Research Specialist

Rutgers University is hiring a Research Specialist for the Center for Urban Policy Research in New Brunswick, NJ. The role involves data management, analysis, and visualization to support climate change and emergency management projects. Key tasks include working on the NJADAPT Program, developing datasets for Hazard Management Plans, and collaborating across disciplines. The position focuses on maintaining and analyzing large datasets to address environmental and demographic challenges.
Position Details

Position Information

Recruitment/Posting Title
Research Specialist

Job Category
Staff & Executive - Research (Laboratory/Non-Laboratory)

Department
BSPPP-Ctr Urban Policy Rsrch

Overview

The Center for Urban Policy Research (CUPR) works to make human settlements more equitable, sustainable, resilient, and healthy through research, public engagement, education and other forms of capacity-building. CUPR is an umbrella center that combines the former Bloustein stand-alone Center for Urban Policy Research with the former Rutgers Center for Green Building (RCGB), Environmental Analysis and Communication Group (EAC), Center for Energy Environmental and Economic Policy (CEEEP), and Bloustein Center for Local Government Research. This merger creates strong capabilities for addressing today’s challenges in a collaborative and multidisciplinary fashion. These challenges include climate change adaptation and mitigation, coastal hazards, environmental justice, a healthier built environment, sustainable energy transition, and technological transformations affecting daily life and local governance.

Posting Summary

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey is seeking a Research Specialist for the The Center for Urban Policy Research (CUPR) within the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. Reporting to the Associate Program Manager within the Center for Urban Policy Research (CUPR) the Research Specialist position is responsible for data management, analysis, and visualization efforts within the Center in support of hazard mitigation, climate change, and emergency management related projects

Among the key duties of the position are the following:
• Supports data analysis efforts of the NJADAPT Program which focuses on developing new datasets, analysis efforts, and visualizations to support the various web applications utilizing interactive web-mapping, analytical tools, and data-driven snapshots/dashboards around the impacts of climate change on New Jersey.
• Be a key team member on a grant-funded project from the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, reporting to the project manager and developing datasets and analytical workflows to support the development of Hazard Management Plans at the State, County, and Municipal level.
• Updates and manages large environmental, infrastructure, and demographics-related data sets.
• Cross-disciplinary collaboration with staff and faculty in the planning and public policy fields.
• Overall, the position will be responsible for the entire life cycle of data within the two programs and will have three primary focuses: data management, data analysis, and data visualization.
• Data management responsibilities will focus on adhering to a data management protocol to maintain and expand the large sets of spatial and tabular data that are utilized by the NJADAPT and OEM programs; ensuring that data remains up-to-date, has complete and appropriate metadata and documentation, procedures for integrating new datasets, and publication of datasets for use in applications and public access.
• Data analysis responsibilities will focus on the analytical efforts, both spatial and statistical, needed to develop new and potentially innovative datasets that provide insight into the potential impacts of climate change on various demographic, environmental, industry-specific, or critical infrastructure assets in New Jersey; develop documentation for these datasets and their methodologies; and perform research into new analysis techniques and domains to propose new avenues of data analysis for these program.
• Data visualization responsibilities will focus on developing appropriate data visualizations for both spatial and database-driven datasets that will be incorporated into various public informatic applications developed for these programs; ensuring that these visualizations support the communication of data to stakeholders to support understanding and decision-making.
• Works among a team of faculty and staff within these two programs and will be expected to participate in various project meetings, providing their knowledge and expertise to support project efforts, and present data and applications to various stakeholders.
• Oversees student as needed in support of projects.

This position is grant-funded and contingent upon available funding. An overview of the benefits available to Rutgers employees can be found here: https://uhr.rutgers.edu/benefits/home.

Position Status
Full Time

Hours Per Week

Daily Work Shift

Work Arrangement

Consistent with the current application of Rutgers Policy 60.3.22 or the applicable provisions of relevant collective negotiations agreements, this position may be eligible for a hybrid work arrangement. Flexible work arrangements are not permanent, are subject to change or discontinuation, and contingent on the employee receiving approval in the FlexWork@RU Application System.

FLSA
Exempt

Grade
05

Position Salary

Annual Minimum Salary
69031.00

Annual Mid Range Salary
87377.00

Annual Maximum Salary
105722.00

Offer Information

The final salary offer will be determined by several factors, including the candidate’s qualifications, experience, and expertise, and availability of department or grant funds to support the position. We also take into consideration market benchmarks, if and when appropriate, and internal equity to ensure fair compensation relative to the university’s broader compensation structure. We are committed to offering competitive and flexible compensation packages to attract and retain top talent.

Standard Hours
37.50

Union Description
Admin Assembly (MPSC)

Payroll Designation
PeopleSoft

Benefits

Rutgers offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees. For details, please go to http://uhr.rutgers.edu/benefits/benefits-overview.

Seniority Unit

Terms of Appointment
Staff - 12 month

Position Pension Eligibility
ABP

Qualifications

Minimum Education and Experience
• Master’s degree in data science, public informatics, data informatics, mathematics, statistics, public policy, planning or other related field with data science components; or Bachelor’s degree with at least 2 years experience working in data science related field.

Certifications/Licenses

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
• Experience using geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial datasets.
• Experience in statistical analysis using a software platform such as R, Stata, SAS, or others.
• Experience documenting datasets including the creation or metadata or methodology documents.
• Ability to work independently, develop analytical approaches and workplans, and utilize best practices for data creation and management.

Preferred Qualifications
• Advanced knowledge of ESRI ArcGIS platform including ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, and analytical toolkits such as Spatial Analyst and Spatial Statistics.
• Experience utilizing python scripting to automate GIS analytical workflows.
• Experience working with SQL-based databases to query and utilize data for reporting or visualization needs.
• Experience with scripting language to automate tabular dataset (SQL, json, other data sources) analysis and extraction.
• Experience with coding dashboard interfaces for data visualization and presentation.
• Experience working with datasets related to climate change, demographics, planning, and environmental data.
• Experience with stakeholder engagement and outreach through survey and data collection.

Equipment Utilized
• ESRI ArcGIS software platform, Microsoft Office (Word, Powerpoint, Excel), a statistical software package (R, Stata, SAS, Matlab, etc.), a scripting language for data analysis/manipulation (Javascript, PHP , SQL, Python, R, Perl, etc.), work/team management software such as Gitlab and Slack.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

Special Conditions

Posting Details

Posting Number
25ST1169

Posting Open Date
05/23/2025

Special Instructions to Applicants

Regional Campus
Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Home Location Campus
Rutgers University - New Brunswick

City
New Brunswick

State
NJ

Location Details

Pre-employment Screenings

All offers of employment are contingent upon successful completion of all pre-employment screenings.

Immunization Requirements

Under Policy 100.3.1 Immunization Policy for Covered Individuals, if employment will commence during Flu Season, Rutgers University may require certain prospective employees to provide proof that they are vaccinated against Seasonal Influenza for the current Flu Season, unless the University has granted the individual a medical or religious exemption. Additional infection control and safety policies may apply. Prospective employees should speak with their hiring manager to determine which policies apply to the role or position for which they are applying. Failure to provide proof of vaccination for any required vaccines or obtain a medical or religious exemption from the University will result in rescission of a candidate’s offer of employment or disciplinary action up to and including termination.