Assistant Scientist (Policy Research Analyst) - University of Florida

Assistant Scientist 

The University of Florida Institute for Child Health Policy and the Department of Health Outcomes and Policy, College of Medicine, seeks applicants for a full-time faculty position as an Assistant Scientist, with a working title of Policy Research Analyst. The position requires the candidate to work independently as a scientist while also collaborating with other social and behavioral scientists, health professionals, and health policy experts on the design, coordination, and implementation of program evaluation research. The policy focus includes federal and state funded projects that evaluate access to and quality of care for beneficiaries enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The Department more broadly has an interest in health disparities in access to and quality of care, which can be related to age, gender, race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, and/or geography.

We are seeking a social/behavioral scientist/health services researcher with strong study design, data collection, and analytical research skills in quantitative research and regression analysis. Candidates with demonstrated expertise in survey research methods and public health insurance policy are preferred. This position will supervise research support staff across multiple projects.

Commensurate with Experience 

(1) an earned doctorate in health services research or a social sciences field and (2) a minimum of two years of research experience specifically focused on research in health disparities, with preference for research on publicly insured adults and children. Primary criteria for appointment include outstanding oral and written communication skills, ability and experience authoring technical reports, experience in project/research management, demonstrated expertise in statistical applications and software packages (e.g., SAS, SPSS, Stata, N-Vivo, Atlas.ti, ArcGIS, Excel, and Access), and interest, ability and experience in collaborative multi-disciplinary research.

Applicants must also demonstrate:

• Interest in and ability to translate research findings into practice, using data collected and analyzed to inform the evaluation of health programs and the development of interventions to improve quality of care for beneficiaries of public insurance programs. This involves interaction with project stakeholders (government, health plan, provider, and patient representatives).
• Up-to-date knowledge of federal programs, initiatives, and regulations designed to monitor and improve quality of care for adults and children in public insurance programs.

This is a research-funded position and is annually renewable based on research funds. Interested applicants should upload their letter of interest, CV, and two recent writing samples (first author preferred) to the Careers at UF website. For additional information, please contact Deepa Ranka at deepar@ufl.edu.

Final candidate will be required to provide official transcript to the hiring department upon hire. A transcript will not be considered “official” if a designation of “Issued to Student” is visible. Degrees earned from an education institution outside of the United States are required to be evaluated by a professional credentialing service provider approved by National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES), which can be found at http://www.naces.org/.

The University of Florida is committed to non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations, genetic information and veteran status in all aspects of employment including recruitment, hiring, promotions, transfers, discipline, terminations, wage and salary administration, benefits, and training.

Application must be submitted by 11:55 p.m. (ET) of the posting end date.