Technical Support Specialist

Job Details

Job : 53143

Location: Evanston, Illinois

Department: WCAS Linguistics

Salary/Grade: NEX/15

Northwestern's Department of Linguistics seeks a Technical Support Specialist to coordinate its research facilities, equipment, and resources, and to oversee day-to-day research activities. The Specialist will support Linguistics researchers (faculty, research staff, and graduate students) in all aspects of experiment implementation and data collection, including equipment solutions and data management methods, assessment of software programs, and developing new user interfaces where necessary.

The Specialist will conduct training for researchers, create and maintain user documentation, oversee the acquisition and maintenance of hardware, and ensure the smooth functioning of computers and equipment for researchers and study participants.

This is a part-time position at 20 hours per week where work is performed on site. The target hiring range for this position will be between $27.06 - $38.00 per hour. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.

• Serve as the technical expert within the Linguistics research labs, establish and optimize protocols, and coordinate multiple complex experiments.
• Collaborate with researchers to assist in designing procedures for data collection and analysis, and recommend alternatives to improve processes, validity, and/or accuracy.
• Maintain and manage recording equipment, sound isolation booths, eye-tracking equipment, and other equipment.
• Provide programming support and, if needed, develop web-based experiments for researchers.
• Advise researchers on best practices, programming, and data management.
• Manage crowd-sourcing pipelines, including participant information and expenses.
• Develop protocols and assist with Institutional Review Board (IRB) applications.

Miscellaneous

Performs other duties as assigned.

• Successful completion of a full 2-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to an associate's or higher degree; OR appropriate combination of education and experience.
• 2 years IT, CS user support or other relevant experience required.

• Excellent working knowledge of No
  
  SQL, Firebase, SQL/MySQL/Postgres
• Familiarity with Microsoft Exchange, Lync, Office, SharePoint, plus Globus Online
• Experience with the following languages and platforms:
  Mac OS X, Linux, Windows; CSS, HTML 5, JavaScript, Vue.js, Node.js, PHP, PL/SQL, Python
• Comfort with Service-oriented Architecture design

• Master's degree in Audio/Music Technology or Electrical Engineering and Computer Science plus 1 year experience in audio-related web design, programming and archiving
• Familiarity with higher-education/lab-based research
• Understands basic audio and video recording principles in the context of lab-based recording sessions;
  Able to troubleshoot and resolve sound-related technical issues
• Experience with eye-tracking and related methodologies
• Familiarity with specialized speech and language software including Praat, ELAN, Montreal Corpus Tools, Psycho Py and crowd sourcing platforms (e.g., Prolific, Pavlovia)

At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful, competitive, high-quality health care plans, retirement benefits, tuition discounts and more. Visit Northwestern’s benefits site to learn more:(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)..html

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Equal Opportunity Notice: Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics, including disability and veteran status. Job applicants who wish to request an accommodation in the application or hiring process should contact the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance. Additional information on the accommodations process is available.

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