Research Project Specialist
Life Span Institute, University of Kansas
JUNIPER GARDENS CHILDREN’S PROJECT
Research Project Specialist
The Juniper Gardens Children’s Project, a community-based research center affiliated with the
Institute for Life Span Studies at the University of Kansas, is seeking to hire a full-time Research
Project Specialist to support research faculty, staff, and students with research support activities. The
responsibilities of the Research Project Specialist include but are not limited to the organization of data
collection and data management activities, projects and assistance with research project
administration tasks. The Research Project Specialist will support the execution of several internally
and externally funded research projects. The position is at JGCP, located in downtown Kansas
City, Kansas in the Children’s Campus of Kansas City building: 444 Minnesota Avenue, Suite 300,
Kansas City, KS 66101. Please note that all offers of employment are contingent upon the
satisfactory completion of the background check. Continuation of position is contingent on satisfactory
evaluation and available funding.
Job Duties:
• (50%) Data Management and Data Collection
Facilitate data collection with research participants using standardized assessments,
observational measures, and surveys; building and maintaining rapport with research partners
such as families, teachers, and program administrators; and communicating. Work with
research partners and project staff to coordinate the scheduling and administration of
assessments, appropriately handle the care of assessment data and coordinate data checking
and management processes. Oversee the project teams as they prepare of research materials
for delivery and dissemination to project staff and research partners; complete assigned
project support tasks, such as training of data collection staff, scoring and submitting collected
data, data entry, and checking, participant tracking and assist in conducting reliability
assessments. Attend the data collection team and research project meetings.
• (25%) Research Project Support
Provide post-award research support including assisting research teams with project
implementation, budgets, grants, and administrative procedures; assist research projects in
dissemination of documents, resources, assembling packets, copying, preparing bulk mailings,
filing, collating, labeling, data entry, audio transcriptions, editing of manuscripts and research
documents, proofreading, meeting scheduling, and event planning. Support projects during
staff illness/maternity leave or other unique situations. Assist projects with any specific support
as needed and learn specific duties related to the project and carry those out as needed and
as efficiently as possible.
• (25%) Administrative Program Support
Greet and welcome staff and guests; direct visitors to the appropriate area and monitor visitor log;
set a positive office atmosphere; answer and direct telephone calls; serve as a general point of
contact and handle inquiries; process research supply requisitions; payment of invoices;
submit and follow-up on work orders for building maintenance, supplies and other special
requests; sort and distribute incoming mail; assist with outgoing mailings, and prepare a meeting
and training rooms.
Required Qualifications:
1. Bachelor’s degree or GED with four years of related work experience.
2. Five years of guest or public service experience as evidenced by application materials.
3. Effective written and verbal communication skills as evidenced by application materials,
work experience and interview.
4. Strong organizational skills and attention to detail as evidenced by application materials
and work experience.
5. Experience working with computers, including e-mail, word processing, spreadsheet, database, and telecommunications application software (Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel,
Access, Skype for Business, and Zoom) as evidenced in application materials.
6. Six months minimum experience administering assessments and conducting observations
of young children (GRTR, CIRCLE, PELI, TOPEL) as evidenced by application materials.
7. One year of experience assisting research teams with project implementation, budgets, grants
and administrative procedures as evidenced by application materials.
Position Requirements:
1. A valid driver’s license and personal, reliable transportation is required.
Preferred Qualifications:
1. One year of experience in supporting research projects related to early intervention/education
(e.g., conducting reliability checks).
2. Ability to work independently and oversee multiple tasks and projects at one time, as
evidenced by application materials.
3. Experience with data management.
FTE: 100% (40 hours per week)
SALARY: $38,480 to $46,800 annually, commensurate with education and experience.
START DATE: April 27, 2020
TO APPLY: For more information and how to apply go to https://employment.ku.edu/staff/17002BR
Please submit an online application, cover letter, vitae and contact information for two professional
references. In the cover letter, please indicate how you see your particular skill set and prior
experience contributing to the research at JGCP. If you have questions about the position, please
contact Jenne Bryant at jaccurso@ku.edu. If you have questions about applying, please contact
Diana Skill at dskill@ku.edu
APPLICATION DEADLINE: Review of applications will begin on April 6, 2020, and will continue until a
qualified applicant pool has been identified.
LENGTH OF APPOINTMENT: 12-month position; contingent on grant funding
The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, retaliation, gender identity, gender expression, and genetic information in the University’s programs and activities.
The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies and are the Title IX Coordinators for their respective campuses: Director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, IOA@ku.edu, Room 1082, Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS, 66045, 785- 864-6414, 711 TTY (for the Lawrence, Edwards, Parsons, Yoder, and Topeka campuses; Director, Equal Opportunity Office, Mail Stop 7004, 4330 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Fairway, KS 66205, 913-588-8011, 711 TTY (for the Wichita, Salina, and Kansas City, Kansas medical center campuses).