Prof Spec. - NIMH Conte Center Understanding Latent Cause Inference in Health and Illness

We are looking for a research scientist program manager for an NIMH Conte Center focusing on computation modeling, behavioral assessment, fMRI, and animal studies of latent cause inference in mental health. This is a joint Princeton & Rutgers Center involving 10 faculty. The Professional Specialist will be the Center Manager and will work in close collaboration with the Program Director (Prof. Yael Niv) in coordinating Center activities. This  position may possibly transition to Academic Research Manager in the future.

We seek a talented, enthusiastic, and dedicated individual. You will have the opportunity to contribute to the development and execution of a new program focused on a fundamental cognitive process - latent cause inference - and its relationship to mental health. You will coordinate and potentially collaborate on cutting-edge research focused on understanding and better treating anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder and schizophrenia.

This is not an administrative position - we are looking for a scientist who is/will become a topic expert in the substance of the Center's research and will be able to help chart the path of the Center now and in future renewals. The Center Manager position is envisioned as a long-term position that also involves recruiting personnel for the project, mentoring students and postdocs, and writing grants. Primary responsibilities will be research project/team management, developing methodology, analyzing data, and communicating scientific research findings. We are specifically interested in someone with expertise in programming, computational modeling, or data analytics, as you will also provide technical support for the Center's experiment-conducting software.
  
This is an ideal position for a trained scientist or engineer looking for an academic career that involves research management but without being an independent PI. 

Main responsibilities: 
*Planning, coordinating and leading Center activities
*Maintaining and improving custom-built online experiment-delivery platform
*Programmatic tracking and reporting to NIMH
*Maintaining the Center website
*Collaborating on research activities within the Center as time permits. 
*Co-running the Niv Lab, including participating in hiring and mentoring of personnel involved in the Conte Center 

Required qualifications:
*PhD in psychology, neuroscience, computer science or a related field, with at least 3 years post-doctoral experience.
*A track record of research outputs including papers and grant/fellowship applications written
*A track record of mentoring undergraduate or graduate research assistants

Preferred qualifications:
*Experience with computational modeling, online behavioral experiments, and/or mental-health related research
*Experience in managing projects, particularly in an academic, industrial or philanthropic setting in the life sciences, engineering, or global health space. 
*Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
*Demonstrable experience of time and priority management 
*High attention to details
*Ability to effectively monitor and track budgets
*Excellent written and verbal communication skills (English)

Personal specification:
*Articulate, dynamic, well-organized and goal-focused creative thinker
*Thrives in multi-investigator collaborations 
*Able to work equally well on own initiative or collaboratively as part of a team
*Able to manage and complete numerous time-sensitive tasks reliably. 

Location: in person at Princeton University, with some travel to Rutgers Piscataway Campus. The initial appointment is for one year, with the possibility of renewal. 

Applications must be submitted on-line at https://puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/position/34821 and include a cover letter, CV, and contact info for 3 references. This position is subject to Princeton University's background- check policy.