Research Associate-Behavioral Health

Job Summary

Westat has an immediate opening for a Research Associate to join our team of leading evaluators and technical assistance and training experts to support our continued work on behavioral health and health policy. You will be assisting with projects that address the needs of individuals with mental health conditions and substance use disorders.

In this highly collaborative and fast paced role, you will work closely with project leadership and multi-disciplinary project teams to help translate science into resources for diverse audiences. Audiences could include federal and state policy makers, clinical service providers, and individuals affected by mental health conditions and substance use disorders. Your role will involve contributions to technical reports and opportunities are available to collaborate on peer-reviewed journal articles based on your project work. In this role, you will have additional substantive opportunities to assist with research and provide technical assistance and training to communities and federal grantees on behavioral health topics such as behavioral health system transformation, healthcare financing, behavioral health program evaluations, mental health and substance use services, recovery and resilience, substance misuse prevention, overdose prevention, opioid and stimulant use disorders, and advancing access to effective behavioral health care.

We value regular in-person collaboration and preference will be given to candidates who can work 2 days per week at our Bethesda, Maryland office or at one of our other Westat office locations.

Job Responsibilities

• Support all stages of evaluation from study design through data collection and management, analysis, and product development
• Conduct literature searches, synthesize research findings, and contribute to writing on health policy and behavioral health topics
• Translate research findings into easy-to-understand products for diverse audiences
• Participate in developing data collection plans, instruments, and data collection materials
• Oversee and conduct data collection efforts, such as administering surveys, interviews, site visits, observation protocols, and acquiring administrative data
• Lead and assist with data analysis of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods evaluations
• Lead presentations during federal client meetings, with federal grantees, and within Westat
• Assist with business development with networks of internal and external staff on proposals and projects for a variety of federal agencies, states, and foundations

Basic Qualifications

• A master's degree in public policy, economics, or a social science discipline such as sociology, political science, psychology or in analytical methods such as applied statistics with 1-3 years of relevant experience
• Experience working on mental health and substance use evaluations and/or technical assistance and training activities
• Experience with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods evaluation approaches and using analytic software as appropriate
• Demonstrated ability to translate technical information into written products that use plain language and data visualizations for various audiences
• Experience using Microsoft Office software (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) to produce visually-appealing reports, tables, graphs, and presentation slides
• US Citizenship is required by contract

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience writing technical reports (such as literature reviews, study plans, methodology reports, summaries of research findings) or contributing to peer-reviewed journal articles
• Experience with data collection, developing analysis plans, and overseeing analysis
• Experience working on Federal government contracts
• Experience working on contracts with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) or other HHS agency
• Demonstrated ability to develop and deliver presentation content for various audiences
• Demonstrated ability to work at a fast pace, working across several projects simultaneously
• Excellent written, verbal, and organizational skills
• Ability to take initiative and maintain attention to detail in a fast-paced environment