GFRP Research Specialist

Employment Type: Permanent Staff (EHRA NF)

Vacancy ID: NF0010092

Salary Range: $65,000 to $75,000 dependent on qualifications

Position Summary/Description:

As a member of the Global Food Research Program ( GFRP ) team, the GFRP Research Specialist will have primary responsibility for leading GFRP’s data procedure & protocol design for evaluations of regulations around the world. The GFRP Research Specialist must be able to comprehensively identify and interpret regulations and legislation (including taxation, labeling, and marketing regulations) and remain abreast of related changes, timelines, nutrient profiles, and thresholds. This position will define standards for collection of nutrition facts panel ( NFP ) data, and instruct others in implementing such standards for accuracy, validity, and integrity. This position will be responsible for evaluating and designing methods and procedures for reviewing, cleaning, and linking datasets (including data on commercial products, marketing, dietary intake, and NFP ), will translate regulations into coding instructions for programmers to apply to various datasets, and verify coding applied accurately. This position will continually trouble-shoot and resolve quality control issues and will work towards improving efficiency and accuracy in protocols and procedures for applying regulatory schemes to various datasets.

In the role as Lead for Vietnam, this position will plan, assign, and review work of others, including GFRP staff, contractors, and global collaborators, and will routinely assess needs of the projects and make changes in processes, workflow, and/or assignments. In collaboration with our global colleagues, this position will define work plans to meet objectives and established deadlines.

The GFRP Research Specialist will collaborate closely with colleagues at our global collaborators’ research institutions in Vietnam to develop and coordinate instruction and training of staff, students, faculty, and collaborators in the performance of specialized methods of data collection, entry, cleaning, and utilization (including interconnection of data sources). Instruction may use in-person, virtual, recorded, or documentary methods, and communication may be in language of collaborators (Vietnamese). To support GFRP’s aims of capacity building with each of our collaborators, the work performed by this position to develop and train these teams is essential to fulfilling our goals.

This role will also include the preparation of documents required for preparation of publications, reports, and proposal development. A critical piece of GFRP’s research and evaluation is dissemination of research findings to stakeholders to inform development and refinement of food policies. As needed, this position will also be responsible for the development of policy briefs, fact sheets, presentations, and other materials required to disseminate these findings.

This position requires knowledge and understanding of complex research concepts from multiple disciplines, including dietary intake, dietary quality, obesity, non-communicable diseases, health disparities, food systems, food environment, consumer psychology, food marketing and advertising. As regulation and legislation is proposed, considered, and passed in various jurisdictions, this position will evaluate regulatory schemes by designing methods of application to databases and understanding of typical industry and consumer responses.

Education and Experience:

• Master’s degree and at least 2 years of experience in research preferred.

• Experience planning, implementing, and coordinating research projects.

• Experience with managing research compliance, Institutional Review Board ( IRB ) processes and submissions.

• Bilingual in Vietnamese and English.

Essential Skills:

• Strong public health and nutrition research skills (e.g., reviewing scientific literature, creating data collection instruments, managing databases, IRB applications and protocols, training data collectors).

• Strong project coordination, interpersonal, and written and verbal communication skills.

• High level of organizational skills, attention to detail, and demonstrated capacity to independently coordinate multiple aspects associated with large research studies.

• Resourceful approach to problem solving.

• Experience collaborating well in teams and ability to function well with culturally diverse colleagues and contacts, as many of our collaborators are international.

AA/EEO Statement:

The University is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all to apply without regard to age, color, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.