Research Specialist II

About the Role

Texas A&M AgriLife’s Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture (IHA) Healthy Living program, based at the AgriLife Center in Dallas, seeks an experienced Research Specialist II to collaborate with the Healthy Living team. The role involves planning, developing, and implementing community‑engaged research projects that address health disparities, with a focus on nutrition, food access, chronic disease prevention, and technology‑based interventions.

Location: Dallas, Texas | Job Type: Staff

Primary Responsibilities

• Work closely with faculty and the research team to support ongoing studies and develop new ancillary research, including study design, operations, and reporting.
• Design and manage research project operational procedures, including preparing and coordinating IRB human subjects research protocols.
• Assist with study participant recruitment, data collection, field work, and management of project‑related logistics.
• Contribute to the development and refinement of curricula and program materials for chronic disease prevention and health promotion.
• Assist with preparing grant applications and proposals; develop and edit reports, manuscripts, scientific presentations, manuals, and other dissemination products.
• Conduct literature reviews to inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of community‑engaged health interventions and scientific publications.
• Assist with data management and analysis (qualitative and quantitative), including data cleaning, documentation, acquisition, and merging.
• Develop and manage online research tools (e.g., Qualtrics, REDCap) to support data collection, analysis, and evaluation.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field (e.g., public health, nutrition, exercise science, health communication, health administration) or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Six years of related experience.
• Professional demeanor with the ability to manage and safeguard confidential information securely and in compliance with privacy policies.
• Initiative, ability to work independently, multitask, cooperate with others, and manage priorities and tasks as assigned.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Outstanding planning and organizational skills.
• Proficiency with word processing, spreadsheet, database, and presentation applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Teams, etc.).

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a related field.
• Fluency in Spanish and English, both verbal and written.
• Research background with experience in community‑engaged research, evaluation projects, research management, data collection, or clinical research implementation.
• Experience coordinating research projects in maternal and early childhood nutrition, underserved populations, minority and urban health, food systems, food and nutrition security, or community‑based health behavior interventions.
• Experience conducting human subjects research and managing Institutional Review Board (IRB) applications.
• Experience with scientific writing, including proposal preparation, report development, and manuscript editing.
• Knowledge of the Land‑Grant University System’s mission, community‑campus partnership, and the Extension system.

Benefits

• Health, dental, vision, life, and long‑term disability insurance with Texas A&M AgriLife contributing to employee health and basic life premiums.
• 12–15 days of annual paid holidays.
• Up to eight hours of paid sick leave and at least eight hours of paid vacation each month.
• Automatic enrollment in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.
• Employee Wellness Initiative for Texas A&M AgriLife.