The School of Public Health is looking for a Research Area Specialist Intermediate and analyst to support project management coordination activities in collaboration with the School of Information, College of Engineering, and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The University is providing public health data analysis, visualization platforms, and modeling for use by the public and local public health officials. These projects support vaccine outreach and education efforts as well as tracking the extent and impact of infectious disease outbreaks in Michigan. Continued support and development of these projects will require a substantial amount of skilled research and coordination.

This individual will help develop, design and conduct research projects including qualitative interviews, stakeholder communication, progress reporting, study design and other strategic research tasks. They will record research procedures and inclusion of subjects to inform public health needs. This individual would report to the leads of the Integration and Policy Core of the Michigan Public Health Integrated Center for Outbreak Analytics and Modeling (MICOM).

A successful candidate would have a strong mixed methods research background (including experience both in informatics, UX research, and public health qualitative research), experience in public health particularly with local health departments, strong interpersonal skills, and would enjoy working on a highly collaborative team. There is potential within this role to take on responsibility in managing research personnel and interns/part-time individuals.

• Project Management:
  • Document meetings
  • Develop project timelines
  • Review progress toward grant milestones
  • Assist in the process of identifying problems or roadblocks to research progress, and implementation of solutions
  • Contribute to development of research protocol and criteria
  • Contribute to the preparation of conference presentations and abstract submission
• Compliance and Research Support:
  • Review relevant academic literature and assist with references, manuscript writing, manuscript preparation, data analysis and interpretation.
  • Provide support to both faculty and the grants administration team for grant proposal preparation/submission and annual progress reports
  • Management of Data Use Agreements (DUAs), Institutional Review Board (IRBs), and other compliance requirements, and making sure the team stays within the bounds of those
• Analytics/Research
  • Perform exploratory data analysis 
  • Independently develop and perform qualitative and UX research, including managing communication with participants, developing interview guides, conducting interviews, particularly with local health department staff
  • Create user interface elements for research products/tools using industry standard tools

• Master's degree in health information or a relevant field with 4-5 years of relevant job experience
• Familiarity with Programming (Python, R, etc)
• Background in psychology, anthropology
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Proficient in Microsoft software (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) or Google Suite
• Proficient with project management tools (Airtable, Asana, Jira, etc)
• Ability to prioritize with general supervision and complete assignments in a timely manner
• Excellent attention to detail
• Flexibility and ability to work independently and collaboratively with multiple researchers.
• Qualitative and User Experience Research Experience - experience in user experience research on technical projects including UX design and development, qualitative research in public health, ideally including work with local health departments and other STLT staff, as well as school administrators 
• Experience managing participant contacts, email communications, etc.

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes.

This position allows for a hybrid work schedule. The selected candidate will be expected to work on-site 1-3 days per week depending on project needs.

This is a term-limited appointment that will end two years from the appointment start date, with the potential for an extension depending upon available funding and performance.

The University of Michigan conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer and may use a third party administrator to conduct background checks. Background checks are performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Job openings are posted for a minimum of seven calendar days. The review and selection process may begin as early as the eighth day after posting. This opening may be removed from posting boards and filled anytime after the minimum posting period has ended.

The University of Michigan is an equal employment opportunity employer.