfolio and taking a strengths-based perspective. Candidates with strong project and people management skills, expertise in violence prevention, and experience with data dashboards are especially encouraged to apply.

Candidates with relevant lived experience, including military service, are encouraged to apply.

Related projects aim to use culturally responsive science to focus around one or more areas, including but not limited to:

Content areas
:

• Primary prevention of violence, such as
• intimate partner and sexual violence
• child maltreatment and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
• violence that impacts youth and community
• Suicide prevention and mental health promotion
• Military communities, readiness, and resilience
• Systems change, including organizational and culture change in the military and other community serving systems
• Public health workforce competencies and career pipelines
• Data visualization and dissemination

Candidates hired for the position may work remotely within the United States (U.S.) or from one of our U.S. office locations. This does not include U.S. territories.

About AIR: Established in 1946, with headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, AIR is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit institution that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance to solve some of the most urgent challenges in the U.S. and around the world. We generate evidence and apply data-driven solutions that expand opportunities and improve lives for all.

Responsibilities:

The responsibilities for the position include:

• Manage or help manage large, complex research projects or a series of smaller projects.
• Ensure that all task activities and deliverables are completed on time, are of high quality, and align with client expectations.
• Develop strategic plans and timelines for products.
• Manage and mentor staff to build their prevention expertise.
• Oversee the planning, design, and implementation of research projects, including methods, procedures and reporting.
• Develop conceptual frameworks that address research and evaluation topics.
• Lead the review, analyses, and syntheses of data and visualization using appropriate practices and techniques and ensure that projects are designed around client needs with sound methodology.
• Serve as an expert in the field and disseminate findings through publication of papers, progress and technical reports, and presentation at seminars and research conferences.
• Curate external relationships and visibility by engaging thought leaders, innovators, and implementation partners across the public health arena.

Qualifications

Education, Knowledge, and Experience

• PhD in related subject area (Anthropology, Economics, Sociology, Public Health, Psychology, or related field) with a minimum of 3 years of related experience, or a Master’s degree and at least 7 years of related experience
• Extensive experience and expertise in issues related to a public health approach to prevention and demonstrated ability to apply this knowledge to real-world policy and programmatic decision-making
• Thought leader with sophisticated understanding of the landscape of violence prevention and evidence gaps in public health, as demonstrated through publications/presentations, award of contracts and grants, and overall body of work
• Demonstrated success in leading field-based research projects
• Demonstrated experience in leading projects utilizing data visualization and interpretation, rapid-cycle evaluations, complex qualitative designs, or other cutting-edge methodologies
• Extensive project leadership and business development experience, including proposal writing, project management, staff supervision and report writing
• Knowledge of the landscape of what works to prevent violence across the social ecology

Skills

• Expertise in the public health approach to primary prevention of violence
• Experience at adapting evidence-based activities to meet the need of different communities
• Collaborative leadership, organizational, and interpersonal skills at a senior level
• Proven ability to develop research staff capacity in research design and methods, project management, client…