Research Associate

The Opportunity

Reporting to the Managing Director of Research, the Research Associate is a member of Dalhousie University Department of Anesthesia, Pain Management and Perioperative Medicine’s Office of Research and is assigned primarily to work with the IWK Health Women’s & Obstetric Anesthesia research team. The Research Associate will partner closely with clinical investigators to advance obstetric anesthesia programs of research.  The Research Associate co-designs projects with appropriate qualitative and quantitative methodologies including tool and instrument development. A major focus of the position is to help secure external grant funding that will support a sustainable research program and continue to expand its capacity and impact. The role is ideal for a candidate who is both collaborative and self-directed and can produce high-quality, publication-ready writing. 
The Research Associate is primarily responsible for designing, undertaking and analyzing information from clinically based investigations. The incumbent is also responsible for executing innovative knowledge translation strategies, and research mentorship. They are closely involved in all aspects of the research projects undertaken to achieve the project deliverables required by the sponsors and granting agencies as well as the Department. 

Major Responsibilities

Support Research Project Development (60%)

•    Working with Principal Investigators and the Office of Research, contribute to strategic priority setting and support the development and implementation of rigorous research that generates meaningful, relevant, and valuable insights regarding obstetrical anesthesia.
•    Provide on-site supervision and direction to research staff, and mentorship and guidance to trainees, fostering their development and ensuring high-quality contributions to the research team.
•    Use specialized knowledge and scientific principles to review, critically appraise and interpret published literature for project development.
•    Make significant contributions to the design of research proposals/protocols using appropriate qualitative and quantitative approaches to address complex health issues.
•    Identify appropriate funding opportunities and co-design competitive grant proposals with the research team that will improve outcomes of patients and their families. 
•    Establish and maintain opportunities for regional and national collaborations to strengthen multicentre obstetric anesthesia research. 
•    Contribute to knowledge translation and collaborative authorship of peer reviewed manuscripts through the drafting, editing and submission of documents. Develop presentations and present at meetings, seminars, and conferences. 

Project Coordination (40%)

•    Troubleshoot problems at all stages of the implementation of the projects. 
•    Ensure compliance with ethical and regulatory standards across diverse research settings. 
•    Negotiate research agreements and subcontracts to meet site requirements. 
•    Develop research budgets that account for the time and resources required to complete the project. Coordinate expenditures and provide regular financial updates to the Principal Investigators that adhere to institutional best practices. 
•    Maintain accurate and confidential data systems that support multi-sector data integration, ensuring data quality and compliance with privacy regulations. Analyze qualitative and/or quantitative data, apply rigorous data cleaning, coding, and analysis techniques using tools such as NVivo, R, SPSS, ensuring data integrity and reproducibility.  

Hours of Work

Hours of Work: On-site presence at IWK Health is required, as well as occasionally at other sites within HRM. Approximately 8:00am - 4:00pm, Monday- Friday (with some flexibility for early mornings). 

Your Qualifications

•    PhD in applied woman’s health, medical education, epidemiology or a related field obtained in the last 4 years.
•    Experience in clinical research, ideally within women’s health and/or obstetric anesthesia.
•    Experience in qualitative and quantitative methodologies, related data analyses, and interpretation of results
•    Experience in the organization and presenting results from large clinical datasets.
•    Demonstrated proficiency in all stages of research, including grant writing success, research design, research synthesis, quantitative, qualitative and/or mixed methods.
•    Solid understanding of ethical principles and regulatory requirements in human subjects’ research.
•    Record of scholarly publications and conference presentations, and public outreach/knowledge translation in the topic area.
•    Excellent verbal and written English communication skills.
•    Self-directed and able to consistently take initiative and multi-task across more than one project, with a high level of attention to detail, regard for quality, accuracy and regulatory compliance.

Assets
•    1-2 years postdoctoral training or related experience.
•    Experience working with women and/or community partners.
•    Experience working with academic institutions and/or government agencies.
•    Experience working in a hospital setting.
•    Background in women’s health.
•    Interest in advancing women’s health and care.