Junior Specialist - Talbott Lab

Position overview

Salary range:

A reasonable estimate for this position is $55,000/yr at Step 1 or $23.35/hr at Step 1 if hired below 100% FTE.

Open date: February 3, 2026

Next review date: Wednesday, Feb 18, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time). Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Tuesday, Jun 30, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time). Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Davis invites applications for a qualified Junior Specialist for the Talbott Lab.

This position will be involved in interdisciplinary studies focusing studies related to early autism identification, remote assessment, infant and toddler development, and community-engaged research. Successful candidates will have the opportunity to contribute to research projects and products including preparation of conference submissions, presentations, and/or manuscripts.

The incumbent for this position will be involved in interdisciplinary studies focusing on questions related to the early detection of autism and neurodevelopmental disabilities, infant and toddler communication development, and methods to engage families in research and clinical services including use of telehealth approaches and community-engaged research. The incumbent will work on projects focused on telehealth-based assessment of infants-and toddlers with social communication delays from both English- and Spanish-speaking families.

Under the direction of the PI, the incumbent will communicate with families about study goals and activities, obtain informed consent, schedule study visits, and coordinate visit activities and communication between families, examiners, PI, and other staff members. This position will lead behavioral coding projects using BORIS software, including training undergraduate volunteers. They will enter study data into REDCap databases and track all visit and study procedures.

In addition, they will attend regular lab and project meetings, and support the PI in the preparation of manuscripts, presentations, and reports. The ideal candidate will have exceptional interpersonal, communication, and decision-making skills, a strong interest in infants and toddlers, neurodevelopmental disabilities, and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team. They will also have experience communicating with families and community members in both English and Spanish.

General responsibilities include:

I. RESEARCH ACTIVITY (80% EFFORT)

The Junior Specialist will be the primary study contact for participants, including obtaining informed consent, providing information about study goals and activities, answering questions and resolving any issues that arise, and scheduling study visits.

The incumbent will work closely with the PI to assist with preparing poster presentations, manuscripts, reports, and other dissemination activities. This includes conducting literature reviews and other related activities.

Specific duties:

• Respond promptly to family and community-partner communication via email, text, and phone in both English and Spanish.
• Facilitate communication between all team members regarding study visits and data collection, processing, and analytical activities.
• Use BORIS software to code behavioral data and train others in this coding.
• Manage study logistics, including ordering, organizing, and shipping research materials (e.g., toys and assessment materials), distributing participant incentives (e.g., electronic gift cards), and maintaining accurate records of these activities.
• Assist the PI and other staff to recruit, train, and track student volunteers in the lab
• Accurately enter data in study databases, and maintain detailed tracking systems to monitor visit completion, data processing, coding progress, and overall study timelines.
• Process, organize, and securely store study data and video recordings.
• Complete interviews with participants in both English and Spanish.

II. PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE AND ACTIVITY (15% EFFORT)

Attend regular lab meetings and Institute-wide coordinator meetings.

Attend Institute-wide lectures, workshops, and other activities to support professional competence, to be designed with the PI.

As needed, assist PI with preparation of grant applications, including conducting literature searches and simple analyses of pilot data.

Contribute to writing manuscripts for publication, including assisting with data cleaning, literature reviews, and synthesis of information for dissemination of research findings to the public.

Develop an individual research question in collaboration with the PI and perform relevant statistical analyses of data collected as part of the research study to be presented at internal and/or professional conferences once per year.

Participate and…