Institute for Social Science Research
Join a university ranked in the world’s top 50
Collaborate with highly awarded, world-class colleagues
Access state-of-the-art facilities to further your research endeavours
Based at our picturesque and Vibrant St Lucia Campus
About UQ
As part of the UQ community, you’ll have the opportunity to work alongside the brightest minds, who have joined us from all over the world, and within an environment for research excellence and worldclass facilities, where interdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged.
About This Opportunity
This is an exciting opportunity for a Post-doctoral Research Fellow (Level A) or Research Fellow (Level B) to undertake team-based research in a high achieving, multidisciplinary and collaboration focused environment at the Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR). The Institute’s mission is to undertake transformational solution-focused research and evaluation to address new and emerging challenges facing Australian society, with a particular focus on health, education, public policy, social justice, and equity. ISSR is quite different from a traditional academic organisational unit – it is largely self-funded with a strong focus on commissioned work (Category 2 and 3 contract research and consultancy) involving multi-disciplinary research groups, as opposed to individual research pursuits. This offers opportunities for research to have significant and immediate impact. All research staff are required to contribute significantly to this commissioned work.
This position will work on a range of projects, primarily externally commissioned research and evaluation projects. These will most often fall into the public health areas of mental health, substance use, justice and associated challenges to wellbeing, and involve close collaboration with non-university stakeholders from government, industry, the not-for-profit sector and end-user communities. There will also be opportunities to work on projects with other groups within the Institute. In addition, this position will support the further development of quantitative social science research and evaluation methods at ISSR, including contributing to the short courses we provide. It is expected that the incumbent will contribute to service and engagement roles and activities.
Key responsibilities will include:
Academic Research Level A
Research
Participate in applications for competitive research and evaluation funding, primarily through Category 2 and 3 sources, to support projects and activities.
Undertake collaborative, quantitative research and evaluation projects within large multidisciplinary teams.
Contribute to the project management of small projects.
Contribute to progressing towards transfer of knowledge, technology, and practices to research end users through translation.
Contribute to the production of high-quality research outputs, including the delivery of contract research reports for external partners and publishing in high quality journals.
Develop an emerging research profile aligned to the Institute’s vision and purpose.
Teaching
Contribute to the development and delivery of research methods courses if the opportunity arises.
Supervision and Researcher Development
Contribute to the effective supervision of Honours and Higher Degree by Research students (as appropriate).
Demonstrate personal effectiveness in supervision and the management of researcher development, where required.
Work to promptly resolve conflict and grievances when they arise in accordance with University policy and procedures.
Citizenship and Service
Demonstrate citizenship behaviours that align to the UQ values.
Show leadership of self through collaboration and active participation in priority activities for the Institute.
Provide support to colleagues and Institute operations as needed during other team members’ absences.
Contribute to internal service roles and administrative processes as required, including participation in relevant committees.
Collaborate in service activities external to the immediate organisation unit.
Begin to develop external links and partnerships by cultivating relationships with industry, government departments, professional bodies and the wider community.
Academic Research Level B
Research
Support the use of quantitative social science research methods in the design and implementation of research and evaluation projects in ISSR and collaborate to support the use of mixed methods approaches to the same.
Review, draw upon and share best practice and innovative research methodologies.
Lead and undertake quantitative data analyses, including working with large-scale longitudinal survey and administrative data, extensive data manipulation, and the use of visualisation, data dashboards and other strategies to summarise and communicate results.
Contribute as chief investigator role (often in conjunction with more experienced researchers) in applications for competitive research and evaluation funding, primarily through Category 2 and 3 sources, which includes actively seeking, obtaining, and managing research funding and projects.
Provide project management of small to moderate commissioned research and evaluation projects to ensure they are managed effectively to a high standard and delivered on time, within budget, and in compliance with all relevant contractual, regulatory and policy requirements.
Produce quality research outputs consistent with discipline norms by publishing in national research journals, other appropriate refereed publications, and conference publications, with a lead role in some outputs.
Contribute to research impact and the transfer of knowledge, technology, and practices to research end users.
Teaching
Lead the development and delivery of research methods courses if the opportunity arises.
Supervision and Researcher Development
Lead on the effective supervision of Honours and Higher Degree by Research students (as appropriate).
Demonstrate personal effectiveness in supervision, management and development of researcher capabilities, where required.
Facilitate engagement opportunities for Higher Degree by Research students and other supervisees.
Manage research support staff effectively throughout the employee lifecycle in accordance with University policy and procedures.
Work to promptly resolve conflict and grievances when they arise in accordance with University policy and procedures.
Citizenship and Service
Demonstrate behaviours that align to the UQ values and Leadership Framework.
Show leadership of self and others through mentoring, collaboration, and active participation in priority activities for the Institute, particularly in commissioned research and evaluation work.
Provide support to colleagues and Institute operations as needed during other team members’ absences.
Effectively and efficiently manage internal service roles and administrative processes as required, including participation in decision-making and service on relevant committees.
Actively pursue and develop external links and partnerships by cultivating relationships with industry, government departments, professional bodies, and the wider community.
This is a full-time, fixed-term position for up to 3 years at Academic Level A or Level B.
At Level A, the full-time equivalent base salary will be in the range $77,324 - $102,945, plus a generous super allowance of up to 17%. The total FTE package will be up to $90,470 - $120,445 annually. As this role is covered by an Enterprise Agreement, you will also receive regular remuneration increases – at least once a year.
At Level B, the full-time equivalent base salary will be in the range $108,201 - $128,201, plus a generous super allowance of up to 17%. The total FTE package will be up to $126,595 - $149,996 annually. As this role is covered by an Enterprise Agreement, you will also receive regular remuneration increases – at least once a year.
The greater benefits of joining the UQ community are broad: from being part of a Group of Eight university, to recognition of prior service with other Australian universities, up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave, 17.5% annual leave loading, flexible working arrangements including hybrid on site/WFH options and flexible start/finish times, and genuine career progression opportunities via the academic promotions process.
About You
Successful Level A candidates will demonstrate
Completion or near completion of a PhD in a relevant field of social science or a cognate discipline (e.g., public health, criminology, psychology, sociology) with a significant component of quantitative data analysis and data management.
An emerging profile in research in the discipline areas related to mental health, substance use, public health, social justice, equity and/or program evaluation.
Experience applying quantitative knowledge and technical skills to high quality research projects, particularly in the public domain, including project management, data collection, data management, data analysis, and reporting.
Experience in using statistical/programming tools or packages, such as Stata and R (preferable), as well as data visualisation tools and dashboards.
Evidence of contributions towards successfully obtaining external research funding.
Evidence of publications in reputed refereed journals, presenting at conferences, and non-traditional research outputs that are of high quality and impact.
In addition to the above, successful Level B candidates will demonstrate
Completion of a PhD in a relevant field of social science or a cognate discipline with a significant component of quantitative data analysis and data management (e.g., public health, statistics, criminology, psychology, sociology).
A growing profile and experience of conducting research in the discipline areas related to mental health, substance use, public health, social justice, equity and/or program evaluation, and ability to apply this knowledge to the evaluation of interventions situated in complex social systems.
Evidence of successfully seeking, obtaining, and managing external research funding, including Category 2 and 3 commissioned research or Consultancy.
Experience developing, managing and/or conducting high quality collaborative quantitative research projects, including project management, data collection, data management, data analysis, and reporting to diverse stakeholders.
Significant to advanced expertise in using statistical/programming tools or packages, such as Stata and R (preferable), as well as data visualisation tools and dashboards.
Demonstrated ability to apply this expertise to real-world data from service, administrative or primary collections in the context of program and system appraisals.
Experience working with external stakeholders such as government, not-for-profit and community based organisations.
Emerging experience in mixed methods research, including the conduct of systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses.
A developing track record of publications in reputed refereed journals, conference presentations, and non-traditional research outputs that are of high quality and impact.
A growing record of supervision of Honours and Higher Degree by Research students to successful completion.
In addition, the following mandatory requirements apply:
Work Rights: You must have unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this appointment to apply. Visa sponsorship is not available for this appointment.
Background Checks: All final applicants for this position may be asked to consent to a criminal record check. Please note that people with criminal records are not automatically barred from applying for this position. Each application will be considered on its merits.
Questions?
For more information about this opportunity, please contact Associate Professor Caroline Salom . For application queries, please contact [email protected] stating the job reference number (below) in the subject line.
Want to Apply?
All applicants must upload the following documents in order for your application to be considered:
Resume
Cover letter
Responses to the ‘About You’ section
Applicants should specifically address in their cover letter at what Academic Level (A or B) you are interested in applying for.
Other Information
At UQ we know that our greatest strengths come from our diverse mix of colleagues, this is reflected in our ongoing commitment to creating an environment focused on equity, diversity and inclusion . We ensure that we are always attracting, retaining and promoting colleagues who are representative of the diversity in the broader community, whether that be gender identity , LGBTQIA+ , cultural and/or linguistic , Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples , or people with a disability . Accessibility requirements and/or adjustments can be directed to [email protected] .
If you are a current employee (including casual staff and HDR scholars) or hold an unpaid/affiliate appointment, please login to your staff Workday account and visit the internal careers board to apply for this opportunity. Please do NOT apply via the external job board.
Applications close Thursday, 21 March 2024 at 11.00pm AEST (R-35961).