Are you someone who has a passion for research, storytelling, and improving the student experience? We’re excited to share our posting for the full-time Research Lead role here at the Innovation Hub! Apply by January 15, 2023. To learn more about the role and how to apply, take a look below.
Hear from Our Current Research Lead!
“The Innovation Hub is an incredible community. It’s a collaborative team environment where we work together to drive change using design thinking and storytelling. My time at the Innovation Hub has been filled with powerful moments that affirm the value of empathetic community building and equity-centered design to understand complex human experiences. I’ve had the opportunity to enhance student and campus experiences through empathetic research and bring insightful and impactful findings to campus partners.
As Research Lead I’ve had the opportunity to manage several research projects, each with its own unique focus and approach, and all with the goal of improving campus life. I’ve worked closely with campus partners, trained team leads and researchers, and co-created approaches to design thinking research. I have been inspired by the interdisciplinary perspectives around me and am excited for others to experience the same.” – Shankeri Vijayakumar
Research Lead Job Duties:
Directly supporting the Manager, Innovation Projects, the Research Lead takes a leadership role in all design research activities and supports strategic and operational planning for the Innovation Hub. The Research Lead supports all design research projects; creating and carrying out training for team members, meeting with project partners, ensuring project milestones are met, and presenting the work to partners and within the broader University of Toronto community. The Research Lead also maintains the Innovation Hub’s design research process documentation, ensuring that all Innovation Hub practices and procedures meet excellent standards.
Research Lead Job Description
Research:
- Directly manages the Research Coordinator, Design Research Team Leads, and the Qualitative Data Archivist Team Lead
- Manages all research activities, research data and research process documentation for the Innovation Hub
- Works with the Senior Project Assistant and the Digital Communications Coordinator to support the research process
- Oversees deliverables and timelines of research-related work, including research reports and presentations
- Responsible for all feedback and edits on written research material – ensuring the final drafts are ready on or before the deadline
- Ensures quality control of all materials, including writing, layout, presentation, and communication messaging in all internal and external Innovation Hub material
- Manages all Innovation Hub data, ensuring that consent and data storage standards are met
- Manages the qualitative data archival process (using Dedoose)
- Develops new resources and workflows for research processes and materials
- Supports the Manager, Innovation Projects in any additional non-project related research requests
Training & Design Thinking Programming:
- Takes a lead role in all Innovation Hub curriculum development and the Your Learning Journey skills development and coaching model for Innovation Hub student team members
- Develops and delivers the Innovation Hub training for the research teams and projects, including weekly teaching materials, asynchronous training, and tailored team-specific training resources
- Develops and delivers any additional Design Thinking programs, workshops, or other programming, including but not limited to the Design Thinking Experience Program
Supporting Student Teams & Workplace Support
- Works with the Senior Project Assistant to manage the Innovation Hub’s SharePoint system for file and document structures and organization and MS Teams for team communications
- Supports the Design Research Team Leads and the Qualitative Data Archivist Team Lead in supervising their work-study team members
- Supports community events and/or partner events or initiatives (as needed)
Administration
- Supports hiring processes, workflows, and timelines
- Develops materials outside of the scope of design thinking projects, including presentations, professional development, or conference proposals
Project Management
- Works directly with the Senior Project Assistant to develop, maintain and oversee the project plans for research projects at the Innovation Hub, adjusting timelines as necessary
- Coordinates with the Manager, Innovation Projects and Senior Project Assistant on project timelines & needs
- Manages research-related project tasks to ensure deadlines are met
Strategic Development
- Develops proposals and project plans for design research related Innovation Hub initiatives and carries these projects out with the support of the leadership team
- Engages in strategic conversations to support the growth of the Innovation Hub, providing feedback/insight from a research perspective
Must-Have Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s Degree or an acceptable equivalent combination of education and experience
- Minimum three years related experience in qualitative research or design thinking, including experience leading research teams
- A self-starter who takes initiative and is not afraid to fail early to succeed more quickly
- A strong leader with demonstrated leadership experience with diverse populations, including direct management of a team and experience coaching team members
- Working knowledge of student development and other related theories. Familiar with experiential learning strategies including experiential program design, reflection, and assessment
- Demonstratable time-management skills and desire to work in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment balancing multiple projects
- Ability to interact with multiple stakeholders, work with a team, make routine decisions, and respond to basic inquiries
- Project management, ability to manage conflicting priorities and deadlines
- Computer skills: Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, TEAMS, SharePoint, MIRO, MURAL, ZOOM
- Experience coding qualitative data in a qualitative research software (e.g. Dedoose)
- Exceptional writing skills including plain-language writing
- Demonstrated oral communication and presentation skills with diverse audiences
- Excellent interpersonal, organizational, conflict mediation, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.
Job Details
- Contract Length: April 2023 – June 2024
- Wage: $38.56/hour
- Hours per week: 40 hours (8:00am – 5:00pm with 1-hour unpaid lunch)
How to Apply
Please review the Innovation Hub blog at http://blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca/innovationhub/ prior to applying. Include in your cover letter why you want to do this job and how you feel you meet the requirements. Applications without a tailored cover letter will not be considered. You can either apply through the University of Toronto Co-Curricular Learning Network or by emailing innovationhub@utoronto.ca your application materials by Sunday, January 15th, 2023.
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