Career Center

Drs. Shabnam Javdani and Erin Godfrey are seeking a postdoctoral-level investigator to work as a member of the RISE research and intervention team on multiple projects to investigate and address persistent inequality in the areas of juvenile justice, education, and mental health. The  work has two primary foci. First, the post-doctoral associate will be an integral member and co-leader on the RISE team's  initiatives on Gender and Racial Equity in Education (75%). We partner with government systems, policy institutes, and grassroots organizations to implement and evaluate systemic changes that disrupt cycles from education to criminalization, with a particular focus on black and brown youth, girls, and LGBTQIA+ youth nationally.  These projects aim to implement data-driven changes in education, child welfare, and legal systems to eliminate school pushout and advocate with and on behalf of youth nationally. A portion of his work will be done collaboratively with the Blueprints for Progressive Change in Juvenile Justice, a cross school partnership at NYU. 

Second, the post-doctoral associate will provide project leadership and direct supervision support  for Systems Aligning for Equity (SAFE) Spaces (25%). SAFE Spaces is a clinical randomized control trial funded by The National Institute of Mental Health. SAFE Spaces aims to address mental health disparities (e.g. suicide) across the juvenile legal and child welfare systems in New York City through providing counseling and coaching to staff  to support their wellbeing, reduce burnout, and support their strengths and professional development.  SAFE Spaces is the first  intervention of its kind to be launched and evaluated at a system-wide level, targeting the contexts of system-impacted youth. The ideal candidate will have a strong interest in supervising and leading mental health and counseling support to staff that often occupy marginalized racial and ethnic backgrounds and who provide critical services to youth in child welfare and juvenile legal settings; and a strong desire to train and support a team of future counseling and coaching trainees. 

Specific responsibilities will include:

• Coordinate and lead the research and scholarly activities of the Gender and Racial Equity in Education initiative and NYU working group "Blueprints for Progressive Change in Juvenile Justice"

• Oversee, conduct and analyze qualitative interviews with system-impacted young people and their families on school disruption, system involvement and school reentry

• Consult with the NYU Law School's Suspension Representation Project and supervise social work intern as needed

• Partner with Blueprints ROSES team to support education equity through advocacy, policy, and collaborative research 

• Prepare written reports, manuscripts, and presentations 

• Develop and write grant proposals

• Consult on training processes and training protocols for counseling and coaching interns, manualized curriculum and project protocol and staff workshops for SAFE Spaces.

• Provide weekly and curbside supervision to multiple SAFE Spaces supervisors, counselors and coaches; Lead weekly supervision meetings and biweekly/monthly supervisor leadership meetings. 

• Coordinate with SAFE Spaces subteams and support ongoing data management and implementation data collection and analysis. 

• Collaborate with RISE PIs and Blueprints faculty to propose new projects,  analyze data, and support research and intervention on education equity.

• The candidate must have completed doctoral graduate training in applied psychology (e.g. developmental, counseling/clinical, community), social work, sociology,  intervention or prevention science, criminology, gender studies or a related field. 

• Experience conducting and supervising intervention/direct service work and licensed degree (PhD in counseling or clinical psychology, LCSW, or LMHC) in New York State are required.

• Relevant data design, collection, management and analytic skills are required, including proficiency in quantitative and qualitative methodology. Experience or desire to learn qualitative research and analysis is a plus. 

• Demonstrated interpersonal communication, collaboration, and partnership building skills, including the ability to establish and maintain rapport with young people and caregivers engaging in research. 

• Experience managing community-based research efforts and directing teams on complex tasks (at least 1 year of such field-based experience strongly preferred).

• Comfort and capacity to work in and support a fast-paced team-oriented environment and communicate with a wide range of individuals, including juvenile legal and child welfare facility directors and staff, system-impacted young people, project PIs and team leaders, faculty and researchers, and graduate and undergraduate students interns and externs.

• Ability to work well independently and in a multidisciplinary team, strong organizational skills, attention to detail and excellent oral and written communication skills required.

• Track record of academic publications and presentations for scholarly and policy audiences highly preferred. 

The salary range for this position is $75,000 - $80,000 and will be commensurate with experience. It is also eligible for a full package of NYU Benefits. The Postdoctoral Associate position offers a number of excellent training opportunities, including collaboration with senior and junior members of the research team, engagement with the Blueprints for Progressive Change in Juvenile Justice working group, exposure to university-community research partnerships, and cross-institutional networking. This position also allows for the development of publications and conference presentations that support the candidate's programmatic research, as well as opportunities for mentorship on grant writing.  Access to a  rich array of NYU seminars, and special training workshops in research methods and statistics, and in areas of social justice, intervention/evaluation, implementation and education science, and gender-informed and settings-level approaches are also available. Funding is currently available for one year, and a one year commitment is required. Options to continue can be developed contingent on excellent  performance and availability of funding.

To Apply:

The position will begin in Fall 2022,  in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University.  To apply, submit a cover letter including statement of interest, CV/resume, and names, phone numbers and email addresses of three referees.

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