Employment Opportunities - Senior Researcher (Quantitative)

The Foundation works to improve access to justice, particularly for disadvantaged people. We aim to provide comprehensive empirical data to inform legal service provision to meet community need.

We are looking for a Senior Researcher to assist in project leadership who has excellent research qualifications in the social sciences or statistics and proven experience in conducting quantitative social science research projects and evaluations, applying a broad range of statistical techniques and evaluation methods, and writing professional research reports to inform policy and practice.

Attractive salary. Flexible, family-friendly workplace. Full-time preferred, part-time considered.

Applicants should address the selection criteria below.

Applications, including a curriculum vitae, should be received by Monday 24 October 2011 via email to:

Overview and purpose of position

The Senior Researcher (Quantitative) works in a leading / senior role in the design, conduct and write-up of socio-legal research studies in the Foundation's research program.

The Senior Researcher will work on a range of projects, potentially including:

The Data Digest Online (DDO) project. This seeks to integrate data from a range of legal service providers and other sources to facilitate analysis, mapping and presentation of information to improve understanding of legal need and to inform policy development and service delivery
Ad-hoc advice, including evaluations of legal services, to legal stakeholders based on research and statistical data

Salary: Dependent on qualifications and experience

Responsible to: Principal Researcher

Duties

Provide leadership in the planning, design, conduct, analysis, writing, reporting, documentation, administration and management of quantitative research studies in collaboration with other research staff
Contribute as a member of research teams, participating in quantitative research design, literature review, data collection, data analysis, and drafting of reports, papers, correspondence and other communication
Assist in maintaining, promoting and utilising the DDO data warehouse and GIS application
Supervise researchers and assistants as required
Participate in the ongoing review of research plans and reports, including proofreading and/or editing research reports and other materials to the highest possible (and publishable) standard
Assist the Principal Researcher with the management and coordination of the Foundation's research program, as required
Assist the Principal Researcher with the provision of internal and external advice on research and statistical methods, as required
Work effectively with key staff across the organisation, including engaged external consultants, to ensure a common focus for the successful conduct and completion of the Foundation's research projects
Work with the Director, Principal Researcher and other Senior Researchers to ensure that the Foundation's research skills and capabilities are appropriately developed and maintained
In conjunction with other staff of the Foundation, establish and foster relationships and networks across community, legal, academic and other areas to ensure the success of the research program of the Foundation
Deliver presentations in relation to projects undertaken as required, including preparation and presentation of papers at conferences
Keep up to date with issues and trends in the justice area and in the area of research techniques, and exchange relevant information with other members of the research staff
Comply with Law and Justice Foundation procedures and policies
Carry out other tasks as required to assist in the operation of the Foundation, including the development and/or review of research grant proposals
Prepare papers for publication in the applied and academic literature as required.

Skills/Selection Criteria

Essential

Tertiary qualifications in the social sciences, statistics or other relevant discipline with an honours (research) degree or equivalent research experience
A minimum of 4 years' proven relevant experience in the effective planning, design, conduct, statistical analysis, write-up, management and leadership of complex, multi-faceted quantitative research or quantitative evaluation projects
A record of authoritative, credible, high-level research reports published in peer reviewed journals
Demonstrated experience in:

planning and designing research studies to address specific questions
designing, conducting and interpreting a broad range of statistical analyses, including bivariate and multivariate analyses
conducting statistical analyses on large-scale data sets using statistical packages (e.g. SPSS, STATA) and spreadsheet packages (e.g. EXCEL)
effectively supervising and directing research staff
producing reports to a standard suitable for publication
managing research projects effectively and meeting deadlines
communicating at a high level - both in writing and speaking
working collaboratively and harmoniously with others including external stakeholders

Ability to:

liaise, consult and negotiate at a high level with legal stakeholders and other agencies
work under pressure and manage changing priorities
conduct and write up policy-relevant social research to inform policy making and/or service delivery

Desirable

Post-graduate research degree in the social sciences or relevant discipline
Experience in quantitative evaluation of social service delivery or government initiatives/programs
Experience in qualitative social research
Experience in interactive data warehouse applications and GIS applications
Legal qualification, or experience in the application of social science research methodology to socio-legal research, or sound knowledge of the justice system