Position Announcement: Project Manager/Senior Researcher (University Rank: Faculty Research Assistant) The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) is now hiring a researcher to work at START's headquarters at the University of Maryland, College Park. This is a full-time position, with an initial term of 12 months (starting in early-to-mid-May 2013).
Responsibilities: Special Projects consists of a number of relatively short-term and intensive research projects on various aspects of terrorism and counter-terrorism. The Project Manager/Senior Researcher will run a project related to individual radicalization and will be responsible for performing and managing a variety of basic research tasks, including identifying and summarizing sources, designing and revising data collection code books and research protocols, coding data and implementing data quality control processes, analysis, preparing reports (performing qualitative and/or quantitative analysis, writing, proof-reading, formatting), and preparing and delivering presentations. The Project Manager/Senior Researcher will be responsible for supervising small teams of project staff (2-6) and interns (5-15) for some of these tasks. The project focuses on:
- Developing and applying separate measures of radical beliefs and behaviors over time
- Producing a large-n dataset related to radicalization
- Producing 100+ in-depth qualitative case studies
- Applying advanced statistical, qualitative, and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) techniques within a life-course theoretical framework
- Comparing the radicalization factors and processes of violent and non-violent extremist criminals
- Comparing the radicalization factors and processes across different ideologies
Required Qualifications:
- Graduate degree in relevant discipline or 4+ years of relevant research experience
- At least two years of prior terrorism and/or radicalization-related research
- Training and/or experience with two or more relevant research methodologies
- Familiarity with individual radicalization and various related extremist ideologies
- Previous social science data coding experience
- Ability to effectively supervise project staff, including full-time researchers, research assistants and interns
- Ability to handle pressure and meet deliverable deadlines
- Flexibility to switch topic areas and tasks as the project require
Preferred Qualifications
- Doctoral degree (or advanced ABD) with relevance to individual radicalization
- Substantive expertise on religious and/or ideological extremism
- Substantive expertise on case selection and qualitative case study methodologies
- Previous social science data coding experience, especially designing and/or implementing data quality control procedures
- Superior writing and presentation abilities
Additional Considerations
- Scholarly work (articles, books, etc.) and presentations on terrorism-relevant topics
- Research experience in a professional environment
- Multi-lingual research ability
The annual salary for this position will be in the range of $54,000 to $60,000 (depending on education and experience), plus full University of Maryland benefits (as explained here. ). The person selected for this position will work on site at START's headquarters adjacent to the University of Maryland, College Park, and will report directly to START's Special Projects Program Manager. Applicants will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Candidates are encouraged to apply by April 28, 2013 for best consideration. Please submit a cover letter, resume/CV, 2 page writing sample and three references to jsawyer@start.umd.edu with "SPD Project Manager/Senior Researcher Application" as the subject line. The University of Maryland, College Park, actively subscribes to a policy of equal employment opportunity, and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, age, gender, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, national origin, or political affiliation. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply.