Research Coordinator

This is a remote position.

The Research Coordinator at the Institute for Research Experiences & Education (IREE) works closely with IREE’s interdisciplinary research team on the workflows, logistics, and administrative components that are critical to social science and education research. This individual is the cohesive glue across education research projects, ensuring studies are completed as planned and communication is seamless across the team. With expertise in project management and experience in social science research, the Research Coordinator plays a key support role that is integral to the execution of research projects. As a core member of the team, this individual brings a spirit of curiosity and pragmatism to each project.

UL Research Institutes:

At UL Research Institutes (ULRI), we expand the boundaries of safety science to create a more secure and sustainable world. For more than a century, we have studied the unintended consequences of innovation, designed solutions to mitigate risk and shared our findings with academia, scientists, manufacturers, and policymakers across industries. We identify critical safety and sustainability issues, asking the tough questions because we believe a safer world begins with knowledge.

Build a safer, more secure, and sustainable future with us. Join us and work with our Research Experiences & Education teams who conduct the research required to produce that knowledge and put into practice.

IREE:

The Institute for Research Experiences and Education (IREE) cultivates the next generation of safety scientists through a mix of unique educational programs, academic partnerships, and research and standards development experiences.

We translate the findings of our research institutes into compelling educational materials, bringing to life scientific concepts using contemporary best education practices to create learning opportunities for a wide variety of secondary through postgraduate students. Our academic collaborations and support for the next generation of safety scientists likewise reach across the educational spectrum, including partnerships that reach out to students who are underrepresented in STEM fields.

Through all of our programs, we aim to unlock the diverse perspectives that are essential for solving the world’s most pressing safety and sustainability issues.

What you’ll learn and achieve:

As the Research Coordinator, you will play a key role in the rapid growth of UL as you:

Develop and maintain systems to track and administer social science research, in the following key areas.

·       Team communication

o   Collaborate with team leadership to ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities by facilitating regular team and project meetings, providing updates on progress, identifying potential roadblocks, and soliciting input from team members.
o   Foster positive relationships with colleagues, internal and external collaborators, and project participants, keeping them informed about project progress, changes, and potential impacts, addressing stakeholder concerns and requests promptly and professionally.

·       Research compliance and ethics

o   Track trainings and certifications, including renewals
o   Track IRB applications, including renewals

·       Project workflow and documentation

o   Assist in creating and maintaining project charters, ensuring alignment with organizational goals.
o   Collaborate with the research team and external partners to align and track project objectives, scope, and deliverables in established project management systems. Translate project plans into timelines, milestones, and resource allocation.
o   Maintain project documentation, including status reports and meeting summaries, and generate periodic project reports for team leadership, highlighting progress, issues, and recommendations.
o   Support data management processes and systems.

·       Financial administration

o   Assist in budget planning and tracking, ensuring projects are executed within the allocated budget and monitor project expenses and identify cost-saving opportunities while maintaining quality.
o   Arrange for compensation for research participants
o   Assist with processing vendor invoices

·       Logistics for research convenings, conferences, and publications

o   Contribute to planning for research convenings hosted by IREE 
o   Organize vendors, rentals, and meals for participants and partners
o   Track conference and publication deadlines and submissions

·       Coordination for grants

o   Support grant writing in collaboration with other teams and administrators
o   Support grant administration with other organizational administrators

Perform other duties as assigned.

What you’ll experience working at UL Research Institutes: We have pursued our mission of working for a safer, more secure, and sustainable world for nearly 130 years, embedding conscientious stewardship into everything we do.

• People: Our people make us special. You’ll work with a diverse team of experts respected for their independence and transparency and build a network, because our approach is collaborative. We collaborate across disciplines, organizations, and geographies to build the global scientific response that today’s global challenges require.
  
• Interesting work: Every day is different for us here. We see what’s on the horizon and use our expertise to build the foundations of a safer future. You’ll have the opportunity to push the boundaries of human understanding as part of a team working to advance the public good.
  
• Grow and achieve: We learn, work, and grow together through targeted development, reward, and recognition programs.
  
• Values. Four core values guide our work: collaboration, respect, integrity, and beneficence. By living our values, we inspire the trust essential to fulfilling our mission and foster the partnerships that enable us to pursue a beneficent future in which we all can thrive.
  
• Total Rewards: All employees at UL Research Institutes are eligible for bonus compensation. We offer comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans and a generous 401k matching structure of up to 5% of eligible pay. Moreover, we invest an additional 4% into your retirement saving fund after your first year of continuous employment. Depending on your role, you may be able to discuss flexible working arrangements with your manager. We also provide employees with paid time off, including vacation, holiday, sick, and volunteer days.
  

What makes you a great fit:

While no one candidate will embody every quality, the successful candidate will bring many of the following professional competencies and personal attributes:

• Understanding of the ethical and pragmatic requirements for applied social science research, particularly human subjects data. 
  
• A penchant for organization balanced with an appreciation for the human needs of colleagues and collaborators. 
  
• Demonstrated ability to independently identify needs for projects, formulate objectives, plan and execute tasks. 
  
• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills that embody collegial and professional communication with all colleagues, collaborators, and research participants.
  
• Excellent problem-solving abilities and the capacity to adapt to changing project requirements.
  
• Ability to work steadily on multiple projects and maintain an eye on the big-picture goal of each project and the mission of the organization.
  

 Professional education and experience requirements for the role include

• Bachelor's degree and / or demonstrated interest in social science (including but not limited to education research and learning sciences), and the processes involved in conducting and administering social science research.
  
• Minimum 2 years of experience in project coordination, project management, or research.
  
• Experience or demonstrated interest in project management. 
  
• Travel to conferences, team meetings, and research convenings as needed.
  

About UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement

UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement are nonprofit organizations dedicated to advancing safety science research through the discovery and application of scientific knowledge. We conduct rigorous independent research and analyze safety data, convene experts worldwide to address risks, share knowledge through safety education and public outreach initiatives, and develop standards to guide safe commercialization of evolving technologies. We foster communities of safety, from grassroots initiatives for neighborhoods to summits of world leaders. Our organization employs collaborative and scientific approaches with partners and stakeholders to drive innovation and progress toward improving safety, security, and sustainability, ultimately enhancing societal well-being.