Project Specialist

3M HEALTHCARE; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 41,672 - 45,019; Full time

Job summary

University of Southern California seeks a Project Specialist to assist with health policy and economics research. You will collaborate on data collection, coding, analysis, and manuscript preparation under a professor’s guidance.

The role emphasizes strong organizational and communication skills, independent work, and familiarity with Stata, R, or Python. This position is ideal for building research experience for graduate study and policy careers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree required; Master’s preferred.
• 2 years minimum experience in economics, public policy, or related field.
• Experience with data collection, coding, and manuscript preparation.

Responsibilities

• Design, execute, and document data collection protocols.
• Write code to extract, clean, and analyze data sets.
• Prepare manuscripts for academic and policy publications.
• Draft IRB submissions, grant applications, and reports.
• Create charts, tables, and visuals for presentations.
• Conduct literature searches and manage citations.
• Supervise students and trainees in research protocols.

Skills

Org skills

Comm skills

Literature search

Independent

Agentic AI

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Master's Degree preferred

Tools

Stata

R

Python

Job description

In order for your application to be considered, you must attach a cover letter and resume to your application. The Schaeffer Center is seeking a Project Specialist to assist Professor Genevieve Kanter with research activities, working on health policy and economics projects. This position provides the opportunity to gain research skills and knowledge in a collaborative team environment, with access to excellent academic and computing resources, and is excellent preparation for graduate school or advanced research and policy positions.

Job Responsibilities

• Collaborating in the design, execution, and documentation of data collection protocols using online sources and documents.
• Writing code to extract data, clean and manipulate datasets, and conduct statistical analysis.
• Preparing manuscripts for academic and policy publications.
• Drafting documentation, status reports, IRB submissions, grant applications, and other research deliverables.
• Preparing charts, tables, statistics, text, and visuals for presentations.
• Conducting literature searches using databases such as PubMed, EconLit, and Google Scholar, and maintaining citation databases.
• Supervising students and trainees in research protocols.

Required Competencies, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Good organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to meet deadlines.
• Good communication skills, oral and written.
• Resourcefulness and excellent web search and literature search skills.
• Independent and self‑motivated.
• Facility with computer programming (interest and experience in agentic AI a plus).

Minimum Education

Bachelor’s Degree (combined education/experience may substitute).

Minimum Experience

2 years.

Minimum Fields of Expertise

Economics, public policy, or other social science; or quantitative field such as engineering, computer science, or mathematics.

Programming Language Competency

Stata, R, or Python.

Preferred Education

Master’s Degree.

Preferred Experience

3 years.

Preferred Expertise

Experience or coursework in health, the biological sciences, public policy, or political science.

Compensation

The hourly rate range for this position is $30.25 – $32.68. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state, and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.

Required Documents

• Cover letter
• Resume/CV
• Transcripts (unofficial is acceptable)
• Writing sample
• Names and contact information of two references

Equal Employment Opportunity

USC is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law or USC policy. USC observes affirmative action obligations consistent with state and federal law. USC will consider for employment all qualified applicants with criminal records in a manner consistent with applicable laws and regulations, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for employers and the Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, and with due consideration for patient and student safety. Please refer to the Background Screening Policy Appendix D for specific employment screening implications for the position for which you are applying. We provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. Applicants with questions about access or requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process should contact USC Human Resources by phone at [phone], or by email at [e-mail].