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Job Category:
Academic Staff
Employment Type:
Regular
Job Profile:
Scientist III
Job Summary:
The Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER), housed in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education, is one of the world's first and most productive education research centers. WCER supports innovative, collaborative research and development that advances education policy and practice.
Field Day is an interdisciplinary team of artists, engineers, designers, researchers, writers, and game developers that creates research-based learning games and related infrastructure. Its work bridges educational research, learning-game development, data science, and engagement with educators and other communities. Field Day's freely available games are designed with researchers, subject-matter experts, teachers, and learners and are used to investigate how people learn.
The Senior Research Scientist will provide scientific and strategic leadership for Field Day's research infrastructure and community. The primary responsibility of this position will be to architect and fundraise for Open Game Data research infrastructure. The position will independently identify research opportunities, design studies and methodologies, analyze and interpret data, develop grant proposals, author scholarly and technical publications, and direct complex research operations. The role will also guide the development and sustainability of research infrastructure, cultivate partnerships and user communities, coordinate interdisciplinary collaborators, and supervise or direct project personnel. The successful candidate will connect rigorous research practice with durable systems and communities that support learning-game research at scale.
This is a 75% FTE remote position. Remote work is subject to UW-Madison remote-work policies and approval.
Key Job Responsibilities:
- Provides strategic and operational leadership for Field Day research infrastructure, including planning, implementation, governance, sustainability, and continuous improvement.
- Attends and assists with the facilitation of scholarly events and presentations in support of continued professional development and the dissemination of research information
- Conducts literature reviews, prepares reports and materials and, disseminates information to appropriate entities
- Monitors program budget and approves unit expenditures
- Collects and analyzes highly complex research data, conducts experiments and interviews, and documents results according to established policies and procedures
- Serves as an institutional subject matter expert and liaison with key internal and external stakeholders providing expert level information and representing the interests of a specialized research area
- Identifies research problems and develops highly complex research methodologies and procedures. Publishes and presents results to help advance research
- May supervise the day-to-day activities of a research unit and staff and resolve routine personnel issues
- Identifies, writes, or assists in developing grant opportunities, grant applications, and proposals to secure research funding
- Builds and sustains communities of researchers, educators, developers, and partners who use or contribute to Field Day research infrastructure.
Department:
School of Education / Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) / Field Day
Compensation:
Minimum: $100,000
This position offers a comprehensive benefits package, including generous paid time off, competitively priced health/dental/vision/life insurance, tax-advantaged savings accounts, and participation in the nationally recognized Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) pension fund.
Required Qualifications:
• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience leading research infrastructure, research operations, or complex interdisciplinary research programs.
• Demonstrated ability to independently identify research problems and design rigorous research methodologies, protocols, and studies.
• Experience analyzing and interpreting quantitative and/or qualitative research data.
• Demonstrated success developing competitive grant proposals and managing sponsored research activities.
• Record of authoring scholarly, technical, or research publications and communicating results to varied audiences.
• Experience directing staff, project teams, contractors, or cross-functional collaborators.
• Demonstrated ability to build and sustain research communities and partnerships across disciplines and organizations.
• Excellent written, oral, organizational, and stakeholder-management skills.
Preferred Qualifications:
• Experience with educational research, learning sciences, educational technology, digital learning games, or game-based assessment.
• Experience developing or operating open, shared, or community-facing research infrastructure.
• Experience with research data governance, reproducible research practices, and responsible data use.
• Experience leading distributed or remote interdisciplinary teams.
• Familiarity with research administration and sponsored-project requirements in a university environment.
Education:
Terminal degree (PhD or equivalent) in education or science.
How to Apply:
To begin the application process, click on the "I am a current employee" button or "I am not a current employee" button under Apply Now. You will then be prompted to upload your application materials.
Important: The application has only one attachment field. Upload the following documents in that field, either as a single combined file or as multiple files in the same upload area.
Upload a copy of:
current resume
Cover letter describing your relevant experience in research leadership, research infrastructure, grant development, and community engagement.
Note: References will be requested from final candidates. All applicants will be notified once the search concludes and a candidate is selected. Incomplete application packages that do not include all of the requested documentation will not be considered
Contact Information:
David Gagnon
djgagnon@wisc.edu
Institutional Statement on Diversity:
Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgrounds and encourage all qualified individuals to apply. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website.
To request a disability or pregnancy-related accommodation for any step in the hiring process (e.g., application, interview, pre-employment testing, etc.), please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) in the division you are applying to. Please make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you.
Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment.
The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7).
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