Lab Manager and Research Assistant

About the role

The Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia seeks a Lab Manager and Research Assistant to work with Professors Benjamin Converse and Abigail Scholer. This position is an excellent opportunity to gain multidisciplinary research experience in preparation for graduate study in social psychology, organizational behavior, or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Day-to-day management of multiple research projects, splitting time equally each week between two professors' social psychology and behavioral science labs
• Administering behavioral studies in the lab and in field settings
• Preparing datasets and conducting preliminary analyses
• Collaborating to produce and program experimental materials and stimuli
• Providing training and supervision of undergraduate research assistants
• Coordinating data collection
• Tracking expenses, ordering equipment or materials for studies
• Leading lab meetings
• Meeting with the principal investigators and graduate students regularly about progress and goal-setting
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in psychology, data science, public policy, or a related field by July 2026
• Two years of behavioral laboratory experience or work as a research assistant; experience gained over four academic semesters (or equivalent) as a student will be considered
• Familiarity with social psychology/behavioral science research methods and IRB management
• Experience administering studies in Qualtrics
• Strong interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills
• Proficient in Excel and an additional statistical program such as R, SPSS, SAS, STATA
• Able to occasionally work nonstandard hours (e.g., evenings, weekends), depending on data-collection needs

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working semi-independently on an original behavioral science research project (e.g., undergraduate honors thesis)
• Experience with platforms that manage human subject pools (e.g., SONA)
• Prior experience with data science methods (e.g., web scraping, data cleaning and manipulation)
• Demonstrated interest in computer programming (e.g., Javascript, Python, JSON) and/or assisted coding using GenerativeAI platforms (e.g., Claude Code)

Pay

This is a non-exempt level, benefited position.

Schedule

This is not a remote position. This position is located in Charlottesville, VA.