Senior Research Scientist-Field Day

Universities of Wisconsin • Madison, WI

10d • $100,000 • Remote

About The Position

The Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER), housed in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education, is one of the world's first and most productive education research centers. WCER supports innovative, collaborative research and development that advances education policy and practice. Field Day is an interdisciplinary team of artists, engineers, designers, researchers, writers, and game developers that creates research-based learning games and related infrastructure. Its work bridges educational research, learning-game development, data science, and engagement with educators and other communities. Field Day's freely available games are designed with researchers, subject-matter experts, teachers, and learners and are used to investigate how people learn. The Senior Research Scientist will provide scientific and strategic leadership for Field Day's research infrastructure and community. The primary responsibility of this position will be to architect and fundraise for Open Game Data research infrastructure. The position will independently identify research opportunities, design studies and methodologies, analyze and interpret data, develop grant proposals, author scholarly and technical publications, and direct complex research operations. The role will also guide the development and sustainability of research infrastructure, cultivate partnerships and user communities, coordinate interdisciplinary collaborators, and supervise or direct project personnel. The successful candidate will connect rigorous research practice with durable systems and communities that support learning-game research at scale. This is a 75% FTE remote position. Remote work is subject to UW-Madison remote-work policies and approval.

Requirements

• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience leading research infrastructure, research operations, or complex interdisciplinary research programs.
• Demonstrated ability to independently identify research problems and design rigorous research methodologies, protocols, and studies.
• Experience analyzing and interpreting quantitative and/or qualitative research data.
• Demonstrated success developing competitive grant proposals and managing sponsored research activities.
• Record of authoring scholarly, technical, or research publications and communicating results to varied audiences.
• Experience directing staff, project teams, contractors, or cross-functional collaborators.
• Demonstrated ability to build and sustain research communities and partnerships across disciplines and organizations.
• Excellent written, oral, organizational, and stakeholder-management skills.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with educational research, learning sciences, educational technology, digital learning games, or game-based assessment.
• Experience developing or operating open, shared, or community-facing research infrastructure.
• Experience with research data governance, reproducible research practices, and responsible data use.
• Experience leading distributed or remote interdisciplinary teams.
• Familiarity with research administration and sponsored-project requirements in a university environment.

Responsibilities

• Provides strategic and operational leadership for Field Day research infrastructure, including planning, implementation, governance, sustainability, and continuous improvement.
• Attends and assists with the facilitation of scholarly events and presentations in support of continued professional development and the dissemination of research information
• Conducts literature reviews, prepares reports and materials and, disseminates information to appropriate entities
• Monitors program budget and approves unit expenditures
• Collects and analyzes highly complex research data, conducts experiments and interviews, and documents results according to established policies and procedures
• Serves as an institutional subject matter expert and liaison with key internal and external stakeholders providing expert level information and representing the interests of a specialized research area
• Identifies research problems and develops highly complex research methodologies and procedures. Publishes and presents results to help advance research
• May supervise the day-to-day activities of a research unit and staff and resolve routine personnel issues
• Identifies, writes, or assists in developing grant opportunities, grant applications, and proposals to secure research funding
• Builds and sustains communities of researchers, educators, developers, and partners who use or contribute to Field Day research infrastructure.

Benefits

• generous paid time off
• competitively priced health/dental/vision/life insurance
• tax-advantaged savings accounts
• participation in the nationally recognized Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) pension fund

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree