Research Program Assistant I - Children's Learning Institute

UTHealth Houston; Houston (TX); Hybrid; USD 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% paid medical premiums

Generous time off

Longevity Pay

Retirement plan

Job summary

UTHealth Houston's Children’s Learning Institute (CLI) seeks an entry-level Research Program Assistant I to support a grant-funded early childhood workforce initiative. The role focuses on intake, data entry, record maintenance, and basic data organization to aid program operations and reporting.

A strong candidate will manage multiple requests and large datasets in a pediatric/early childhood research context. Bilingual in English/Spanish is a plus.

Qualifications

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Bilingual English/Spanish preferred.
• Reliable transportation for travel across Texas.
• HSR training via CITI within five days of employment.

Responsibilities

• Provide reliability status on coding analysis measures for department projects.
• Conduct cognitive/social/emotional assessments with children and interviews with teachers/families; manage equipment.
• Perform classroom observations and focus on cognitive readiness via live coding.
• Handle data tasks including transferring, verifying, entering, processing, managing and analyzing data.
• Attend trainings and assist in recruiting subjects and obtaining informed consent; often at meetings or homes.
• Support intervention or coaching in home/school settings to train parents or teachers; maintain certification.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Skills

Excellent interpersonal skills

Bilingual English/Spanish

Reliable transportation

HSR training (CITI) within 5 days

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Psychology or related field

Master's Degree preferred

Job description

The Children’s Learning Institute (CLI) at UTHealth Houston is a nationally recognized leader in early childhood development, educational research, and large-scale program implementation.
The Research Program Assistant I supports a grant-funded early childhood workforce initiative through primarily administrative and data-focused tasks. Under general supervision, this will assist with participant intake process, data entry, record maintenance, and basic data organization to support program operations and reporting. Responsibilities include maintaining accurate databases, tracking participant information, supporting workflow processes, and providing general customer service to program participants. This role is key to ensuring data accuracy, timely information processing, and smooth day-to-day program implementation.
A strong candidate may have experience tracking and following up on multiple requests, and managing large datasets while working in early childhood education or behavioral health/pediatrics with human subjects research. This position is an entry-level, external-facing role, so participant support is key! Bilingual is a plus.
This role is in-office with a telework agreement, occasional statewide travel, and potential weekend travel, contingent upon project need. Mileage reimbursed.
What we do here changes the world. UTHealth Houston is Texas’ resource for healthcare education, innovation, scientific discovery, and excellence in patient care. That’s where you come in.
Once you join us you won't want to leave. It’s because we reward our team for the excellent service they provide. Our total rewards package includes the benefits you’d expect from a top healthcare organization (benefits, insurance, etc.), plus:

• 100% paid medical premiums for our full-time employees
• Generous time off (holidays, preventative leave day, both vacation and sick time – all of which equates to around 37-38 days per year)
• The longer you stay, the more vacation you’ll accrue!
• Longevity Pay (Monthly payments after two years of service)
• Build your future with our awesome retirement/pension plan!

We take care of our employees! As a world-renowned institution, our employees’ wellbeing is important to us. We offer work/life services such as...

• Free financial and legal counseling
• Free mental health counseling services
• Gym membership discounts and access to wellness programs
• Other employee discounts including entertainment, car rentals, cell phones, etc.
• Resources for child and elder care
• Plus many more!

Position Summary

Responsible for a variety of projects and programs with a diverse array of subjects focusing on research in child development.

Position Key Accountabilities

• Provide reliability status on various objective and subjective coding analysis measures pertaining to projects within the department.
• Perform cognitive/social/emotional assessments with children and additional interviews with teachers and families which include an extensive battery of psychological and educational based evaluations and manage appropriate research equipment and supplies.
• Perform observational evaluations performed in schools and classrooms and focus on cognitive readiness activities by means of a complex live coding scheme.
• Work on a range of data and information including but not limited to transferring, verifying, entering, processing, management and analysis.
• Attend relevant trainings and assist in recruiting subjects (teachers, students, families, and individuals) and obtaining informed consent from potential research study participants. This often occurs in parent teacher meetings and sometimes in a family's home.
• May serve in an intervention or coaching role in home or school setting to training parents or teachers in parenting, including extensive trainings and regular meetings to maintain certification and reliability.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Certification/Skills

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Bilingual skills in English/Spanish preferred.
• Reliable personal transportation as some projects may require extensive out of town travel which will vary from Houston and surrounding areas to various sites across the state of Texas.
• Work may involve handling biohazardous, chemical, and radiological materials, as well as operating associated equipment. Required safety training and appropriate engineering and administrative controls including the use of personal protective equipment must be followed.
• Human Subjects Research (HSR) by Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program) within five days of employment required

Minimum Education

Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, Human Development, Biology or relevant field required. Master's Degree preferred. May substitute required education with equivalent years of experience beyond the minimum experience requirement.

Minimum Experience

Experience in customer service, behavioral analysis or research experience is preferred

Physical Requirements

Exerts up to 20 pounds of force occasionally and/or up to 10 pounds frequently and/or a negligible amount constantly to move objects.

Security Sensitive

This position is a security-sensitive position pursuant to Texas Education Code

• 51.215 and Texas Government Code
• 411.094. To the extent that a position requires the holder to research, work on, or have access to critical infrastructure as defined in Texas Business and Commerce Code
• 117.001(2), the ability to maintain the security or integrity of the infrastructure is a minimum qualification to be hired for and to continue to be employed in that position. Personnel in such positions, and similarly situated state contractors, will be routinely reviewed to determine whether things such as criminal history or continuous connections to the government or political apparatus of a foreign adversary might prevent the applicant, employee, or contractor from being able to maintain the security or integrity of the infrastructure. A foreign adversary is a nation listed in 15 C.F.R.
• 791.4.

Residency Requirement

Employees must permanently reside and work in the State of Texas.