Research Director - UC Riverside Inland Empire Labor & Community Center
Position overview
Position title: Research DirectorApplication Window
Open date: January 25, 2024
Next review date: Wednesday, May 15, 2024 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.
Final date: Monday, Jul 1, 2024 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.
Position description
The UCR Inland Empire Labor & Community Center, or IELCC (https://ielcc.ucr.edu/) invites applications for a Research Director. The initial appointment will be for a period of 1.5 years, with a possibility for reappointment contingent on funding. The center is administratively housed within the UCR College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (https://chass.ucr.edu/). The UCR IELCC strengthens and expands the labor movement and serves working people and their communities through advanced research, education, and strategic partnerships with workers, labor and community organizations, policymakers, tribal organizations, and the broader Inland Empire region. We place the empowerment and well-being of workers, their families, and their communities at the forefront of our curricula, community engagement, public programs, and publications. We focus attention on the unique socio-economic circumstances of the Inland Empire region, including large immigrant communities and Indigenous nations in the region. Our research offers innovative policy perspectives that support workers and their communities while our worker-centered approach advances the goals of fair working conditions, living wages, and climate, gender, and racial justice.
We seek a Research Director to oversee and carry out research and research-related fundraising and grant development for this center. With funding through the University of California Worker Rights Policy Initiative (WRPI), the James Irvine Foundation, and other grants, the center aims, in the next three years, to: build our capacity for research, policy analysis, and grant development that supports the work of unions and community organizations, and do so in ways that help to develop the next generation of community-based and engaged researchers and grant writers among undergraduate and graduate students and expand the research capacity of unions and community organizations. We work closely with the Inland Empire Labor Council and its member organizations as well as other labor and community organizations working for economic, social, and environmental justice.
The Research Director will report to the IELCC Program Director and is the senior, full-time person building and leading the center’s research and research-related grant activities in collaboration with community partners, the IELCC Program Director and staff, IELCC faculty co-directors and faculty affiliates, as well as graduate and undergraduate student research assistants, and managing its dynamic and growing portfolio of research and research-related grant development. The Research Director is responsible for independent development and coordination of the following core areas:
Research
Working with the IELCC Program Director(s), Staff, Faculty co-directors, Community Advisory Committee, and other IELCC-affiliated faculty, the Research Director will oversee and help develop the center’s quantitative and qualitative research, policy analysis, and research-related grant development and implementation, often in collaboration with community partners.
Fundraising
Planning, developing, and initiating strategies for generating resources and/or revenues to support the IELCC’s research activities, including through fundraising, donor relations, and grant and contract proposals.
The Research Director is responsible for assisting and collaborating with the IELCC Program Director, faculty co-directors, and other relevant IELCC staff with the following other four areas related to the implementation of its research activities:
Research-related Public Relations
Oversight and implementation of all aspects of the center's research-related communications, including public research, policy, and grant presentations, and related web presence, social media presence, report review, and external relations.
Research-related Event Development and Coordination
Oversight and implementation of events related to the design, implementation, and/or dissemination of IELCC research, policy analysis, and/or related contracts and grants.
Research-related Administration and Financial Management
Assisting as needed in the management and reporting of the IELCC’s research budgets, contracts, and grants related to research and/or policy analysis.
Research-related Center Management
Responsible for supervising and mentoring relevant staff involved in research, policy analysis, and/or research-related fundraising, and ensuring HR needs are met.
A reasonable salary range estimate for this position is $85,000 - $103,000. The posted UC academic salary scales set the minimum pay determined by rank and/or step at appointment. See the salary scale titled, Academic Coordinator Series - Fiscal Year for the salary range https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/_files/2023-24/july-2023-acad-salary-scales/t36-i.pdf, https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/_files/2023-24/july-2023-acad-salary-scales/t36-ii.pdf.
Qualified applicants must possess a Master’s degree or higher (or an equivalent foreign degree) in social science, humanities, public administration, public policy, urban planning, labor studies, or related fields. Applications should demonstrate a minimum of two years of experience with increasing levels of responsibility in quantitative and/or qualitative research.
Complete applications must include: a cover letter of interest, an updated CV, a statement of contribution to diversity, and three to five professional letters of reference.
Review of applications will begin on March 15, 2024, and may continue until the position is filled. Applications received by March 15 will receive full consideration.
Unit: https://ielcc.ucr.edu/
Department: https://ielcc.ucr.edu
Qualifications
Minimum of two years of experience with increasing levels of responsibility in quantitative and/or qualitative research.
Master’s degree required or higher (or an equivalent foreign degree) in social science, humanities, public administration, public policy, urban planning, labor studies, or related fields.
UCR is a world-class research university with an exceptionally diverse undergraduate student body. Its mission is explicitly linked to providing routes to educational success for underrepresented and first-generation college students. A commitment to this mission is a preferred qualification.
Application Requirements
Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.
Cover Letter - Please address any of the following qualifications:
-Research experience and expertise on topics related to labor and/or community
-Knowledge of research methods, such as descriptive quantitative methods, quasi-experimental designs, GIS mapping, policy evaluation, qualitative methods, community-based, community-engaged and/or participatory action research strategies
-Knowledge of specific data analysis programs and/or software
-Knowledge of specific graphic design and/or info graphics programs and/or software (or willingness and potential to learn these if needed)
-Ability to create and execute fundraising strategies, grant development, and/or donor relations
-Experience with disseminating research in ways that are accessible to the broader public and/or policy-makers (or a willingness and potential to learn how to do this)
-Experience in or a willingness to learn public media relations skills
-Experience with the design and management of public programming
-Ability to work effectively with internal and external partners
-Leadership skills and experience
-Commitment to the labor movement, social justice, and/or community organizing, including previous experience and relationships to organized labor
-Knowledge of the issues affecting workers and communities in California and/or the Inland Empire
-Broad knowledge of the U.S. and international labor movements and workers’ rights
-Broad knowledge of policy-making processes
-Knowledge of racial, gender, environmental justice, and economic justice organizations and campaigns in California, the Southwest, the Inland Empire, and other regions
-Knowledge of and good working relations with Black, Brown, and Tribal organizationsStatement of Research (Optional)
Statement of Teaching (Optional)
Statement of Past and/or Planned Future Contributions to Advancing Diversity and Inclusive Excellence - In a “Statement of Past and/or Planned Future Contributions to Advancing Diversity and Inclusive Excellence”, we ask applicants to describe their past and/or potential future contributions to promoting a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment, which is a key requirement of the role of every faculty member and administrator at UCR. There are numerous ways to contribute, and a commitment to this part of our mission can be reflected through research, teaching, supervision, mentoring, community engagement, service, and any of the other varied activities that are a part of an academic career.
Misc / Additional (Optional)
Misc / Additional (Optional)
Misc / Additional (Optional)
- 3-5 letters of reference required
Note that your references, or dossier service, will submit their confidential letters directly to the UC Recruit System.
All letters will be treated as confidential per University of California policy and California state law.
Help contact: ellenr@ucr.edu
About UC Riverside
The University of California, Riverside is a world-class research university with an exceptionally diverse undergraduate student body. UCR is a member institution of the American Association of Universities (AAU) as well as the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities (HSRU). Its mission is explicitly linked to providing routes to educational success for underrepresented and first-generation college students. A commitment to this mission is a preferred qualification.
The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.