University Overview

The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school consistently ranks among the top 10 universities in the annual U.S. News & World Report survey. Penn has 12 highly-regarded schools that provide opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education, all influenced by Penn’s distinctive interdisciplinary approach to scholarship and learning.

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The University offers a competitive benefits package that includes excellent healthcare and tuition benefits for employees and their families, generous retirement benefits, a wide variety of professional development opportunities, supportive work and family benefits, a wealth of health and wellness programs and resources, and much more.

Job Description Summary

The Computational Social Science Lab will host the research initiatives of Duncan Watts, a University Professor affiliated with the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Wharton School, and Annenberg School for Communication. Combining their resources within the Penn Integrates Knowledge Program, the schools will support the Lab’s projects in the rapidly emerging field of computational social science (CSS).

Project Ratio is an ambitious collaborative research agenda to measure the origins, nature, and prevalence of misinformation in mass media, as well as its impact on democracy. It involves researchers from academy and industry, multiple data providers, and a complex data collection and validation components.

The Manager for Project Ratio will support research collaborations with academy and industry partners, coordinate research activities of students and postdocs, ensure the availability of data and computing power, manage and produce website content.

Job Description

The Research Project Manager for Project Ratio will:

• Together with faculty, manage and coordinate research projects for students and postdocs, evaluate the quality of the output, and provide feedback
• Supervise the preparation and updates of datasets and codebooks; develop, implement, and enforce standards of code writing and publishing
• Manage and produce dashboards, analytical reports, press-releases, interactive tools, other web content for the project’s stakeholders and general public. Establish and maintain the project’s presence on social media platforms
• In coordination with Research Data Engineer, manage relationships with data partners, including the development and implementation of data sharing agreements, data access, the compliance with privacy laws and confidentiality rules
• Set up and manage an external open research network; manage its members access to data and computer resources; design and implement novel forms of collaborative research including common-task projects, hackathons, etc.; organize workshops of various stakeholders
• Assign tasks, monitor performance, provide feedback, and enforce mutual contractual obligations with third party software developers
• Contribute to the writing and administration of research grants
• Monitor and administer the publication pipeline

Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree, Master’s preferred, and 3-5 years of work experience in managing research projects, organizing academic workshops, conferences, and training events and supervising graduate students and software developers or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Experience:

Working with managing inter-agency collaboration and coordinating with executive staff;

Grant writing, accounting, and administration;

Building relationships with a wide range of internal and external constituents in a large, complex organization.

Excellent interpersonal communication skills to foster collaboration and teamwork among researchers, university departments, and external providers of data and research-related services; strong organizational skills and an ability to manage multiple complex tasks with diverse audiences and varying deadlines.

Preferred:
Experience using object-oriented languages, e.g., Python or R, and agile software development
Experience with project management tools and software
Experience writing and proofreading academic papers
Knowledge of mass media and academic research in this domain

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School

School of Engineering and Applied Science

Pay Range

$59,703.00 - $113,435.00

Affirmative Action Statement 

Penn adheres to a policy that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected class.

Special Requirements 

Background check required after a conditional job offer is made. Consideration of the background check will be tailored to the requirements of the job.