Community Economic Development Research Coordinator

This competition is restricted to internal applicants of the University of Alberta. Please log in to verify your internal candidate status.

This position has a term length of1 year plus 1 day.

Location - This role is hybrid with a mix of remote and in-person work at North Campus Edmonton.

The Community-University Partnership for the Study of Children, Youth, Families and Communities (CUP) is a unique collaboration among the University of Alberta, community agencies, and organizations in Edmonton and across Alberta. CUP is committed to improving the development of children, youth, families, and communities by creating or mobilizing evidence-informed knowledge that impacts programs, practices, and policies. CUP has a 20 plus-year history of collaborative community-based research experience.

CUP is led by a steering committee comprised of over 25 leaders from municipal and provincial government, not-for-profit agencies, school boards, and foundations. CUP works closely with a number of rural education and economic development projects in Drayton Valley, Alberta. These projects are all community-based bringing together community leaders, non-profits, and governments (municipal, provincial, and federal) to collectively address disparity.

Dr. Maria Mayan leads these projects.

Reporting to Dr. Mayan, the Community Economic Development Research Coordinator will contribute to the above research projects, including grant preparation, data collection, data management, data analysis, manuscript preparation, and knowledge dissemination. The Community Economic Development Research Coordinator will execute project plans, facilitate communication between team members, coordinate day-to-day research project operations, and manage overall milestones and grant deliverables to ensure project completion.

This position will work alongside community partners and other research staff. The Community Economic Development Research Coordinator will design and execute research projects (primary and secondary) using various methodologies; develop knowledge mobilization products (e.g., research briefs); build collaborative relationships and projects amongst academic and community experts to fill research gaps and build specialist knowledge capacity. The Community Economic Development Research Coordinator will also foster the development of collaborative research projects and identify relevant funding opportunities to support partnerships.

Research Expertise & Capacity (45%)

• Lead and oversee data collection and analysis activities related to qualitative and quantitative data; ensuring research protocols are followed.
• Conduct analysis of qualitative and quantitative data using appropriate software and techniques (e.g., SPSS, NVivo).
• Plan and conduct environmental scans and literature reviews as related to ongoing and new projects.
• Develop and implement methods to document the processes, challenges, and successes of
• Contribute to writing research papers, presentations, and publications.
• Present results to partners, funders, and/or at conferences.
• Write and coordinate preparation of quality grant and award proposals.
• Write ethics applications; update and maintain ethics approvals as necessary.
• Travel for meetings related to research activities within and outside of Edmonton (Drayton Valley).
• Collaborate with partners to provide research, evidence, and knowledge mobilization advice and establish research priorities that advance EPE’s focus on liveable incomes.

Project Management – 30%

• Plan and oversee research activities related to community wealth, neighbourhood revitalization and poverty.
• Provide leadership within the scope of the research project internally to ensure efficient and effective operations.
• Track timelines and deliverables.
• Participate in the hiring process for research assistants and graduate students
• Supervise, train, and mentor research assistants, graduate students, and/or other project contributors as required.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with community, government and academic stakeholders that facilitate ongoing, sustainable research collaborations.
• Engage with stakeholders to define research process and fosters the necessary stakeholder involvement to ensure timely activities, cooperation, and progress of the project.
• Coordinate and contribute to reports on outcomes and other reporting as required by funders.
• Collaborate with partners to align with and respond to their continuously evolving knowledge needs on diverse…