Junior Specialist - Talbott Lab

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Davis invites applications for a qualified Junior Specialist for the Talbott Lab.

This position will be involved in interdisciplinary studies focusing studies related to early autism identification, remote assessment, infant and toddler development, and community-engaged research.

Successful candidates will have the opportunity to contribute to research projects and products including preparation of conference submissions, presentations, and/or manuscripts.

The incumbent for this position will be involved in interdisciplinary studies focusing on questions related to the early detection of autism and neurodevelopmental disabilities, infant and toddler communication development, and methods to engage families in research and clinical services including use of telehealth approaches and community-engaged research. The incumbent will work on projects focused on telehealth-based assessment of infants-and toddlers with social communication delays from both English- and Spanish-speaking families. Under the direction of the PI, the incumbent will communicate with families about study goals and activities, obtain informed consent, schedule study visits, and coordinate visit activities and communication between families, examiners, PI, and other staff members. This position will lead behavioral coding projects using BORIS software, including training undergraduate volunteers. They will enter study data into REDCap databases and track all visit and study procedures. In addition, they will attend regular lab and project meetings, and support the PI in the preparation of manuscripts, presentations, and reports. The ideal candidate will have exceptional interpersonal, communication, and decision-making skills, a strong interest in infants and toddlers, neurodevelopmental disabilities, and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team. They will also have experience communicating with families and community members in both English and Spanish.

General responsibilities include:

The Junior Specialist will be the primary study contact for participants, including obtaining informed consent, providing information about study goals and activities, answering questions and resolving any issues that arise, and scheduling study visits.

The incumbent will work closely with the PI to assist with preparing poster presentations, manuscripts, reports, and other dissemination activities. This includes conducting literature reviews and other related activities.

Specific duties:

• Respond promptly to family and community-partner communication via email, text, and phone in both English and Spanish.
• Facilitate communication between all team members regarding study visits and data collection, processing, and analytical activities.
• Use BORIS software to code behavioral data and train others in this coding.
• Manage study logistics, including ordering, organizing, and shipping research materials (e.g., toys and assessment materials), distributing participant incentives (e.g., electronic gift cards), and maintaining accurate records of these activities.
• Assist the PI and other staff to recruit, train, and track student volunteers in the lab
• Accurately enter data in study databases, and maintain detailed tracking systems to monitor visit completion, data processing, coding progress, and overall study timelines.
• Process, organize, and securely store study data and video recordings.
• Complete interviews with participants in both English and Spanish.
  
  

Attend regular lab meetings and Institute-wide coordinator meetings.

Attend Institute-wide lectures, workshops, and other activities to support professional competence, to be designed with the PI.

As needed, assist PI with preparation of grant applications, including conducting literature searches and simple analyses of pilot data.

Contribute to writing manuscripts for publication, including assisting with data cleaning, literature reviews, and synthesis of information for dissemination of research findings to the public.

Develop an individual research question in collaboration with the PI and perform relevant statistical analyses of data collected as part of the research study to be presented at internal and/or professional conferences once per year.

Participate and present during journal clubs, including leading the journal club on occasion (selecting a journal article, presenting to the group, and leading discussion).

Establish and maintain positive relationships with, and provide outreach presentations to, community agencies, advocate groups, schools, and service providers for dissemination, recruitment, and collaborative purposes.

• Bachelor's degree in Psychology, Neurobiology, Human Development, or a related field by March 2026 with a minimum of 1 year experience in infant and toddler and/or neurodevelopmental disabilities research.
• Experience in communicating with research participants, families, and/or community members in both Spanish and English regarding child development, educational information and/or services, or research studies.
• Experience tracking and entering data in REDCap or similar database systems.
• Familiarity with and interest in neurodevelopmental disabilities research, through lived experience, coursework, previous volunteer placements, and/or research labs.

• Demonstrated ability to perform detail-oriented tasks with a high degree of accuracy.
• Experience conducting multiple tasks simultaneously and prioritizing such tasks.
• Demonstrated ability to work both independently and are part of a team.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced environment with composure, courtesy and professional attitude.
• Ability to participate in discussions regarding research goals, methods, and findings and contribute to dissemination of study findings through literature reviews, data cleaning activities, and synthesis of information.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to communicate effectively with community members, research participants, PIs, staff, trainees, and undergraduate students.

• Ability to assist with data tracking, processing, and simple statistical analyses in R, SPSS, or other.

• 3-5 required (contact information only)

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct, are currently being investigated for misconduct, left a position during an investigation for alleged misconduct, or have filed an appeal with a previous employer.

• "Misconduct" means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer.
• UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
• UC Anti-Discrimination Policy for Employees, Students and Third Parties
• APM - 035: Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment

To implement this process, UC Davis requires all applicants for any open search to complete, sign, and upload the form entitled, "Authorization to Release Information" into UC RECRUIT as part of their application. If an applicant does not include the signed authorization with the application materials, the application will be considered incomplete, and as with any incomplete application, will not receive further consideration.

UC Davis is a smoke and tobacco-free campus (http://breathefree.ucdavis.edu/).

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state for federal law.

Under Federal law, the University of California may employ only individuals who are legally able to work in the United States as established by providing documents as specified in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Certain UC Davis positions funded by federal contracts or sub-contracts require the selected candidate to pass an E-Verify check. More information is available at: http://www.uscis.gov/e-verify

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