Research Program Specialist - School of Social Work

Experience Champaign Urbana; Urbana (IL); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Experience Champaign Urbana is seeking a project management/coordination professional to coordinate applied research projects in juvenile and criminal justice domains. The role will liaise with CPRD and funders, guide data collection, and supervise timely deliverables.

Responsibilities include leading project teams, developing reports, and delivering trainings and technical assistance to funders and agencies, with a focus on data-informed policy development.

Responsibilities

• Liaises between CPRD and funders; builds partnerships with funders, data admins, and foundations on research and data use.
• Leads project to ensure timely, complete, professional work; manages timelines, deliverables, and completion.
• Advises leadership on pursuing new juvenile and criminal justice funding; recommends resource allocation on annual budgets.
• Authors major reports such as the annual detention, juvenile transfer, jail removal, and RED reports.
• Other duties as appropriate.
• Conceptualizes research questions to guide development and implementation of applied research protocols.
• Develops surveys and data collection instruments; oversees data collection, interpretation and use of findings.
• Provides consultation and technical assistance to funders and agencies on database design and user support.
• Creates and presents trainings for juvenile justice councils, IJJC, and stakeholders.
• Leads in criminal and juvenile justice research for dissemination of reports and products.

Job description

Duties Responsibilities Project Management/Coordination

• Serves as primary liaison between CPRD and funders. Forms mutually beneficial partnerships with funders, state‐level data administrators and foundations regarding issues related to applied research, evaluation design, database development, data collection, interpretation and utilization of evaluation findings and developing a better understanding for how to use data.
• Serves in a project leadership role to ensure the project team delivers work products in a timely, complete and professional manner; and meets all short, intermediate and long‐term goals. Maintains responsibility for timelines, work products, and project completion.
• Advises the Director and CPRD leadership team on issues of pursuing new juvenile and criminal justice funding. Recommends resource allocation on annual budgets to Primary Investigator or Co‑Primary Investigator of CPRD projects.
• Author major reports such as the annual detention report, annual juvenile transfer report, jail removal report, and annual RED report.
• Other duties as appropriate.

Data Analysis and Reporting

• Conceptualize research questions to guide the development, management and implementation of applied research protocols, procedures and measures.
• Develop surveys and other data collection instruments and protocols. Data collection, interpretation and utilization of data findings.

Training and Technical Assistance

• Provide consultation and technical assistance to funders, state or national agencies, or communities (e.g., provide trainings on database design and user support to JMIS users).
• Create and present presentations and/or trainings on various topics to juvenile justice councils, the IJJC, and other stakeholders.
• Provide leadership and expertise in criminal and juvenile justice research and practice for the development of research projects, scholarly work, reports, and products for publication and dissemination.